Explore the best rated trails in Norwalk, OH, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway and Chippewa Rail-Trail . With more than 24 trails covering 490 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.
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!
I rode the entire trail on 02/04/2024. The temperature was in the low 30s to start and mid 40s at the end, sunny and little to no wind. I parked just off of I-70 near a dog park. The parking lot was in the open and lots of people were visiting the dog park so I felt comfortable about where I parked. From there I headed south to Butler and then up to the north end at Mansfield. As mentioned in other reviews, the trail is a mixture of open and tree lined and rural and less rural and I would really like to ride this trail again when the leaves are on the trees. In general the trail runs up hill from Butler and for the most part has a shallow grade. The only time that I really noticed the grade was after turning around at Mansfield. From there to around mile 15 or 16 (from Butler and the highest point on the trail) the grade was noticeably steeper. The trail is entirely paved and I found it to be fairly well maintained. As mentioned in other reviews there are stretches where roots have damaged the pavement...nothing severe but enough that I kept a firm grip on the handlebars when I encountered these stretches. For whatever reason, I found the northern part of the trail to be more inviting than the southern end. The northern end is also where I encountered the vast majority of other people using the trail. Sadly, I only passed by a couple dozen people during my ride and all but one were pedestrians. For a trail as nice as this one, I would have expected to see hundreds of people.
On the negative side, there are approximately two dozen road crossings. Most are small roads and appeared to be not frequently traveled. However, three or four were busier roads with vehicles traveling at highway speeds.
Overall, I definitely recommend this trail.
Baseline:
I am a male in my 60s and typically together with my wife (she was otherwise engaged that day) frequently ride rail trails. Our home trails are Buffalo Valley and Pine Creek and our favorite trail relatively close to us is the Northwest Lancaster.
Fremont to Bellevue section. Trail is flat and paved in good condition. Biked to Bellevue to lunch and back for a 25 mile round trip. Not much shade, goes through mostly farmlands. In the 12 miles from Fremont to Bellevue, 21 road crossings! Most of them there wasn't much traffic but you still had to stop, once you got going. In the past biked from Elmore to Fremont, found it to be more scenic.
We rode this trail, round trip, on 09/21/23. The weather was dry and in the low 70s. At this time of year, the trail is shaded enough to not be hot, very comfortable with shorts and a t-shirts.
The trail is fairly flat, being an old railroad, you'd expect that of course. There are several road crossings to negotiate, don't be in a hurry. Much of the trail has root damage, but that's been was ground down flat, so the ride is smoother. Some of the trail goes past industrial and commercial areas. Hills off in the distance are very scenic, it's good thing we didn't have to go up them!
There are several points along the way you can get on and off the trail, even stop for ice cream. Learn more about the trail at http://www.richlandbandotrail.com/
Nice trail for walking, running, and cycling. On the Saturday morning that I rode this, there were two guys blowing leaves off the trail, so it is being maintained. Be aware that there is about a quarter mile of the route that is off trail and you’re on a country road. The road doesn’t appear to be heavily traveled, though.
We rode a short section of the trail from the park on E 31st St in Lorain. We rode north and across the 1000’ bridge. It was very beautiful, but too steep for us 70-somethings on traditional bikes. Most of the other bikers rode e-bikes. Maybe sometime . . .
Love this trail, very peaceful, scenic and clean. The last few walks I have taken (at end of Sept 2023), the mosquitos have been abundant (I walk between 97 & Lexington). Be sure you're prepared.
Drove down from Norwalk to ride this trail today and enjoyed it very much.
The trail is mostly really nice with great scenery along the entire thing. West of Norwalk, you will run into few issues, with the dip just to the West of the trailhead having some ruts due to runoff. Going East from Norwalk has some beautiful farmland, but you would be wise to keep an eye down at the trail itself. From ruts and potholes formed to attempts to fill these with sand, along with smelly evidence of horses, there are plenty of things that could quickly wreck your day if you aren't paying close attention. I've tried submitting a review previously, but maybe negative reviews are not authorized? Makes me wonder if any reviews are worth their salt on here honestly.
I was coming from the West. Once I got to the gateway trail head, there were signs at first to direct where to go, but it didn't prevent me from losing the suggested path. Once I pulled up the map from here, the line didn't align with any trail or road near Cascade park and it had it going right through a very closed, very tall fence at the Elyria Police station. Unless there is an underwound tunnel that I didn't see the entrance to, this map was apparently drawn by someone that hasn't been through there. Maybe it was "this is about where we want it to go" at one point, but don't trust the map.
Overall I enjoyed riding the NCIT when I found what to me is the true start of a rail trail.
I feel both TrailLink and the Lorian County parks are misleading on the overall length and nature of the trail. Not all of the advertised 19.3 miles are continuous asphalt for pedestrians and cyclists. There are gaps that would require you to either use a dedicated bike lane (not too big of an issue) or sharing a sidewalk or road shoulder with no shade (a much larger issue to me).
To me the true rail trail experience starts at The Gateway Trailhead in Elyria (6302 Gateway Blvd, Elyria). From there it is a short on road section to a little over 15 miles of paved, mostly flat trail. The trail is in very good condition, has mile markers every half mile and although it has a fair amount of road crossings there was only one in the 15 miles that was busy.
Scenery is mostly farmland, with a small bit of woods and wetlands. Oberlin is a good stop off with many options for food only a short ride off the trail. If I had known to start at the Gateway Trailhead this would have been an easy 5 star trail for me.
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