Explore the best rated trails in Athens, OH, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Ohio Canal Greenway and Paint Creek Recreation Trail . With more than 18 trails covering 195 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
I rode this 72 mile trail from east to west (gradual downhill grade) with 3 of my girlfriends. It was quite thick gravel but the downhill grade helped keep your momentum up to make it not completely exhausting pushing through the thicker stuff. It will rattle you pretty good and we were glad to come to the end. We went in late September and rode in a 60 degree cold drizzle the whole way. Nice feather in our caps!
Great trail for a quick run (8 mile out & back) in Marietta!
Almost skipped this trail because of the bad reviews. Glad I didn’t. Looks like they fixed the worst spots. Most of the remaining bad ones marked with white paint. Still have a few unmarked bumps that will get your attention. I didn’t think they were too bad on my hybrid at my leisurely 12mph pace.
Rode from Hopewell Mounds MM9 to Shaw Wetlands MM30. Nice peaceful, quiet, secluded ride. Saw only 2 people in 4 hours! Even though SR35 is visible to the north for about half the ride, I didn’t hear any road noise until about MM29. Crossed about 15 bridges. Some cool old wood piling ones. My favorite part was Hopewell to Frankfort - curves along creek and big bridges. I think my least favorite was about MM23.5 to MM25.5. Open with farm fields on both sides.
Looked like they blew the leaves off in Ross County. Fayette County was totally leaf covered in spots. Made it hard to see the buckeyes.
If you can handle some root bumps, go enjoy this secluded ride….bikin-Mike…Oct 2023
Ohio does another awesome rail trail. We went from Nelsonville down to Ohio university to the community center and back . 40 miles. Lots of rock bluffs, big trees and tree cover on the upper section. Good pavement. Not crowded for a Sunday. Don’t miss this trail.
The trail is lacking in signage, has a sizable detour, goes over a number of road areas that are not true trail paths, is very bumpy with poorly maintained asphalt, and has steep hills to go under bridges. One of the poorest trails I've ridden. Not worth the trip...
A very beautiful path! The path is along the river with beautiful views of the river, boats and bridges that cross over to West Virginia. Plenty of places to stop and enjoy the view along the way. We got ice cream at a little shop on our way back. It was way out of our way to get to this trail..but definitely worth the trip. ¿¿ (Giving it 4 stars because of the length…but still loved it).
This trail has potential for some serious greatness, but it needs some work. It’s very secluded and peaceful with some beautiful scenery and it’s highlighted by the Moonville and kings hollow tunnels which are fantastic to ride through. The trail from Mineral on pass the Moonville tunnel is crushed stone and not so bad to ride on. Once you go through Moonville and keep heading west towards Zalensky though, there is a bridge out & it abruptly ends. I drove over to Zalenski and rode the other half of the trail, which is all grass, and not really all that great. If this trail was paved and all connected & a little longer, it would be one of the best, but… It still needs a lil work.
This is a nice enough trail but it’s way too short. It’s kind of sad because it has so much potential. There’s a whole section at the end that’s completely unkept & unridable and it just ends up ending in someone’s driveway. If they could tie this trail into the round town trail then it would really be something special. While they’re at it… Why not extend it all the way down to the paint creek trail. That would be sweeet!
This is a nice enough trail but it’s way too short. I supplemented it by riding around in Circleville. If they could find a way to tie it in to the Pickaway trail, they would really have something special.
This trail is not bad but it could be so much better. It’s not in the best condition and the section from Bidwell to Kerr was completely unkept & unridable as far as I could tell. If they could fix that section and have it connect to the main trail and then somehow add some more trail along the river front, this would be a five star trail.
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