Explore the best rated trails in Lima, OH. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Tecumseh Trail Multi-use Pathway and Piqua City Linear Park. With more than 19 trails covering 323 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.
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Seamlessly spanning the 35.5-mile distance between the Ohio communities of Bellefontaine and Springfield, the Simon Kenton Trail presents visitors with ample opportunities for recreation and wildlife...
The Wabash Cannonball Trail in northwest Ohio is actually two trails in one: its North Fork runs east–west for 46 miles and its South Fork makes up the balance of this nearly 63-mile trail. The forks...
The Great Miami River Trail is the backbone of one of the nation’s largest paved trail networks, spanning 340 miles throughout Ohio’s Miami Valley. The route connects beautiful natural areas, small...
Hydraulic Canal Run begins in picturesque French Park, where stands of mature trees provide the perfect shady spots to picnic. From here, you can also connect to Piqua City Linear Park, a rail-trail...
The Canal Feeder Trail begins at Graceland Cemetery on the south end of Sidney and continues southwest on a former historical canal towpath dating back to the 1840s. The paved trail parallels the...
The Celina Coldwater Bikeway is an early rail-with-trail project from the 1980s. Long a popular trail, users follow the Penn Central Railroad between the village of Coldwater and the city of Celina,...
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Findlay lies at the heart of Hancock County's 17-mile Heritage Trail. From the city center, the trail extends west to Litzenberg Memorial Woods and east to Van Horn Cemetery. The trail mostly follows...
The Franklin Township Greenway Trail runs on flat terrain through conservation, agriculture and residential areas just beyond the southern shoreline of Grand Lake, Ohio’s largest inland lake. Portions...
The Decatur Greenway is an extensive collection of trails linking parks and other amenities on the eastern side of Decatur, Indiana. Begin your journey at the loop around Adams Memorial Hospital,...
The Marion Tallgrass Trail is a developing rail-trail which will extend from Marion westward on a former Erie Lackawanna Railway corridor. The line was part of the Erie Lackawanna’s main line that...
Celina's West Bank Trail follows the shoreline of the Grand Lake St. Marys, Ohio's largest inland lake, and offers beautiful views of the lake and Rotary Lighthouse, as well as providing access to...
The Miami & Erie Canal was built between 1825 and 1845, an engineering marvel stretching from Cincinnati to Toledo. This canal was heavily used until competition from the railroad caused the decline...
Piqua City Linear Park was constructed on an abandoned railroad bed from the city's easternmost point to its westernmost point. Midway, it connects to the Great Miami River Trail and is part of the...
The Lima Rotary Riverwalk trail follows the southeast bank of the meandering Ottowa River between Heritage Park southwest of Lima and Schoonover Park northeast of city center. At its north end, the...
The Blanchard River Greenway Bike Trail runs along a former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad corridor on the riverfront in downtown Findlay. The trail primarily courses through woodlands, with highlights...
The Tecumseh Trail Multi-use Pathway offers a pleasant route, partially on the former Pennsylvania Railroad's Columbus-to-Saint Louis freight mainline. The rail route was also once used for Lincoln's...
In 1875, the Bowling Green Railroad Company operated its first train from its namesake city in Ohio south to Tontogany on rails made from the wood of the local slippery elm tree. The trees were...
The Franklin Township Greenway Trail runs on flat terrain through conservation, agriculture and residential areas just beyond the southern shoreline of Grand Lake, Ohio’s largest inland lake. Portions...
Hydraulic Canal Run begins in picturesque French Park, where stands of mature trees provide the perfect shady spots to picnic. From here, you can also connect to Piqua City Linear Park, a rail-trail...
The Lima Rotary Riverwalk trail follows the southeast bank of the meandering Ottowa River between Heritage Park southwest of Lima and Schoonover Park northeast of city center. At its north end, the...
The Miami & Erie Canal was built between 1825 and 1845, an engineering marvel stretching from Cincinnati to Toledo. This canal was heavily used until competition from the railroad caused the decline...
For much of its 9-mile length, the Towpath Trail traces the scenic Maumee River, paralleling US 24 (at some distance), on the southwestern outskirts of Toledo. It traverses three parks as it follows...
The Blanchard River Greenway Bike Trail runs along a former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad corridor on the riverfront in downtown Findlay. The trail primarily courses through woodlands, with highlights...
Seamlessly spanning the 35.5-mile distance between the Ohio communities of Bellefontaine and Springfield, the Simon Kenton Trail presents visitors with ample opportunities for recreation and wildlife...
