Explore the best rated trails in Marion, OH, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Triplett Pathway and Hoover Scenic Trail . With more than 43 trails covering 4441 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 a total of 6.8 miles on two out & back rides on the two sections of the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway in Bluffton, Ohio. I first rode 4.61 miles on an out and back ride on the eastern section of the Lions Way Pathway. I later rode an additionalI 2.19 miles out-and-back on the western portion of the trail, labeled as the Augsburger Path.
I started near the center of the trail. I parked at the Village Arboretum on Lake Street next to Cobb Lake. I first headed east on the trail toward Commerce Lane. This portion of the trail leads to a commercial area next to Bluffton’s I-75 exit. Here you will find the Bluffton Inn & Suites Motel, a couple of gas stations along with several fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s. TrailLink.com maps show the trail ending before it reaches Jefferson Street, the main drag, where the exits of I-75 connect. However, this end of the trail now has been extended out to Jefferson Street where an additional trail section has been built along Jefferson toward the center of town. It seems to extend to the end of this commercial area where it crosses over Jefferson. I’m not sure where it goes after crossing Jefferson St. as I chose not to explore the parts not documented here at TrailLink.
Next, I rode back to Cobb Lake and then started riding the trail toward the Bluffton University. At Cobb Lake the trail is actually Lake Street so you may encounter an occasional car as you ride along here. When you reach N. Main Street you will come to a street crossing that leads to a parking lot for Buckeye Lake. This is another park. The city pool and the local YMCA is located next to this lake. If you follow the trail around the lake you will reach Spring Street. There is no indication that the trail/bike route continues from here, but if you head west on Spring Street you will eventually arrive at the Bluffton University Campus.
TrailLink's current map for Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway shows Rosenberger Road crossing through the Bluffton University's campus. I was looking for this street as it would lead to the western portion of the trail known as the Augsburger Path which runs along Augsburger Road. Unfortunately, there is no longer a drive through the Bluffton U. campus as the addition of Lincoln Hall has removed that through street. Ultimately, after trying to find an alternate on-street route on my battery drained phone forced me to return to Cobb Lake, recharge my phone, and find a parking lot along the Augsburger Path in order to ride that segment. When I eventually rode that segment I found it somewhat disappointing it seems to be mostly a commuter route connecting residential areas to the university campus with few interesting things to see.
It appears that the main purpose of the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway is to connect Bluffton University students and Bluffton residents with the village's parks, restaurants (mostly fast food), and other village locations. The off-road portions of the trail are fairly new and are in very rideable shape. The on-road portions of this trail are on lightly trafficked streets, but are not well-marked with signs. If you plan on riding this trail having a map app would be helpful to find your way should you get lost.
With the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway and the Triplett Pathway the Village of Bluffton seems to be creating a multi-use trail loop that will connect Bluffton students and residents with the village's amenities. I would like to return to Bluffton again, to see if I could complete this potential trail loop.
I rode a total of 2.84 miles on two out & back rides on the two sections of the Triplett Pathway in Bluffton, Ohio. I started by riding the southern portion of Triplett Pathway that runs out of Bluffton Village Park which passes under Interstate 75 along the edge of Riley Creek, and enters into a residential neighborhood at East College Avenue where the trail actually ends. To connect to the northern section of the pathway you would have to ride on some residential streets but the route was not marked with a sign at the E. College Ave. intersection. Thus, I had to drive to the northern section trailhead located at the Village Arboretum next to Cobb Lake in order to ride from there to see if I could find the street route to this southern portion of the trail. Riding from the arboretum, the trail and the on-road route is better signed and was easy to connect to the section leading to Bluffton Village Park.
It appears that with the Triplett Pathway and the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway the Village of Bluffton is creating a multi-use loop that will connect Bluffton University students and Bluffton residents with the village's parks, restaurants (mostly fast food), and other village amenities. The off-road portions of the trail are fairly new and are in very rideable shape. The on-road portions of these trails are on lightly trafficked streets, but are not necessarily well-marked with signs so at this time having a map app would be a must to find your way should you get lost. I would like to return to Bluffton again, to see if I could complete this potential trail loop.
In my opinion, this might weep be one of the top 10, if not top 5 trails in Ohio. Beautiful river crossings, rolling hills and a great mix of shade and sun. Watering and bike maintenance stations await you in Danville, Howard, Gambier, and Mt. Vernon. In addition, the trail itself is very well maintained. Happy trails!
This trail primarily connects the athletic fields in Findlay, Ohio's Swale Park to nearby neighborhoods. However, a map displayed at the River Landings playground parking lot on Fox Street indicated that there was a lot more to this greenway on both sides of the Blanchard River. The maps here at TrailLink.com identify the trail on the opposite side of the Blanchard River from Swale Park as the Heritage Trail (OH) rather than the Blanchard River Greenway Bike Trail.
Supposedly once you reached the corner of West High and North Main Streets you could ride down N. Main St. to connect to the Findlay Downtown Riverwalk where you could connect to “trails” on both sides of the river. Since I was riding this trail during the afternoon rush hour, I found North Main Street to have too much traffic to my liking, and it did not include a designated bike lane or use sharrows. It appeared that North Cory Street may have been a better route to connect to the trail on the other side of the Blanchard River because it was less trafficked and had sharrows. The trail surface for this trail was in good condition with the exception of the spur that ran out of Swale park to the corner of Broad and Howard Streets. There was a 15 yard or so break in the asphalt somewhere between Bolton and Fox Streets that looked as though somebody decided that there should no longer be a connection to Swale Park. Maybe this was just an area where a repair was hastily completed.
