Find the top rated birding trails in Avon Lake, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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I like to ride the Olde Muskingum one way and then cross over to the towpath at Canal Fulton and Forty Corners and ride it back. Doing it this way you create a nice loop that is mostly shaded. If you want to shorten the loop, you also have the option of crossing over High Mill or Butterbridge. I live in the area and do this often. If you ride on weekdays it isn't very busy, the towpath gets more traffic. However, weekends and evenings you can get a lot of dog walkers near Canal Fulton on this trail. Because of recent flooding in the area both trails have some rough spots. Both surfaces are crushed limestone.
We rode two parts of this trail on separate occasions. First, we rode the entirety of Cuyahoga Valley National Park from Lock 39 to Botzum. Second, we rode from Massillon (Ernie's Bike Shop) to the outskirts of Akron.
Cuyahoga Park: If you're trying to decide between your mountain bike or road bike, pick the mountain bike. This trail is mostly dirt / crushed limestone, and it's quite bumpy. There are paved portions, but they're equally bumpy. Plus, if it's busy, you're not going to get up to speed anyways.
The path itself, on a Saturday afternoon, was full of cyclists and joggers. The trail meandered through the park and was quite scenic. It's northern Ohio, so there's very little elevation to tackle. Overall, if you don't mind a leisurely pace, a nice way to spend the afternoon.
Massillion to Akron: Starting from Ernie's Bike shop going North, the trail is pretty beat up. Whatever gravel was there is gone, and there's exposed concrete mixed with gravel. Which, is a rough ride. However, the closer you get to Canal Fulton, the nicer the trail becomes. From that point, North to Akron, our road bikes did just fine on the mix of paved and crushed limestone surfaces.
Outside of the surface in the start of the trail, this was an excellent ride. Great scenery, interesting things to explore off the trail, not too much traffic (on a Saturday afternoon), and the trail was well cared for. Definitely our favorite out of the two portions.
The Chippewa Inlet Trail follows a creek simply known as the Inlet that flows into nearby Chippewa Lake. The trail is very flat and since it is only 4 miles long it does not take long to cover the entire route. The Inlet is in the middle of a wetlands nature preserve which makes the trail prone to flooding. So this may not be a trail to ride after several days of rain. You also may want to wear mosquito repellant.
The trail runs by and connects to Buckeye Woods Park as well. This is a recreational park that includes sports fields, picnic pavilions, playgrounds and a fishing pond. There are several small loops that you can ride in the park, but be aware of pedestrians as you ride in Buckeye Woods.
In addition, you can combine this trail with the nearby Chippewa Rail Trail, which starts just .8 miles east on Chippewa Road for an even longer ride.
This trail is a nature lovers delight and I would recommend riding it either in the early morning or late evening to maximize seeing what wild creatures may be paying a visit. This morning I saw a bald eagle sitting in a tree across Chippewa Road from the southern end of the trail.
I rode almost 18 miles on an out-and-back on the Headwaters Trail between Mantua and Garrettsville, Ohio. The Headwaters Trail is so named as it covers some of the area that is considered some of the source of the waters that eventually make up the Cuyahoga River. It is a nice shaded trail that is very flat. This trail is about a 20 minute car ride from where I live and I usually ride it several times a year. The trail impressed me today because it was in the best condition I’ve ever seen it in, especially considering that it is a crushed stone surface. There are a number of interesting sights along the way including a few historical markers that I had not seen before.
If you decide to ride this trail consider riding The Esker Trail which is accessible from the Headwaters Trail west of St. Rte. 44 in Mantua. This short trail runs atop a glacial ridge or esker south of the town of Mantua. This ridge ran between the Cuyahoga River and the a large swamp in Marsh Wetlands State Nature Preserve. This trail was passable but I would not recommend it for a street bike. The nature preserve that this short trail runs in is pretty and there are several observation decks with benches to enable one to take in the scenery. If you have a mountain bike or a bike with wider tires this short diversion would be worth a look.
Currently, the Headwaters Trail is sort of in the middle of no where, but if Portage County would move to extend this trail in both directions it could attract a lot of riders. On this Sunday morning there were a number of cyclists, runners, pedestrians and dog walkers out on what turned out to be a beautiful day.
The Cleveland Metroparks' Euclid Creek Reservation and it's All Purpose Trail consists of two sections. The first section is on the Lake Erie lakefront where Euclid Creek empties into Lake Erie. The second section is further upstream south of Euclid Avenue where the creek drops over 250 feet over the course of the 2.5 mile trail.
The lakefront section of the trail is a circuitous route that will take you around the mouth of Euclid Creek as it empties into Lake Erie. This part of the park is also referred as Wildwood Park, after the Wildwood Marina located in the park. The trail gives you access to this marina as well as Euclid Beach Park, a public beach, located on the site of a defunct longtime local amusement park in the adjacent Lakefront Reservation. There is very little change in elevation here as we are on the shore of Lake Erie. I enjoyed this section of the trail because there is a lot to see. I think I spent more time taking pictures here than I did riding the 2.8 miles I put on the bike while in this section of the park.