Celina's West Bank Trail follows the shoreline of the Grand Lake St. Marys, Ohio's largest inland lake, and offers beautiful views of the lake and Rotary Lighthouse, as well as providing access to...
The Canal Feeder Trail begins at Graceland Cemetery on the south end of Sidney and continues southwest on a former historical canal towpath dating back to the 1840s. The paved trail parallels the...
The Oakwoods Trail system runs through a 155-acre nature preserve bordering Interstate 75 southwest of downtown Findlay. The preserve features a small lake, woodlands and meadows. The trails form...
In 1875, the Bowling Green Railroad Company operated its first train from its namesake city in Ohio south to Tontogany on rails made from the wood of the local slippery elm tree. The trees were...
The Decatur Greenway is an extensive collection of trails linking parks and other amenities on the eastern side of Decatur, Indiana. Begin your journey at the loop around Adams Memorial Hospital,...
Findlay lies at the heart of Hancock County's 17-mile Heritage Trail. From the city center, the trail extends west to Litzenberg Memorial Woods and east to Van Horn Cemetery. The trail mostly follows...
The Tecumseh Trail Multi-use Pathway offers a pleasant route, partially on the former Pennsylvania Railroad's Columbus-to-Saint Louis freight mainline. The rail route was also once used for Lincoln's...
The Great Miami River Trail is the backbone of one of the nation’s largest paved trail networks, spanning 340 miles throughout Ohio’s Miami Valley. The route connects beautiful natural areas, small...
The Wabash Cannonball Trail in northwest Ohio is actually two trails in one: its North Fork runs east–west for 46 miles and its South Fork makes up the balance of this nearly 63-mile trail. The forks...
Piqua City Linear Park was constructed on an abandoned railroad bed from the city's easternmost point to its westernmost point. Midway, it connects to the Great Miami River Trail and is part of the...
The Marion Tallgrass Trail is a developing rail-trail which will extend from Marion westward on a former Erie Lackawanna Railway corridor. The line was part of the Erie Lackawanna’s main line that...
The Celina Coldwater Bikeway is an early rail-with-trail project from the 1980s. Long a popular trail, users follow the Penn Central Railroad between the village of Coldwater and the city of Celina,...
The Tecumseh Trail Multi-use Pathway offers a pleasant route, partially on the former Pennsylvania Railroad's Columbus-to-Saint Louis freight mainline. The rail route was also once used for Lincoln's...
The Miami & Erie Canal was built between 1825 and 1845, an engineering marvel stretching from Cincinnati to Toledo. This canal was heavily used until competition from the railroad caused the decline...
The Blanchard River Greenway Bike Trail runs along a former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad corridor on the riverfront in downtown Findlay. The trail primarily courses through woodlands, with highlights...
The Marion Tallgrass Trail is a developing rail-trail which will extend from Marion westward on a former Erie Lackawanna Railway corridor. The line was part of the Erie Lackawanna’s main line that...
The Canal Feeder Trail begins at Graceland Cemetery on the south end of Sidney and continues southwest on a former historical canal towpath dating back to the 1840s. The paved trail parallels the...
In 1875, the Bowling Green Railroad Company operated its first train from its namesake city in Ohio south to Tontogany on rails made from the wood of the local slippery elm tree. The trees were...
The Oakwoods Trail system runs through a 155-acre nature preserve bordering Interstate 75 southwest of downtown Findlay. The preserve features a small lake, woodlands and meadows. The trails form...
Findlay lies at the heart of Hancock County's 17-mile Heritage Trail. From the city center, the trail extends west to Litzenberg Memorial Woods and east to Van Horn Cemetery. The trail mostly follows...
The Decatur Greenway is an extensive collection of trails linking parks and other amenities on the eastern side of Decatur, Indiana. Begin your journey at the loop around Adams Memorial Hospital,...
The Great Miami River Trail is the backbone of one of the nation’s largest paved trail networks, spanning 340 miles throughout Ohio’s Miami Valley. The route connects beautiful natural areas, small...
For much of its 9-mile length, the Towpath Trail traces the scenic Maumee River, paralleling US 24 (at some distance), on the southwestern outskirts of Toledo. It traverses three parks as it follows...
The Franklin Township Greenway Trail runs on flat terrain through conservation, agriculture and residential areas just beyond the southern shoreline of Grand Lake, Ohio’s largest inland lake. Portions...