While this trail is probably useful for Findlay residents, it is not one that I recommend to riders from outside the area to seek out for a ride.
Started in Danville and rode to Gambier. Rode into town (not far from the trail) and had lunch at the Village Inn. Great lunch. Then back to the trail and on to Mount Vernon where we finished. Back to Danville after that. Plenty of restrooms and places to stop and sight see. 30 miles round trip for us. Excellent ride. We are seniors and not seasoned riders. The trail is very flat. Enjoy!
First time on this trail. Serene. Tree canopied sections. Beautiful farmland views. Great stop over the Huron River. Nice depot stop in Monroeville. Wasn’t fond of the ride into Norwalk but it wasn’t horrible. I also wasn’t sure how I was going to like the crushed limestone surface but I really enjoyed the varied surface of the trail. Some of it was fairly smooth rolling. Some required constant pedaling due to a more depth of the stone, which I did not mind because I ride for exercise. Some of the trail was a bit rougher with some actual gravel spots but kept it interesting. Attention is wise anytime someone rides but this trail should be noted the shoulders aren’t always squared. They’re are sections they do slope quite a bit which can out you off the sideif yours not watching.
The north part of this trail is in a less than stellar part of town
Flat, well maintained, and beautiful trail. You cannot escape tree root heave but these trail caretakers did well in that most of them are ground flattening them some and eliminating the sharpness. It also helps you see them coming.
Love camping at the GPAA campsite between Belleville and Butler I always bring my e bike with me! Lots of walkers and other people biking on it so be mindful when passing.
Its very nice in the spring summer and fall, very well maintained throughout and if you do not want to do the whole trail you can drive to a parking area along it and park!
This was a fairly decent trail, if you like straight paths and wide open spaces. I ran this trail in February 2024. I divided it up in to 7 days and started in Springfield. The first mile or so is road side and there is a specific lane to stay in. This turns to some wooded areas and over some busy roads while in town. The path from lagonda to Eagle City was probably the most scenic part of the trail, crossing over the Buck Creek trail. Once past Eagle City soccer fields the terrain seems to be newly paved but there are a lot of little dips that I was very aware of since I was on foot and not on a bike. Coming in to Urbana there were some wooded areas and I am sure in the early spring and summer there may be more to look at, but it wasn't very scenic in February. There was little to no signage other than the SKT mile markers noted sporadically along the trail. It seems like once you get past Railroad street in Urbana there isn't much to look at other than railroad tracks. This is also where the trail changes from asphalt to the chip and seal. I hadn't ran this kind of terrain but was pleasantly surprised how smooth it was. I was concerned about flipping bits of stone in to my shoes but that didn't happen. There is another segment of roads to run and again, there is no signage to direct you on the right path. I did see bike signs, which to most of you reading this will take as signage, however, I would like to see signs of the actual trail listed. The map listed here on trailink shows the red line to insinuate the trail, however, when looking at it more closely, there is more route around a park in Urbana that was missed. Again, after Railroad rd in Urbana the path is straight and there is no place to stop for rest or parking and that makes for a lengthy run/ride for anyone on the trail. There is always a safety concern in this regard too. Overall, the trail is decent, however, I wouldn't run it again...maybe the part from Lagonda to Eagle City...but that's it. This was trail #35 for me, and I would say it wouldn't make the top 10 for me.
This was a fairly decent trail, if you like straight paths and wide open spaces. I ran this trail in February 2024. I divided it up in to 7 days and started in Springfield. The first mile or so is road side and there is a specific lane to stay in. This turns to some wooded areas and over some busy roads while in town. The path from lagonda to Eagle City was probably the most scenic part of the trail, crossing over the Buck Creek trail. Once past Eagle City soccer fields the terrain seems to be newly paved but there are a lot of little dips that I was very aware of since I was on foot and not on a bike. Coming in to Urbana there were some wooded areas and I am sure in the early spring and summer there may be more to look at, but it wasn't very scenic in February. There was little to no signage other than the SKT mile markers noted sporadically along the trail. It seems like once you get past Railroad street in Urbana there isn't much to look at other than railroad tracks. This is also where the trail changes from asphalt to the chip and seal. I hadn't ran this kind of terrain but was pleasantly surprised how smooth it was. I was concerned about flipping bits of stone in to my shoes but that didn't happen. There is another segment of roads to run and again, there is no signage to direct you on the right path. I did see bike signs, which to most of you reading this will take as signage, however, I would like to see signs of the actual trail listed. The map listed here on trailink shows the red line to insinuate the trail, however, when looking at it more closely, there is more route around a park in Urbana that was missed. Again, after Railroad rd in Urbana the path is straight and there is no place to stop for rest or parking and that makes for a lengthy run/ride for anyone on the trail. There is always a safety concern in this regard too. Overall, the trail is decent, however, I wouldn't run it again...maybe the part from Lagonda to Eagle City...but that's it. This was trail #35 for me, and I would say it wouldn't make the top 10 for me.
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