Find the top rated birding trails in Marion, 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 decided to try riding the whole thing, and it was an adventure!
Started as far NW as I could, which is a little more than a mile W of Elmore, where the trail is more of a suggestion. It worked out because within 1 minute of being on the trail, I met an older guy (didn't get a name), who told me the trail is being extended that way, and it would get real nice in a mile, at Elmore. It did, and I went on my way down, crossing under the toll road. After several more miles, it ended just outside of Fremont and I had to do the city street thing. Other than a short stretch on US 20, the city streets were pretty nice passing a lot of older style homes in a residential area. From there, went on further to Clyde, where it goes right through downtown. After that I raced a train for a few miles until the trail stopped at a crossing...that I had to cross. The train parked and I ended up going under it to keep going. The trail picked up on the N side of the tracks (route 177 to US 20) and became a large sidewalk along US 20 Through Bellevue. Turning S, was tricky. The "path" is a very tiny almost sidewalk size road along some tracks called Monroe st. It eventually turns E and then you pick up a crappy gravel trail at local route 22. Stay on the gravel for many miles through Monroeville, to Norwalk. From here, there's a little bit of paved trail, and a decent amount of city street traveling. Have your Google maps handy here! You'll go up Main st, then use local 18. When it ends, the trail is across the street and slightly S of your position. It's also the crappy gravel, and uphill. I consider this the general hardest part of the trail as you're going miles on this. When it ends, it's due to someone not selling out, and you have to go around. I went N, E, then S to avoid US 20. I recommend it and it's not crowded. Then you go E into Wakeman, which has a nice little bridge crossing a creek, and then...nothing it seems. Actually you go up River st a few hundred feet, an then get on this nice brand new trail they built, which swings S onto the side of US 20 for 2-3 miles. Then N on County Line rd for a few hundred feet, then E on nice trail for many miles to Oberlin. Oberlin was a nice little town, with lots of people out and about. The station was a nice respite for my push to the end. So after a break, I continued. The trail rides N-NE now for several miles all the way to Elyra. When I did this, the bridges on the road at trails end were being rebuilt, so I (and several other folk) walked my bike across one of the bridges that was super rough. Then as the trails do NOT link up, I used W River road, to Ford road (a few miles) to get to Black River Reservation and continue on trail all the way to route 611 in SW Loraine. That was a very nice set of trails, and I highly recommend those northmost trails of the route. After a few miles of riding city streets of W Loraine, I made it to Century park on the lake. In general this was a really nice trail, but due to the train, a few turn around moments, and the gravel in the Norwalk area, it wasn't perfect. But if you want to ride a trail (or set of trails) that really go somewhere, this comes highly recommended. Trails ridden: The 3 sets of the NCIT trail, plus the Steel Mill trail. Total route miles: 87
I've rode it 3-4 times. It is a nice in the woods for most of it. The drawback is that it is not connected on either end with any other trails or parking. I understand that someday soon, the HOOT will link to it from the north. That would be great!
Note that this trail goes one long block further into London now: It ends at Walnut st instead of Maple. Might not seem like much, but it really helps as riding 665 at the Maple intersection was kind of hazardous!
Trail is as good as any I have ever ridden. Good asphalt surface. Had the privilege of riding a few miles with 18 year trail volunteer "Pete". Lot's of knowledge from him. Thanks for your service!
Best way to describe my trip: Clean path, corn stalks, yellow and green soy bean fields, friendly folks, Sandusky river, trains, good parking areas and shelters.
It's hard to beat an urban trail like this one. I started in northern Westerville and rode the Galena trail south to the Big Walnut trail to get to the Alum Creek trail. Unfortunately there was construction along Polaris Parkway that forced me to use some surface streets and sidewalks to do this. Be aware that most maps read Alum Creek trail in Westerville, but these are really just sidewalks with traffic lights for crossing major intersections. I used a sidewalk to enter the Senior Center grounds a avoid a grade crossing by biking below a bridge.
Although water sources are shown on the map, I could not find them on this, my first ride on the Alum Creek trail.
The many graceful bridges made the ride rewarding. The contrast between urban riding and country riding was also dramatic. Connecting to the Blacklick Creek trail was very obvious. I rode on to the northern end of the Blacklick Creek and then back to Westerville. I found water at the Westerville fire department. The citizens of Columbus can feel proud and fortunate to have this gem. The very friendly riders I met along my journey really made a positive impression.
Be aware that there is a potentially dangerous dip in the center of the trail about a mile south of East Main St. on a downhill when headed south.
For cycling? Bringing your bike here will be a total waste of time.
The trailhead at the Litzenberg parking lot gave zero information that this is a trail for bicycles. There was no signage, kiosk text or graphics about bikes.
The trail started behind a gate next to the lot as a vehicle trail, then changed to a mowed path for a good distance through an open meadow. No paving, just cut grass. Ok, I have a mountain bike, so I thought I'd continue for a bit. Then it formed into a narrow footpath that turned sharply as I came onto wetlands. End of journey. Turn around.
Folks, what I saw was a nice hiking / nature trail for walking; it is not at all appropriate for a bike.
I can imagine cyclists plowing into slo-mo hikers, maybe mom- dad and kids. I would give zero stars as bike trail is possible.