Seamlessly spanning the 35.5-mile distance between the Ohio communities of Bellefontaine and Springfield, the Simon Kenton Trail presents visitors with ample opportunities for recreation and wildlife...
Celina's West Bank Trail follows the shoreline of the Grand Lake St. Marys, Ohio's largest inland lake, and offers beautiful views of the lake and Rotary Lighthouse, as well as providing access to...
The Wabash Cannonball Trail in northwest Ohio is actually two trails in one: its North Fork runs east–west for 46 miles and its South Fork makes up the balance of this nearly 63-mile trail. The forks...
The Celina Coldwater Bikeway is an early rail-with-trail project from the 1980s. Long a popular trail, users follow the Penn Central Railroad between the village of Coldwater and the city of Celina,...
Hydraulic Canal Run begins in picturesque French Park, where stands of mature trees provide the perfect shady spots to picnic. From here, you can also connect to Piqua City Linear Park, a rail-trail...
The Lima Rotary Riverwalk trail follows the southeast bank of the meandering Ottowa River between Heritage Park southwest of Lima and Schoonover Park northeast of city center. At its north end, the...
Piqua City Linear Park was constructed on an abandoned railroad bed from the city's easternmost point to its westernmost point. Midway, it connects to the Great Miami River Trail and is part of the...
Love this trail. Have hiked all of it. Only complaint is that section from Rudolph to Portage (close to BG) has no restroom. Probably why more folks do not hike the entirety of the trail.
Also saw a red fox yesterday just inches in front of me on the wooden bridge in BG entering the trail. At the same spot coming back out an hour later a doe walked right in front of me. The area they came out
from is dense with trees and standing water--perhaps for that reason
safe from humans.
My bike riding partner and I enjoy riding the trail from Bellefontaine, the northern part, but it is challenging on the rough stone path really meant for erosion protection of the rails. It is too bad that this part of the trail hasn't been developed yet except for 3 miles at the beginning in Bell. If this what the finished trail will look like, it will be great! The stretch from Bell to W Liberty is beautiful and full of wildlife. Only a short way out of Bell one will encounter Deer, Wild Turkey, Rabbits, and enough birds to satisfy any avian enthusiast! Looking forward to the completion of the trail!
I rode this trail in October 2018. The Celina Coldwater Bikeway is a straight as an arrow converted rail line that connects the two towns of Celina and Coldwater, Ohio. As with most of the farmland in the western Ohio, it is very flat with little variation in elevation. This allows the rider to ride at a good clip and cover quite a bit of ground. On this Sunday, there were a number of bikers, walkers, and runners out on the trail, but it was not busy at all.
An interesting feature of this trail is how they mark mileage. There are two sets of tiles that are placed along the trail indicating how far you have ridden from your starting town. Heading south out of Celina the markers are green and heading north out of Coldwater the markers are red. They are placed in the pavement every quarter mile and at the end of the trail with a 4.61 mile marker which is the length of the trail. In addition when you reach a street crossing, there will be a sign telling you the name of the road and the exact mileage to the town you are heading toward.
The Celina Coldwater Bikeway is a nice trail for what it is, a local commuter trail. It is not a trail I would recommend going out of your way to ride. But for these two local communities it serves a purpose. Looking at the map of the area around Grand Lake St. Marys I could see that a plan could be drawn up to use the CCB, the Franklin Township Greenway, and the Miami & Erie Canal Towpath could be used as the basis of creating a greenway all the way around Grand Lake in the future.
I’ve ridden the two bottom sections of this trail, Fairfield/Hamilton and Trenton/Middletown. The trail is well paved and good for easy riding. It will be nice once or if they connect the two bottom sections to the main section in Franklin, Oh. So you can ride the whole trail without getting on the road.
As a Saint Mary’s resident living a few blocks from a trailhead (High Street) I love being able to just take,off on my bike, no transporting said bike to the park required. Parts of the trail are smooth sailing, parts are very rough... but it’s flat and beautiful. If you have any trail riding/mountain biking experience, this will be an easy ride for you headed North from St Mary’s. South is harder, longer prairie grass can slow you down or make you walk your bike. Always hoping for more trail improvements to make riding even better.
This trail is very nice. There are several starting points depending on how many hills you want to climb. The newest section of the trail which begins on North St and goes east of town is in excellent condition with interesting terrain. However if you want to ride this section the turn off is not well marked. Beginning on the north side of North St (near Lima Senior HS) you will need to ride on a shared sidewalk traveling east. This turns into the path about 1/3 mile just past the water plant. You can also choose to start from the east. Lots of fun.
