I did an out-and-back ride on this trail on a sunny October day. I started in Newark, Ohio and rode northwest toward Johnstown. If you start in this direction you will start out with a very flat ride between Newark and Alexandria. Once you reach Alexandria you will start a manageable yet steady climb to Johnstown where the trail ends. Along the way you transition from a city to a smaller towns and then into agricultural and rural areas. The trail is lined with trees for much of the way, but it opens up quite a bit in the middle of the trail as you travel through a number of farms. The fall colors were spectacular.

Some of the previous reviews of this trail complained that the trail was not well-kept and required quite a bit of maintenance because the trail surface was not up to road bike standards. I couldn't disagree more as I found the southern half of the trail in fine shape as if had been recently resurfaced. The northern half was not quite as smooth but I felt that there were not many areas where there was rough pavement. A few cracks here and a bit of tree root uplift there but not so much so that any stretch of trail would be considered in need of repair. On this day, there was a Licking County Park worker driving a pickup along the trail towing a leaf blower trailer blowing the fallen leaves off of the trail. Certainly, maintenance is being done to this, and probably all other, Licking County multi-use trails.

I rode almost 10 miles on an out-and-back round trip on the Newark Trail. This is a paved commuter route that runs along the OH-16 freeway from the intersection with the T.J. Evans Trail just off of Cherry Valley Road on the western end to the Licking County Family YMCA off of 12th Street in the east. This trail needs to be extended further east to the county courthouse in downtown Newark, and then onto the T.J. Evans Panhandle Trail. When traveling eastward, once you reach the Y you can follow the designated route into downtown but you are no longer riding a trail nor riding in a bike lane but rather on streets marked with sharrows. There is an additional spur to this trail that crosses over OH-16 and connects to the campus of Ohio State University-Newark. This spur actually goes 1.5 miles further north of the OSU-Newark campus to Goose Pond Road which gives the trail user access to Rotary Park, the Lou & Gib Reese Ice Arena, and the Newark Area Soccer Association athletic fields. I only rode this spur up to the OSU- Newark campus as a weather front was coming in and I wanted to avoid getting wet.

For a commuter trail I think this trail has a number of unique sights and certainly a certain level of utility. However, I think that for this trail to become completely useful to the citizens of Newark, and Licking County in general, the city and county leaders must find a way to create an off-road trail or series of protected bike lanes from the eastern end of the Newark Trail into downtown Newark, and then on to connect to the T.J. Evans Panhandle Trail. It will be at this point where there will be a backbone of a regional trail system of which they can be proud.

We started in Danville and headed up toward the “Bridge of Dreams”. It was pretty but nothing spectacular. We thought we would just go to the north end and back but once we got through the bridge (full of road apples) it started getting a little more interesting on the Holmes county trail so we continued another 5 miles before returning back. Glad we took a photo op at the bridge. Spent the rest of the day hiking Lyons Falls which was gorgeous.

Nice bike ride from Mount Vernon to Gambier and back. Great trail though mainly wooded sections. You will cross a few nice old rail bridges on this section. And over the Kokosing River a few times.
We parked at the old train station in Mt Vernon and took the connector which is about a mile long and under construction. They are re-doing it.
We biked to Kenyan College.
Lunch near the trail at an old Diner in Mount Vernon and the food was delicious. After the ride there is an ice cream place a few hundred yards from the trail in Mount Vernon. Between Mount Vernon and Gambier there is nothing so make sure you have water/snacks.
Connecting trail are Heart of Ohio, Mohican Valley and Holmes County. All asphalt paved in great condition.

Danville to Gambier and back for a nice ride. Trail is mainly flat, asphalt paved in good condition. There are a few bridges to cross along the ride also through open farmlands and some wooded areas. Trail services in Danville....food and water. There is a grocery store, sub shop and Dollar Store located near the parking area.

Trail is purely a taste of what Ohio is all about. Open farmlands through small towns and add in some wooded areas as well. And this trail is flat!
We parked in Mount Vernon and accessed the trail at Ariel Foundation Park which is a cool historic place of the former PPG glass works which closed in the 1970's. We biked to Centerburg and back for a 30 mile round trip. Along the trail there is basically nothing as far as trail services so take water and snacks with you. In Centerburg you can go to the little town a few blocks off the trail. We found places to grab lunch, snacks and water.
This trail connects with several other trails. You can bike from Centerburg OH to Glendale OH on 40 miles of paved asphalt via connecting trails Kokosing Gap, Mohican Valley and Holmes County.

This is a nice trail through the trees, especially in the Fall when the leaves were turning yellow. The road crossings in the southern portion weren't bad when using the signals. The trail surface was in good shape.

I biked the trail on October 17, 2020. Many sections in the lower portion were newly paved and most curb transitions between trail and road were also new. The orange cones were still in place. There is not any crushed stone as the description mentions. I could tell that the grass had been cut back from the trail, which brought it back to intended width. So the comments of a previous reviewer who said the path was narrow, sections torn up by development and bumpy, no longer apply. The few sections that had some grass growing in the cracks were not a problem. The one section where the trail was blocked crossing the new road by a new development looked like it was ready for cement. It was not an issue for me to go around it. It is true that there isn't any shade, but trees are planted. So many many years from now, some of the trail might be in the shade. :-). I did register 9 miles, not 7.8 miles, from the parking lot by Mac Donald's on the corner of Attucks and Sawmill Parkway to the north where it hits Rt 42. Lots of parking by businesses and restaurants at the southern end point. There are many road crossings, but I still managed to get over 13 mph between the roundabouts. Overall a nice trail for the business and residential/subdivision areas.

Park in Butler and enjoy the fall colors! Clean park restrooms (and ice cream for veterans’ donation) in Bellville. Yes there are a few busy crossings but don’t let that stop you from enjoying this ride. Great coffee and pastries in Mansfield to end the day.