Explore the best rated trails in Mentor, OH. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Maple Highlands Trail and Lake-to-Lakes Trail. With more than 42 trails covering 658 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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The Maple Highlands Trail totals more than 20 miles. A majority of the trail follows an abandoned Baltimore & Ohio Railroad corridor through a mostly rural landscape, heavily wooded in places. The...
The nearly 11-mile MetroParks Bikeway provides a scenic and well-designed link to communities and natural sites in this northeast region of Ohio. The rail-trail follows a corridor between Canfield and...
The Lester Rail Trail in Ohio's Medina County runs 3 miles between Abbeyville Road and Lester Road in York Township. The trail passes through bucolic farmland with scattered remnants of prairie, where...
The North Chagrin Reservation All Purpose Trail offers a 4.2-mile route traversing its namesake park, which lies on the northeastern outskirts of Cleveland. Beginning just south of US 6 (Chardon...
Though not far from two of Ohio’s largest cities, Cleveland and Akron, the Bike and Hike Trail passes alongside beautiful natural areas, including the 65-foot Brandywine Falls, a stunning cascading...
Less than 20 miles from Cleveland, the Bedford Reservation offers a scenic, natural oasis with many amenities and attractions, including opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and...
The Steel Mill Trail is a 2-mile continuation of the Bridgeway Trail, which lies within the Black River Reservation, a scenic wooded park in Lorain. The Steel Mill Trail picks up at the north end of...
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The North Coast Inland Trail will one day stretch across northern Ohio from Indiana to Pennsylvania on a network of connecting off-road trails. Today, large sections of the trail, especially from the...
The Harrison-Dillard Bikeway is a north-south urban path that not only connects the Lake Erie shoreline with the University Circle district, but connects trail users with Cleveland’s cultural past....
Cleveland Metroparks’ Lake to Lake Trail links Lake Isaac and Lake Abram in Middleburg Heights via an asphalt- and boardwalk-surfaced path. The two lakes are the largest remaining glacial wetlands in...
The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail is an amazing trail journey that takes users from the heart of this country’s industrial might in cities like Cleveland and Akron, to some of the most beautiful...
The Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway extends 17 miles along the city's Lake Erie shoreline, between the suburbs of Euclid and Lakewood. The bikeway has on-road sections, and the route is signed. The...
The Chippewa Rail Trail runs for 2.4 miles between Chippewa Road (SR 50) in Chippewa Lake to suburban Wycliffe Drive southwest of Medina (Lafayette Township). The trail is mostly rural in feel,...
The short North Olmsted Walking & Bike Trail parallels Interstate 480 and provides an alternate, non-motorized route linking neighborhoods with green spaces and business districts.
The Garfield Park Reservation All Purpose Trail is located in Garfield Heights, a southeastern suburb of Cleveland. The paved pathway spans nearly four miles through the Garfield Park Reservation,...
The Lake Metroparks Greenway Corridor runs for more than 5 miles through Painesville, Painesville Township and Concord Township. The elevation rises a little more than 200 feet from Painesville (north...
The Berlin Lake Trail lies mid-way between Cleveland and Pittsburgh in Deerfield Township of Portage County. The 2-mile crushed limestone rail-trail crosses Berlin Lake, traveling through wooded areas...
The Portage Hike and Bike Trail stretches nearly 10 miles between Kent and Ravenna, about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland and the southern shores of Lake Erie. As of December 2015, its entire length...
The Garrett Wonders Bike Trail, formerly the Warren Bikeway, is an integral component of the Great Ohio Lake-to-River Greenway, which will eventually link Lake Erie and the Ohio River via a multiuse,...
Euclid Creek Reservation All Purpose Trail offers a paved, scenic excursion in the northeastern Ohio community of Euclid, a suburb of Cleveland. The trail is currently divided into two disconnected...
The Berlin Lake Trail lies mid-way between Cleveland and Pittsburgh in Deerfield Township of Portage County. The 2-mile crushed limestone rail-trail crosses Berlin Lake, traveling through wooded areas...
The North Chagrin Reservation All Purpose Trail offers a 4.2-mile route traversing its namesake park, which lies on the northeastern outskirts of Cleveland. Beginning just south of US 6 (Chardon...
The North Coast Inland Trail will one day stretch across northern Ohio from Indiana to Pennsylvania on a network of connecting off-road trails. Today, large sections of the trail, especially from the...
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Northern Ohio's Freedom Trail currently offers more than 7 miles of tree-lined pathway along the former Freedom Secondary Railroad. From Eastwood Avenue in eastern Akron, the paved trail follows a...
The Lake Metroparks Greenway Corridor runs for more than 5 miles through Painesville, Painesville Township and Concord Township. The elevation rises a little more than 200 feet from Painesville (north...
