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Great trail... I’ve worn my own path on it! Walked, biked, ran! Awesome place to relax!
I've ridden the Ohio to Erie Trail (OTET) three times; first in July of 2013, again in May 2016, and most recently in October of 2019. It is interesting to note the progress that has been made in filling in the on-road gaps in the trail between each ride. However, it is frustrating to witness the glacial pace at which this trail is being completed.
Currently, the largest on-road gaps in the OTET exist between the end of the Sippo Valley Trail in Dalton and the beginning of the Holmes County Trail in Fredericksburg; between Killbuck and Glenmont on the Holmes County Trail, and between the end of the Heart of Ohio Trail southwest of Centerburg and the beginning of the Sandel Legacy Trail in Sunbury. There are a few smaller gaps in the OTET among which include, the bike lane in the Ohio River Trail in Cincinnati, the missing bridge over Little Miami River at the end of the Little Miami Scenic Trail needed to connect to the Lunken Airport Bike Path and a less than 1 mile gap between the Prairie Grass Trail and the Roberts Pass Trail in London.
The Ohio to Erie Trail is a paved trail except for the portion of the Ohio & Erie Towpath Trail that runs through northeast Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It is unlikely that the National Park Service will pave this portion of the trail due to the canal's historical significance in developing the Ohio territory and helping to expand our nation from the original 13 colonies.
This trail links the three C's of Ohio -- Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. These are Ohio's 3 largest cities. In between you will encounter a variety of cities and towns; rivers, wetlands, and forests; industrial, commercial, and agricultural areas; and different types of topographies. This variety makes the Ohio to Erie Trail unique when compared to the nation's other long-distance trails.
It is important to understand that the OTET is still a work in progress. While some locations have embraced being a part of the trail, others seem to have completely ignored it. Communities that embrace the trail offer bike friendly establishments whether they be bike shops, hotels, Bnb's, restaurants, or trailheads. There just are not enough of them. The state of Ohio should be looking into promoting such businesses along the trail. One thing that is certainly needed are more official, recognized campsites along the trail. Whereas riders of C&O/GAP Trail, or Missouri's Katy Trail can expect to see a campsite roughly every 8 to 12 miles, the OTET has some areas where such campsites are 60 miles apart. Such distances don't make the trail appealing those that would prefer to camp. It also doesn't give riders much wiggle room in their itineraries to explore around the trail or deal with the unexpected such as a flat tire. Perhaps more campsites and other amenities will become a priority once the trail is fully completed.
My complaints are not intended to be a trashing of this trail but rather constructive criticism designed to help improve this into one of America's great trails. With the Rails to Trails Conservancy designating much of the OTET as part of its route for the Great American Rail-Trail through Ohio, I'm hoping that improvement and completion of the trail will become more of a state priority. If you are considering riding the Ohio to Erie Trail, don't hesitate. It is worth every pedal stroke.
The Westerville B&W is more a network of trails rather than one single trail. They are not necessarily all rail-trails, though the Ohio to Erie Trail (OTET) in this trail system certainly seems like one because of how straight it was and how gradual the changes in elevation were. I rode just two of the trail routes in this network: The Ohio to Erie Trail (The Towers Trail on some maps) and the County Line/Schrock Trail. I rode the Ohio to Erie Trail south from Maxtown Road where the Genoa Trail ended, to County Line Road where I crossed over the street on a bridge and then circled back to pick up the County Line/Schrock Trail. I headed west on the County Line/Schrock Trail in order to get closer to the Polaris area where my hotel for the evening was located. The County Line/Schrock Trail definitely is not a rail-trail as the it rises and falls as it runs parallel to County Line Road. The ascents and descents were not too bad but they were not railroad grade hills. As I rode these trails I was struck by how wide they were, and how well they seemed to fit in with local infrastructure. Part of me thinks that one reason for the many wide trails in this network was that they were built as the city transitioned from a farm community to a Columbus suburb before many of the buildings and homes in the area were built. Or perhaps the community had a visionary City Council and Mayor that knew that these trails were something that a growing community would want to attract new residents and pushed for their construction despite the cost and barriers that had to be overcome.
The next day I rode the same trail routes out of town. I rode south on the Ohio to Erie Trail until I reached the Westerville Bike Depot. The Bike Depot was an interesting place to stop. It has a very clean and awesome display of now and then pictures of Westerville. There are water fountains, bike racks, rest rooms, lockers, a picnic table, and a fireplace. It is located behind the Westerville Public Library in Hanby Park. The southbound OTET route in Westerville is well signed and easy to follow. You follow the Ohio to Erie Trail south until you reach Schrock Road, then follow the bike lane on Schrock which leads you to the Alum Creek Trail.
I plan to come back to Westerville to check out the rest of the trails in this network.