I rode this trail at the end of August 2018. The trail itself is very flat and straight. This 5.5 mile paved pathway runs east-west through the city. It is marked with mileage posts every tenth of a mile in both the east and west direction with the starting point being the west bank of the Great Miami River. What I found surprising is other than the half mile through the Piqua Central Business District, you don't really feel that you are biking along through a city. Most of the pathway is tree and shrub lined. The section through the business district is well-marked, and highly visible with good street crossings so this stretch is not hard to ride. I would categorize this trail as a community recreational trail, but when combined with the Great Miami River Trail, and the Hydraulic Canal Run Pathway a large loop is formed that travels through and around the city.
If you look for this trail on Google Earth or Google Maps you may find it labeled as the Ohio to Indiana Trail. That is also the name given to the Tecumseh Trail Multi-use Path that runs from Gettysburg, OH to Bradford, OH and the Greenville Creek Trail in Greenville, OH west of Piqua. Obviously, these trails have been created out of the same rail line. Hopefully, there are plans to connect them over time to make one much larger trail. This route was part of the route President Abe Lincoln's Funeral train took from Columbus, Ohio to Urbana, Ohio to Richmond, Indiana and then eventually on to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois. It would be really cool if this entire route in Ohio could be converted into a trail commemorating this tragic historic event.
Very nice ride through verdant NW Oh farmland. Immaculately maintained; not so much as a cigarette butt in view. Much of the trail is shaded, making for a comfortable ride even on a hot day. Only disappointment was a sadly underperforming water fountain in NBaltimore.
The this old railroad route through Ohio's Darke County is significant as this was the route that President Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Train took as passed through from Columbus, Ohio to Richmond, Indiana on its way to Lincoln's final resting spot in Springfield, Illinois. For this reason alone efforts should be made by Darke County and the State of Ohio to buy up the parts of the route that not part of the Darke County Park System and convert the rail bed into a proper trail. The current trail sections that are developed are pleasant but don't yet lead to any areas that are developed, such as the towns of Bradford, Gettysburg, and Greenville. the current on-road sections of this route are on lightly traveled paved farm country roads. They are very flat, but do not have any shoulders at all. The current mapped route shown here at TrailLink suggests riding the trail west of Gettysburg by riding east along US 36 to Gettysburg-Pitsburg Road and then left onto Hahn Road. US 36 is a very busy and fast roadway with lots of traffic. Although the shoulders along this roadway are wide you can avoid riding along it altogether if you follow the bike route along W. Main Street in Gettysburg and cross US 36 onto Mill Road and then on to Hahn. On the eastern end the current TrailLink map shows the trail route ending south of Bradford when you reach South Miami Street (Rte 721). I suggest going into Bradford to take a look at its Y-Yard Park, particularly if you are a railroad buff. I suggest using Harrison Avenue to take a less busy road into town and then left on School Street to reach the park. Google Earth and Google Maps currently label this trail the Ohio to Erie Trail which is what they also call the Piqua City Linear Park as well. Obviously there is a railroad connection between these two trails and work should be done to connect them.
I rode the Hydraulic Canal Run Path in August of 2018. What I found interesting about this trail, which follows the canal's original towpath, was that a good part of the canal along the trail was still preserved. It is obviously, used for recreation as I saw people fishing and kayaking in the canal and associated lakes. What was also interesting was how the canal was actually elevated above the nearby neighborhoods. There are also a cemetery (Forest Hill) and a park (Fountain Park) to the east of the trail route. I would categorize this trail as a community recreational trail, but when combined with the Piqua City Linear Park, and the Great Miami River Trail a large loop is formed that travels through and around the city. For those approaching Piqua from the south on the Great Miami River Trail it certainly would make for a more interesting ride rather than simply turning around when they reached the end of the GMRT.
I rode this trail as part of a plan to ride all Ohio trails listed at TrailLink.com. The northern-most trailhead is located at the back of Graceland Cemetery in Sydney, Ohio. When you enter the cemetery keep driving to the left and back of the cemetery to find the parking lot. I'm not sure how old this trail is but it is currently well maintained and well marked with distance and historical markers. At present this trail is best described as a local recreational trail. There is potential to expand this trail south to Lockington and on to Piqua, Ohio where it could connect to larger regional destination trail the Great Miami River Trail. I hope local and county leaders and trail partners see this as a goal!
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