The southern section of this park and trail are located further upstream on Euclid Creek south of Euclid Avenue. I rode almost 5.5 miles on an out-and-back ride on this section of the Euclid Creek Reservation All Purpose Trail. I started at the Highland Picnic Area Trailhead just off of Highland Road in Euclid, Ohio. The trail follows Euclid Creek as it runs through the park. Starting at Highland Road you climb almost the entire distance through the park until you reach the end of the trail at East Green Road. The slope is not severe but would prove to be a challenge for young and out of shape riders. The reward for climbing along side Euclid Creek in this direction is the ability to coast the entire way back through the park to where you started. However, you really can’t cut loose on the downhill because of the numerous pedestrians walking the trail.
I would recommend checking out both sections of this trail because of the abundant wildlife and the natural beauty of the surroundings. Will the two sections of the park ever be connected? I don't know, but there are a number of obstacles that would have to be overcome to do so -- numerous active rail lines, an interstate highway, several heavily trafficked roadways and quite a bit of residential and commercial development.
The North Olmsted Walking and Bike Trail runs roughly 2.5 miles along Interstate 480 from Great Northern Boulevard to Stearns Road. The trail is quite flat. It is surrounded by chain link fence on both sides for almost its entire length. The surface is asphalt which shows signs of significant root uplifting in several areas. One of the recurring complaints in the reviews for this trail is a lack of maintenance, particularly regarding weeds growing along the inside of the fencing. I will confirm that it is pretty overgrown in some places.
The trail provides walking and riding access for neighborhood residents to North Olmsted High School, an elementary school, and the district administration building as well as Great Northern Mall. This leads me to believe that perhaps the building of this trail was part of the deal to develop the land that became the mall. Definitely not a destination trail for people outside of the community, but probably useful to local residents.
Very smooth, goes thru farms, small towns and some factories. Going east to west subtle down hill so a bit slower on the way back. Saw some nice summer birds. The trail crosses a number of country roads where vehicles travel at speed so be aware.
I rode the All Purpose Trail in the Cleveland Metroparks’ Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation. This park parallels the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail and in fact part of the Towpath runs through the park.
The Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation is a beautiful little park that lies just south of Cleveland’s Industrial Valley. Together with the Cuyahoga River, the northernmost remaining 4.4 miles of watered canal provides wildlife management areas, fishing opportunities and scenic beauty. I find it hard to believe that this beautiful nature preserve can be so close to the heavy industry of steel mills and petroleum tank farms and yet thrive.
TrailLink.com lists the trail length as 7.2 miles but I did not get nearly that milage when I rode just the routes indicated on TrailLink's own map. Perhaps they counted the length of the Ohio and Erie Canal Towpath Trail through the park as well, but if they did I'm not certain why considering that the Towpath gets its own separate listing on this site.
This is a pretty little park that is a green oasis in the middle of Garfield Heights, Ohio. The loop in the body of the park has one steep climb/descent depending on which direction you decide to ride the loop. Make sure you also ride the Mill Creek Trail out of the park. If you follow this trail along the creek you will be rewarded at the trail’s end by the 48 foot Mill Creek (or Cataract) Falls — the tallest in Cuyahoga County. Whether you walk or ride this trail I think you will like it. However, it is too short for 5 stars in my opinion
I rode about 12.25 miles on a lollipop-shaped loop on the Cleveland Metroparks’ Bedford Reservation All Purpose Trail. I started this ride at the Egbert Picnic Area trailhead near the middle of the trail. I road west toward the Alexander Road Trailhead where you can pick up the Summit County Metroparks Bike & Hike Trail. From the Alexander Road trailhead, I turned around and rode back past the Egbert Picnic Area through the remainder of Bedford Reservation in order to connect to and ride the All Purpose Trail in the South Chagrin Reservation Metropark.
The trail in the Bedford Reservation is a very pleasant mostly tree-covered trail following the main roadway, the Hawthorn Parkway, through the park. It’s a bit hilly, which may pose a problem for young riders, or out-of-shape riders, but not for those that ride on a regular basis. I mention this to TrailLink users as this is not a rail trail with gentle ascents and descents they might be expecting.
No matter whether you start from the southwest or northeast end of this trail you will find yourself climbing. This is because the trail crosses over the ridge that separates the watersheds of the Chagrin River to the east and Tinkers Creek to the west. Of course, once you pass the Harper Ridge Picnic Area near the trail's midpoint then it is downhill the rest of the ride. The climbs are not necessarily difficult, but their are a few short spots where the gradient in all likelihood exceeds 7%. I mention this as many TrailLink users will find that this trail is definitely not a rail trail with gentle climbs.
Much of this trail runs through a thin park green space that surrounds the Hawthorn Parkway which connects the Cleveland Metroparks South Chagrin Reservation with the Bedford Reservation to the west. This connection between Cleveland Metroparks is part of a longer 75 mile route through the Cleveland Metroparks Reservations that surround downtown Cleveland known as the Emerald Necklace. Because this particular trail runs through this thin green space between the two aforementioned parks the more interesting sights found in the South Chagrin Reservation are found in the larger park on the eastern end of the trail, though many if these attractions require hikes off the trail to see them.
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