The 2013 questing season in Northeast Ohio got under way Monday — with five new quests.
That includes the Rise of Akron Quest in the Cascade Locks Park area near downtown Akron.
It is the second of three quests, or interactive recreational activities, planned along the Ohio & Erie Canal in the city-owned park off West North Street.
That cluster is being developed to serve school groups as well as the public.
The other new quests are two in the Furnace Run Metro Park in Richfield Township and two in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
The Furnace Run quests are Quest for Brushwood Boulder and Brushwood Water Quest, both at the Brushwood Area off Townsend Road.
The Cuyahoga Valley quests are the History Spoke to Us Quest, a Towpath Trail bicycle adventure that starts at the Canal Visitor Center in Valley View, and the Tranquility Quest, a meditative experience that begins at the Octagon Shelter off Truxell Road in Boston Township.
A total of 30 quests have been developed in the Canalway Questing program, now in its fourth year.
The program runs through Nov. 15 along the Ohio & Erie Canalway that stretches from Cleveland through Akron and Canton to New Philadelphia.
To date, more than 3,000 people have followed the rhyming clues, logged into a hidden box, collected a distinctive stamp and replaced the box for others to find.
Most of the participants have been from Ohio, but visitors from at least 15 other states have signed into the quest logbooks.
The program is sponsored by the National Park Service, the Ohio & Erie Canalway National Heritage Area, Metro Parks, Serving Summit County, the Cascade Locks Park Association, the Stark County Park District and Cleveland Metroparks.
For more information and to download the quests, go to www.ohioanderiecanalway.com. Search under Activities for Questing.
Quest brochures are also available at park visitor centers.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.