Explore the best rated trails in Rio Grande, OH, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Paint Creek Recreation Trail and Old Town Creek Trail . With more than 7 trails covering 90 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.
My wife and I have ridden some incredibly beautiful trails so I was a bit skeptical reading the reviews claiming how beautiful this trail is. I am now a believer. The scenery is beautiful with the cliffs up the hillsides but the most impressive feature for us was the sheer number of bird species that we saw but alas did not see. I turned on the Merlin Bird App which identified 12-15 species of birds in the morning. We have never been on a trail with this many bird sounds. We will ride this trail often as it is one to ride during the 4 seasons.
We started at Mile Marker .5 in Chillicothe on a delightful ride through South Eastern Ohio. We stopped after 19 miles at Austin next to a new establishment (Austin Mill) selling beverages and food. This trail is fabulous! We were thrilled to see how well the trail is being maintained; finding the trail quite smooth with normal asphalt separations that had been filled. Yes, there are occasional root bumps; nothing to worry about as the tree canopy provides great shade. Yes, there are a couple of places where the big arrows had faded to direct us but trail sense kept us on trail. Thank you to the three Ohio counties teaming up to make/maintain the memorable bike trail.
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.
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 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.
We started at the Nelsonville trail head and rode south. We had no idea how beautiful the path was. The path was well maintained and there were several porta-potties along the way. We were getting ready to turn around when we stumbled upon Eclipse Company Tap Room on the path. An appetizer and a few cold ones and we were back on the path. What a hidden gem. We will be back! had a few cold
We rode from Nelsonville to Athens on June 1, 2023. It was a beautiful day and we stayed at the Hocking Tec Lodge. We just got on the trail and saw a turtle. My husband put it over in the grass. It had been several years since we rode this trail. That evening we ate at Sonic and my husband had a sparrow land on his head while he was eating a hamburger. We will remember this great trip.
I looked forward to riding this trail as it is one of the longer rail trails in Ohio. There are several points of interest along this trail such as the Hopewell Mound Group Area of the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, the Double D Bridge, a covered bridge near McClean, and the Shaw Wetlands & Vernal Pool near Washington Court House.
However, like other reviewers of the Pine Creek Recreation Trail here at TrailLink.com, I believe there are a number of things that can be improved on this trail to make it much better. First, a lot of the trail needs resurfacing. There are too many cracks, potholes and tree root uplifting in the trail's asphalt which makes for rough riding. Secondly, there is a need for more bathrooms (or port-a-johns) and sources of water along the trail. I felt fortunate that I rode I on a cool, cloudy day. There is also a need for directional signs at the few points where the trail appears to go off in two different directions. Without signs, one can go off in the wrong direction and add unnecessary mileage to your ride, such as I did. Finally, make sure you bring sun screen as the western end of this trail runs through unshaded farmland. This trail is not bad, but it's obvious that it has been neglected for a while. Therefore, it doesn't live up to its potential.
This trail has lots of potential with scenic views but is in dire need of maintenance and signage. I planned to do the full 70 mile round trip but stopped at just over 23 to avoid damage to my road bike.
Rode from Nelsonville south about 7 miles south and back September 14, 2022. It was a beautiful day on a great trail. Would love to go back and ride the other end.
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