Transportation over land is a recent development when compared to thousands of years of water transport. America's waterways were America's first highways, opening pathways for exploration, trade, and settlement. Today, America's Byways parallel these routes, highlighting the history and culture of life along the waterways.
Water is an essential part of human life, so it is no surprise that some of the oldest settlements in America lie along America's waterways. Ashley River Road in South Carolina highlights this riverside heritage, with historic structures along the riverbank dating back to the Colonial Period. Visit Drayton Hall on Magnolia Plantation, one of the best examples of Southern riverside architecture, or take a canoe trip down the Ashley River Canoe Trail to see the remnants of colonial period watercraft.
Historically, roads were either dusty or muddy, and full of potholes and ruts. Wagons had to go slowly, or risk breaking wheels, axles, or horses' legs. Of course, waterways weren't perfect either. River traffic ran into obstacles such as waterfalls and rapids, and the river travelers often had to carry both their boats and their goods across long overland portages.
Some of America's earliest explorers overcame these obstacles, relying on their strength and the guidance of Native Americans to discover new routes. Illinois River Road commemorates the French Voyageurs, expert canoe teams that ran trade routes from Montréal through the Great Lakes and all along the Mississippi River. These Voyageurs could both paddle and carry overland gargantuan canoes and goods weighing up to 8,000 lbs! In fact, a team of Voyageurs helped the explorers Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette traverse the Illinois and discover the site of Chicago. Fish the Illinois at Starved Rock State Park, or take a walk along the River Front in historic Peoria, where riverside merchants still display their wares.
Where there's a will, there's a waterway. Entrepreneurs in New York surpassed the obstacles between the Hudson River and the Great Lakes with a marvel of ingenuity and engineering: the Erie Canal. Once mockingly called "Clinton's Big Ditch" after Governor Dewitt Clinton, the Erie Canal gave new life to the westward expansion, rising 583 feet and crossing other rivers on elevated aqueducts. The Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway follows the original route of the Canal, and you can bike or walk on the towpath where donkeys and draft horses once pulled laden barges on their way from Albany to Buffalo. Visit some of the original locks in Waterford, or take your personal watercraft for a cruise on the canal.
Time passed, and transportation evolved, leaving the water and moving onto the land. As the nation expanded westward, designated roadways became the guardians of the wild beauty of the western waterways. Historic Columbia River Highway in Oregon runs seamlessly through the natural wonders of the Columbia River Valley, linking a long chain of high waterfalls and sheer river-bottomed gorges. Enjoy a day of whitewater rafting in the valley or visit Hood River to experience the "windsurfing capital of the world".
Like waves on the shore, waterways and byways will always be connected. Visit America's Byways and explore the relationship between the roads and the water.