The Genoa Trail is a short trail that serves as a connector between other trails in the Ohio to Erie Trail route. The trail connects to the Hoover Scenic Trail if you are traveling north, and the Westerville B&W (Bike & Walk) if heading south.
This trail is a pretty flat, pretty straight, 4 mile rail-trail that runs through Genoa Township, north of Westerville, Ohio. The trail parallels N. State Road (OH-3) for most of it's length. It passes by the Char-Mar Ridge Preserve and Park on it's northern end and finishes on its southern end by half-circling Northgate Plaza and the Home Depot Store on Maxtown Road in Westerville. Even though the trail is close to OH-3 you travel through a tunnel of trees for much of the 4 miles of the trail. It only really loses the tree cover when you approach Northgate Plaza.
The Hoover Scenic Trail is what I consider a short connecting trail in the Ohio to Erie Trail route. Essentially, it's purpose is to connect the Galena Brick Trail with the Genoa Trail just north of Westerville, Ohio. The reason this trail exists is because the actual railroad right of way that could connect the Galena Brick Trail directly to the Genoa Trail runs through the Blackhawk Country Club. In all likelihood the country club doesn't want bikers and pedestrians on their private golf property and there are probably liability insurance concerns over pedestrians and cyclists getting hit by golf balls. A short half mile on-road route south of the Galena Brick Trail connects to the Hoover Scenic Trail by looping around the Country Club. The Hoover Scenic Trail then completes the job by bringing the traveler back to the Genoa Trail which is where they would have been if the trail could have gone through the golf course.
The trail itself is in good shape. It travels along the Hoover Reservoir for a bit and then it turns west and up and over the Old 3C Highway (a fairly busy road) by way of a trail bridge. After crossing Old 3C the trail descends back down to Plumb Road where the trail ends. From here a southbound Ohio to Erie Trail rider would turn right and ride along Plumb road until you reached the Genoa Trail on the left side of Plumb Road. The total distance you travel on the Hoover Scenic Trail is 0.8 miles.
I recently rode this trail as part of a southbound trek on the Ohio to Erie Trail (OTET) route. This rail trail located in Galena, OH was 0.8 miles long but a new extension northeastward to the Sandel Legacy Trail has added another 2 miles. In addition, there is a trail loop in Galena's Miller Park, which I feel doesn't add much to the the OTET route, so if you are riding the across Ohio, skip this loop.
The surface of the trail is asphalt and is generally in good shape. The worst wear in the trail surface occurs in the trail loop in Miller Park. The part of the trail which is really part of the OTET Route is in good shape. To connect to the next southbound OTET trail in the cross-state route, the Hoover Scenic Trail, there is about a half mile of road riding. However, this on-road ride is pretty protected. You have sharrow markings on Dustin Road. When you reach W. Columbus St./S. Old 3C Rd. you get bike lanes to travel in, and when you turn left into Wiese Road you are riding an old road which basically only serves as a driveway for one house. Once you pass this house you are on the Hoover Scenic Trail.
The Sandel Legacy Trail located in Sunbury, OH currently exists in two parts which total only 0.6 miles in length. I rode what currently exists of this trail when I rode across Ohio on the Ohio to Erie Trail route.
I rode the southwest section of the Sandel Legacy Trail as it was closer to the next trail leading to Columbus, the Galena Brick Trail. There is a whole depot-like area within Sunbury, just south of the Delaware County Courthouse Square, where the old rail line ran through town. The two segments of this trail seem to be on either side of this depot area. You might actually be able to ride the area between them, but I did not attempt to do so. When I left Cleveland to ride across Ohio, I knew that construction was going on that was going to connect the southwestern section of the Sandel Legacy Trail with the Galena Brick Trail. It was my hope that this construction would have been completed between the two trails before I reached Sunbury, but I had no such luck. I guess that extension of the Galena Brick Trail will have to wait until my next OTET trip.
As far as the Sandel Legacy Trail goes. the asphalt surface is in great shape because it is new, and probably because so few people presently ride this trail. Once the connection is made to the Galena Brick Trail that will change. First of all, there is quite a bit of home development going on along this trail extension. You can see connecting trails already going into these new home communities. Secondly, the combined trails will give local residents a longer trail to ride and a safer connection to the trails that lead into Columbus. I believe this will also create a greater demand for the Sandel Legacy trail to be extended northeast through Sunbury and then further north to the Meredith State Road Trail, thus closing the North Columbus Trail Gap entirely.
At present the highlights of the the Sandel Legacy trail are the rail bridge over South Columbus Street, the Sunbury Station/Depot building (home of the Delaware County Model Railroad Group), tree identification markers along the trail that point out various tree species that occur along the trail. When the trail gets extended to the north on the other side of the depot area, the trail will cross over the Big Walnut Creek on a fairly large rail bridge.