Picking up right across the street from the southern end of the Harrison Dillard Bikeway, the Lake-to-Lakes Trail provides a path for cyclists and pedestrians to continue further south out to the...
The Ohio to Erie Trail is a colossal project, not just for the state of Ohio but also nationally. Dreamed up more than 25 years ago, this route will eventually connect the Ohio River in Cincinnati to...
The Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail is an amazing trail journey that takes users from the heart of this country’s industrial might in cities like Cleveland and Akron, to some of the most beautiful...
South of Cleveland, the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation All Purpose Trail offers an outdoor excursion of just over 7 miles in Cuyahoga Heights. A good place to begin your journey is at the CanalWay...
The 4.5-mile Mahoning Valley Trail snakes its way south from the Deer Creek Reservoir to the City of Alliance. The reservoir is a popular amenity for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and bird-and-wildlife...
The Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway extends 17 miles along the city's Lake Erie shoreline, between the suburbs of Euclid and Lakewood. The bikeway has on-road sections, and the route is signed. The...
The Steel Mill Trail is a 2-mile continuation of the Bridgeway Trail, which lies within the Black River Reservation, a scenic wooded park in Lorain. The Steel Mill Trail picks up at the north end of...
The Bruce G. Rinker Greenway offers a north-south walking and biking route through Mayfield Village, a suburb of Cleveland. The paved pathway connects Mayfield Center Elementary School, the...
Euclid Creek Reservation All Purpose Trail offers a paved, scenic excursion in the northeastern Ohio community of Euclid, a suburb of Cleveland. The trail is currently divided into two disconnected...
The Niles Greenway is a paved, multi-use path running northsouth between the county line on the south and the town of Niles. The pleasant trail passes through a mix of wooded areas, scattered light...
Though not far from two of Ohio’s largest cities, Cleveland and Akron, the Bike and Hike Trail passes alongside beautiful natural areas, including the 65-foot Brandywine Falls, a stunning cascading...
The Harrison-Dillard Bikeway is a north-south urban path that not only connects the Lake Erie shoreline with the University Circle district, but connects trail users with Cleveland’s cultural past....
The Morgana Run Trail runs on a former Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway corridor through Cleveland’s historic Slavic Village neighborhood. The paved rail-trail connects residents to Cleveland...
The Chippewa Inlet Trail runs for nearly 4 miles between Lafayette Road/State Route 42 and the Chippewa Nature Area. The trail traverses an open, pastoral landscape along the Chippewa Inlet, which...
When completed, the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail will make a critical connection between Cleveland's downtown neighborhoods and the vast Lake Erie. As of August 2015, the first phase of the...
The Newton Falls Trail, built on a former railroad bed, follows the Mahoning River as it winds its way downtown. The route provides pleasant neighborhood views of the quaint township that was...
Though not far from two of Ohio’s largest cities, Cleveland and Akron, the Bike and Hike Trail passes alongside beautiful natural areas, including the 65-foot Brandywine Falls, a stunning cascading...
The Lester Rail Trail in Ohio's Medina County runs 3 miles between Abbeyville Road and Lester Road in York Township. The trail passes through bucolic farmland with scattered remnants of prairie, where...
The Berlin Lake Trail lies mid-way between Cleveland and Pittsburgh in Deerfield Township of Portage County. The 2-mile crushed limestone rail-trail crosses Berlin Lake, traveling through wooded areas...
The Shaker Median Trail provides three miles of paved, multi-use trail in the streetcar suburb of Shaker Heights, to the east of Cleveland, Ohio. Connecting to various schools, parks, and...
Big Creek Reservation All Purpose Trail provides a paved pathway connecting the Mill Stream Run Reservation, Big Creek Reservation, and the Fern Hill Picnic Area. At its southern end, you can connect...
The Steel Mill Trail is a 2-mile continuation of the Bridgeway Trail, which lies within the Black River Reservation, a scenic wooded park in Lorain. The Steel Mill Trail picks up at the north end of...
For nearly 9 miles, the Mill Stream Run Reservation All Purpose Trail runs through a wooded park in Berea, a western suburb of Cleveland. Though the trail loosely parallels Valley Parkway, you will...
The Gates Mills Interurban Bridge, known locally as simply The Walking Bridge, offers a pedestrian-only route over the scenic Chagrin River. The steel truss bridge was built in 1899 for the Eastern...
The Portage Hike and Bike Trail stretches nearly 10 miles between Kent and Ravenna, about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland and the southern shores of Lake Erie. As of December 2015, its entire length...
The Ohio to Erie Trail is a colossal project, not just for the state of Ohio but also nationally. Dreamed up more than 25 years ago, this route will eventually connect the Ohio River in Cincinnati to...
The Harrison-Dillard Bikeway is a north-south urban path that not only connects the Lake Erie shoreline with the University Circle district, but connects trail users with Cleveland’s cultural past....
