Editing Towpath (section)

{{short description|Path allowing a boat to be towed beside a river}}
{{redirect|Towing path|the musical composition for piano by John Ireland|The Towing Path}}
{{globalize|date=July 2015}}

[[File:Finowkanal-treidel.jpg|thumb|right|A towpath in use on the [[Finow Canal]] in Germany]]
[[File:Trekkers van vrachtschip Towing a ship.jpg|thumb|People towing a vessel in the Netherlands in 1931]]
[[File:C&O Canal - 4226570680 cropped.jpg|thumb|Mules pulling a boat on the [[Chesapeake and Ohio Canal]]]]
[[File:StaffsWorcester105.jpg|thumb|A [[roving bridge]] on the English [[Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal]]. The towpath changes to the other side of the canal but the horse does not have to be unhitched.]]
[[File:Chemin de halage bouziès.jpg|thumb|A towpath cut into the rock beside the [[Lot (river)|Lot river]] in southwest France]]
[[File:100 views edo 033.jpg|thumb|"Towboats Along the Yotsugi-dōri Canal" from [[Hiroshige]]'s "[[One Hundred Famous Views of Edo]]" series, a depiction of a towpath in rural Tokyo, mid-19th century.]]

A '''towpath''' is a [[road]] or [[trail]] on the bank of a [[river]], [[canal]], or other inland waterway. The purpose of a towpath is to allow a land [[vehicle]], [[Working animal|beasts of burden]], or a team of human pullers to tow a [[boat]], often a [[barge]]. This mode of transport was common where [[sailing]] was impractical because of tunnels and bridges, unfavorable [[wind]]s, or the narrowness of the channel.

After the [[Industrial Revolution]], towing became obsolete when engines were fitted on boats and when railway transportation superseded the slow towing method. Since then, many of these towpaths have been converted to [[Multi-use trail#Multi-use trails|multi-use trail]]s and [[footpath]]s. They are still named towpaths — although they are now only occasionally used for the purpose of towing boats.