The Meredith State Road Trail is a new, isolated section of the Ohio to Erie Trail (OTET). At present it does not have a trailhead or any parking along its length. On my recent southbound ride on the Ohio to Erie Trail, I had to road ride for several miles from the end of the Heart of Ohio Trail in order to connect to and ride this trail. Because the trail is new and is not directly connected to any other part of the OTET route, the trail signs posted on the trail do not indicate the milage to other destinations on the Ohio to Erie Trail. This is a nice, flat, smooth trail that will be a great trail addition to the Ohio to Erie Trail when it is connected to other nearby trails. This 1.5 mile trail will help to close the current on-road gap between trails in the area north of Columbus, Ohio.
The Heart of Ohio Trail is a 15.7 mile trail that goes from Mount Vernon, Ohio and travels southwest through the towns of Mount Liberty and Centerburg before ending at Huffman Road about 2 miles southwest of Centerburg.
The trail pretty much parallels US-36 from Mount Vernon to Sunbury. It is paved and again is a typical rail-trail in terms of how hills are smoothed out into a manageable gradient. While this trail, to me, lacks the same level of natural beauty that the Holmes County and Kokosing Gap Trails have, it makes up for that with some very interesting sights along the way.
The first of those sites is the Ariel-Foundation Park right in Mount Vernon, Ohio. This park starts at Mount Vernon Station, right after you cross S. Main Street and continues through the park which is built on the site of an old Pittsburgh Paint & Glass (PPG) factory. The park features, some hiking trails, sculptures, an event center/concert venue, some remanent buildings from the PPG days, and probably the most interesting feature is the observation deck that is built around the 280 foot reinforced concrete chimney that was once part of the plant. If you climb to the top you can overlook the entire park, the city of Mount Vernon, and look for miles in any direction.
The second interesting site is drag racing strip several miles beyond Ariel-Foundation Park. I have ridden past the strip when there were still some cars and racing teams at the track, but I have yet to witness any racing going on as I passed by.
As you come into Centerburg, you have to cross over US-36. This is a busy road, so even though the rail-line crossed this road at an angle, they have re-routed the crossing so it is perpendicular to the roadway, and have placed a push button flashing signal to alert drivers of someone crossing. almost immediately after crossing US-36 For southbound travelers, almost immediately after crossing US-36, you come upon a marker stating you have just reached the highest point on the Heart of Ohio Trail. The trail then descends into Centerburg passing by Hillair Township Park/Memorial Park until you come to N. Clayton Street. Here you will find see the grain elevators and a pizza place called Pizza Burg. There are other places to eat in town if you chose to turn left and head to the center of town.
The Heart of Ohio Trail now gets you through Centerburg completely, and while you still will need to quite a bit of road riding, there are now pieces of trail between Centerburg and the Hoover Scenic Trail, south of Sunbury, that are in place and waiting to be connected to other nearby trails with construction going on right now. I think 3 years from now there will absolutely no road riding between Mt. Vernon and Columbus.
When you enter Mount Vernon, Ohio on the Kokosing Gap Trail you have to cross over Mount Vernon Avenue. If you go straight ahead you end up in Phillips Park, a recreational baseball park and picnic area. This is where the Kokosing Gap Trail used to end. If you turn left after crossing over Mount Vernon Avenue you are on the Downtown Connector. This one mile trail follows the Kokosing River and connects directly with the Heart of Ohio Trail. It also brings you to South Main Street and the southern end of the city's business district. There is a Comfort Inn hotel right at the end of this trail which makes it very convenient for bikers.
A useful trail, but not a trail to travel out of your way to ride.
The Kokosing Gap Trail is one of my favorite Ohio rail trails. I first learned of and enjoyed this trail during my first trip across Ohio back in 2013. On a southbound Ohio to Erie Trial route ride the trail starts in Danville, advances to Howard, then Gambier, and finally to Mount Vernon, Ohio. The first 10 miles are very flat, but after Gambier you begin climbing at railroad grade into Mount Vernon.
Each town has something unique to see along the trail. In Howard there is a unique stone bridge and building combination that carries US-36 over the once former rail line. When you come into Gambier, you come upon Gambier Station and the Kenyon College Athletic facilities. At the station you will find restrooms, a picnic pavilion with tables, and a repair station.
You will also see an 0-6-0 switching steam engine, a flat car, and a caboose on display. A little farther down the trail you come upon Kenyon’s Brown Family Environmental Center. There is a beautiful garden there, quite a few hiking trails, and lots of environmental programming.
After the environmental center you begin climbing toward Mount Vernon while following the Kokosing River. You'll cross two beautiful railroad bridges in the process.
When you reach Mount Vernon you'll have to cross over Mount Vernon Avenue. If you go straight after crossing you'll end up in Phillips Park a recreational baseball park and picnic area. This is where the Kokosing Gap Trail used to end. However, if you turn left after crossing Mount Vernon Avenue you'll ride on the short Downtown Connector Trail. This one mile trail connects directly to the Heart of Ohio Trail.
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