The Brideway Trail is found within the Black River Reservation, a park in Lorain County, where you can walk, jog, inline skate, cross-country ski or bike. The trail runs between Day's Dam in Lorain...
When completed, the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail will make a critical connection between Cleveland's downtown neighborhoods and the vast Lake Erie. As of August 2015, the first phase of the...
The North Coast Inland Trail will one day stretch across northern Ohio from Indiana to Pennsylvania on a network of connecting off-road trails. Today, large sections of the trail, especially from the...
The South Chagrin Reservation All Purpose Trail offers a paved route just over 7 miles through its namesake park in northeastern Ohio. From its western end on Richmond Road, the trail follows Hawthorn...
The Bruce G. Rinker Greenway offers a north-south walking and biking route through Mayfield Village, a suburb of Cleveland. The paved pathway connects Mayfield Center Elementary School, the...
The bucolic Headwaters Trail is a pleasant 8-mile journey through the rural landscape between Mantua and Garrettsville. The path has a crushed-stone surface and is mostly shaded. It follows the route...
The 4.5-mile Mahoning Valley Trail snakes its way south from the Deer Creek Reservoir to the City of Alliance. The reservoir is a popular amenity for fishing, kayaking, canoeing, and bird-and-wildlife...
South of Cleveland, the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation All Purpose Trail offers an outdoor excursion of just over 7 miles in Cuyahoga Heights. A good place to begin your journey is at the CanalWay...
Love the north inlet trail and a jog around the wetlands. It’s an amazing trail.
The Shaker Median Trail is a nice little park trail. It is located between the eastbound and westbound roadways of Shaker Boulevard in the cities of Beachwood and Shaker Heights, Ohio. The trail runs from Friendship Circle in Pepper Pike to Warrensville Center Road in Shaker Heights. This is not a destination trail, nor a trail that is a link to other trails. It simply serves the recreational needs of local residents in Beachwood and Shaker Heights. The path is narrow particularly in the Beachwood City Parks. Despite it being a chilly day there were a number of people out walking on the trail or walking with their dogs. On warmer days, I would imagine that the park would be much busier, so a crowded narrow pathway could be a bit of problem for a cyclist. Signs in the park directed toward cyclists limit your speed to 10 mph. The trail is listed as 3 miles long and I rode an out and back ride trying to incorporate all of the loops within the Beachwood City Parks so my total distance traveled was 7.3 miles.
I enjoyed riding this trail. Due to the chilly weather I think that I did not encounter as many pedestrians as I would have on a warmer day. This left this narrow trail more wide open than it may have been otherwise, so I was able to ride pretty much unimpeded. One thing that I did not enjoy about this trail were the numerous dog droppings that had not been cleaned up by pet's owners. That was disappointing because there were a number of signs posted within the park reminding pet owners of this responsibility. Otherwise this was a nice little ride.
The end of October we had some really warm days in a row. Took advantage of one of them and biked the Western Reserve Trail. Parked in Orwell and biked a little beyond Rock Creek, and back. Then went South for a few miles. Total trip for the day was 24 miles.
Trail is virtually flat and nicely asphalt paved. Though covered with leaves in a lot of places, they were leaf blowing out there that day and doing a great job!
Gorgeous fall foliage along the trail.
This is a short trail that connects the Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway to the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail along the Cuyahoga River in an area of downtown Cleveland known as the Flats. There are currently two gaps in this trail. The first gap is between the current end of the trail on Whiskey Island and Wendy Park and the old U.S. Coast Guard Station at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on Lake Erie. The reason this is not yet complete is because a bridge needs to be built over a very busy rail line that runs between the current end of the trail and Wendy Park. Cleveland Metroparks has completed plans for this bridge but construction has not yet started. The second gap exists between old Detroit Avenue/Riverbed Street and the lift bridge on Columbus Road. There is an old roadbed in this gap which I believe was once Riverbed Street. You can use this old roadbed to connect to the trail at Columbus Road. The reason this is not "open" is because the hillside along Riverbed Street is unstable. This hill sits above a turn in the Cuyahoga River that is known as Irish Town Bend. There are plans to redo this hillside, make a park out of this land, and fill in the trail gap here. The roadbed is currently passable, but this is an area where the homeless bed down at night. They tend to exist in the brush between the roadway and the river. I have ridden through here a couple of times and have not had any problems. When the hillside is rebuilt I'm sure that the brush along the river will be removed and the homeless encouraged to move on. If this sounds like an uncomfortable riding choice for you, an alternative route to reach the Towpath Trail would be to ride down old Detroit Avenue and cross the Cuyahoga River at the Center Street Swing Bridge and then pick up the Towpath Trail at Scranton Flats.
The Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway is a 17 mile trail that stretches from just West of Edgewater Beach Park on Cleveland's west side to the Wildwood Marina in Euclid Creek Reservation Metropark on the east side. This month, I rode just 3.25 miles of the Cleveland Lakefront Trail as the start of a weeklong southbound ride on the Ohio to Erie Trail. I rode between the Script Cleveland sign overlooking Edgewater Beach to West 28th Street and Washington Avenue, where I chose to ride to West 25th Street and then down to the start of the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail at the corner of Mulberry Avenue and River Road.
This west side portion of the Cleveland Lakefront Trail is in good shape. The asphalt in this section is fairly new and smooth and the signage, both directional and historical, are all noticeable and graffiti-free. I am hoping that these signs are something that will be continued throughout the entire length of the trail but as of June 2019 when I last rode the entire length of this trail they were not in place, particularly on the east side of Cleveland. In addition, there have been bike pathways added to this route that lead into the flats with the intention of connecting the Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway with the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. The intention is to have the Towpath end at the planned Canal Basin Park. However, for those riders that want to dip their tires in both the Ohio River and Lake Erie, Edgewater Beach will remain the best place for your bike to touch the waters of Lake Erie.
Great trail with plenty of shade. Majority of trail is in the woods and very scenic. There are a few areas where tree roots have caused some pretty rough bumps,mostly towards the Champion side. Lacking proper signage at Rock Creek area where you leave the trail for a short time. Very level trail with no hill climbing needed.
I rode 66 miles from the northern most part of this trail starting in Scranton Flats in downtown Cleveland to the the start of the Sippo Valley Trail in Massillon, Ohio. The trail does continue further south to Bolivar, Ohio but the trail south of Massillon is not a part of the Ohio to Erie Trail route. The scenery along this trail is spectacular. You get the tall buildings of downtown Cleveland and Akron, the industrial might of Cleveland's steelyards, chemical, and manufacturing valley, the peacefulness of Ohio's only national park, and the bucolic farms south of Akron. The trail surface varies depending on your location. The trail is paved in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County north of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Inside the National Park the trail surface is primarily crushed limestone, with treated lumber boardwalks in wetter areas. In some spots the trail may be paved for a stretch in areas were erosion of the trail surface has been evident. Outside of the CVNP you will find the trail paved once again through the city of Akron, only to return to crushed limestone/gravel until you reach it's end.
My only complaint relates to the condition of the crushed limestone when it rains heavily or over an extended period of time. The rain softens up this trail surface. I had to work harder to peddle through the the wet limestone. It was pretty soft -- not so soft as to sink into the trail but soft enough to give noticeable additional resistance.
I rode 3.25 miles from the Script Cleveland Sign located west of Edgewater Beach to West 28th Street and then down into the flats to connect to the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail. This trail is easy to follow, is well signed with directional and historical signs and safely transports a bike rider to a connection with the next link in the chain of trails making up the Ohio to Erie Trail route. Once you reach W. 28th Street you may either take it and Loop Drive or continue on Washington Avenue to W. 25th Street in order to connect to the start of the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Trail. In either case, you will be travelling around or through Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority low-income housing units. In addition, the roads in this area are a bit rough. Control your speed so that you don't hit a deep pothole and affect your rims.
I rode all of this trail, as shown on the Trail Link map, on a warm Saturday afternoon in September, 2019.
1) Started at the intersection of Edgerton Rd and Valley Parkway at the eastern end of Mill Stream Run Reservation,
2) rode east along (but not on) Valley Parkway, into Brecksville Reservation,
3) rode along Chippewa Road east to the Station Road Bridge in the Cuyahoga Valley National park (CVNP),
4) rode west to Brecksville Village along Chippewa Rd,
5) returned east to Valley Parkway then west to my starting point.
There are long up hill stretches in both directions; so, no easy way to do this trail! The payback is the exhilarating down hill stretches. In general, you have to go up out of, or down into, the East Branch Rocky River and Cuyahoga River valleys at the west and east ends of the trail, respectively. The trail is smoothly paved all along, except for the short segment in the CVNP which is damaged by tree roots. Car traffic on Valley Parkway and Chippewa Road was light, so there wasn't much noise. Bicycle and pedestrian traffic on the trail was very light. Even though Valley Parkway is not really a park, strips of woodland and a golf course run along it, making it pleasant. In the CVNP, be sure to take in the lovely view from the Station Road Bridge.
Click on "nearby trails" next to the Trail Link map to see the amazing network of paved bike trails to which this trail is linked.
Pretty good for a trail that goes through a completely built-up suburban area. Flat and well-paved along its entire length. The prettiest part is along the shore of Lake Isaac nearly the southern end. Connects to Lake to Lake Trail at Lake Isaac. I recommend doing the 2 trails together. The numerous road crossings are annoying, but the major ones have pedestrian traffic lights, so they are safe.
Started in Akron and went downhill along the trail through the national park and just had a wonderful time. We also enjoyed riding the train back for just $5!
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