I have ridden on this trail different times and love it each time. It is all asphalt or concrete which makes bike riding easier..
Beautiful trail that traverses Alum Creek via multiple, cool bridges. If you’re starting at the north end of the trail, plenty of parking at the Westerville Sports Complex/soccer fields. Very low gradient as you ride with the current of the creek southbound. Trail is in great shape/completely paved. Utilizes several boardwalks which are very slippery when wet. Roughly 15 miles in(if you start at the northern end), you can hop off of the trail and visit the Franklin Park Conservatory. Immediately before that, you can crossover the Broad St bridge or the ped bridge to the Old Bag of Nails pub, which has a wooden deck overlooking the creek. At least 50% of trail is shaded
The description said it was paved. It I was glad we took our hybrids. A lot of people were riding road bikes but too bumpy for my taste of riding road. Easy ride. Scenery was amazing! Would definitely do trail again.
I had initially intended to ride the entire Huron County portion of the NCIT in one day but unfortunately I got a late start and was forced to break this cross county ride into two separate rides.
In both cases I started my ride in Norwalk, Ohio from the N. West Street trailhead. I decided that I would ride east first and then return. There is a 3.2 mile on-road stretch in Norwalk east of the trailhead on N. West Street starting at State Street and continuing until you reach the Clinton portion of the trail starting at Laylin Road. Leaving Norwalk this on-road section of the trail was well marked and motorists are informed to share the road. However, except for one small portion where there are bike lanes you are riding on the road in traffic with no berm. My impression was that these roads were not exceptionally busy but that could have been due to the time of day I was riding. Since I have never been very comfortable riding on roads that I am unfamiliar with when I reached the end of the actual trail east of Collins, Ohio I chose not to continue with the on-road route to Wakeman when I reached Derussey Road. In addition, I was concerned that returning from Wakeman late in the day would put me on the roads in Norwalk right about the time the sun would be at a difficult angle where drivers would be looking into the sun as they and I were headed west. The map posted here on TrailLink.com for this portion of the NCIT does not show the on-road portions of the trail as part of the trail. The Firelands Rails to Trails Group that manages the Huron County portion of the trail views these on-road segments as part of a complete trail in their county.
The off-road trail surface is composed of crushed limestone. Inside the city of Norwalk it is packed down pretty well and any type of bike tire would be able to navigate the trail easily. East of Laylin Road the surface gets much softer. I have 2 inch Schwalbe Marathon Plus Touring tires and I could feel the increase in rolling resistance so be warned that this might not be a trail friendly to bikes with thinner tires. Firelands Rails to Trails considers the trail scenery west of Collins as some of the best on the entire NCIT, but for me I felt as though I was riding through a green tunnel most of the time. I suppose that in early Spring and late Fall when there aren't as many leaves on the trees and brush that the views of the scenery are much better.
A week later when I returned to Norwalk to complete remainder of the Huron County portion of the NCIT I rode from Norwalk to Bellevue, Ohio. The this portion of the North Coast Inland Trail travels west through Monroeville and on to Bellevue while paralleling an active Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad rail line. Once you get to Bellevue, if you take an on-road route through town, you can connect with the Sandusky and Ottawa Counties portion of the NCIT. I had intended to ride to the to the start of this next county segment but the on-road segment through Bellevue was not signed or acknowledged at the end of the Huron County NCIT section so I decided to turn around. If you intend on riding the entire NCIT check out the connecting on-road sections on a map before you go.
Again, the trail between Norwalk and Bellevue is a crushed limestone surface that was somewhat soft. It appeared that shortly before my ride additional stone had been recently laid down on the trail. Wider tires would help on this surface, but perhaps after some time this newly laid stone will compact and the surface will feel a little less soft.
Riding this trail section reminded of the Katy Trail in Missouri. Perhaps it was the trail surface and the corn and soybean fields that surround the trail. Perhaps it was the farming towns that these trails run through and mileage between them that is similar as well.
I would like to see the Firelands Rails to Trails Group, who have done a great job of promoting and maintaining the Huron County portion of the NCIT, to continue to push to purchase, develop, and maintain more of the missing portions of the trail so that on-road riding is eliminated almost completely. I also hope that some day the trail will be paved as well. Sometime in the future I will have to take a couple of days and ride the entire 100 mile plus North Coast Inland Trail in one ride.
I started in Elmore and headed east towards Bellevue, but the on-road traffic conditions in Fremont were too much for me. I got to ride about 11 of the 28 miles.
Excellent, flat and hard-paved as a dedicated trail from Elmore to Fremont, pretty scenery on this very flat section of Ohio. Nice to see open farmland, and to cross under the Ohio Turnpike.
In Fremont the trail continues onto a light-traffic but 4-lane curbed street with no adjacent sidewalk. The curb means that I couldn't quickly get off the road itself, so I rode on the grass and through parking lots to stay away from the possibility of cars. I didn't see many bike signs, so I made a couple of wrong turns on quiet country roads (which was wishful thinking) but righted myself with google maps. The route continues on 4 lanes until turns right onto a 2-lane streett a narrow berm. During the day of my ride, there was heavy traiff, utility work and new building construction underway, with cones blocking the berm access, I had had enough by that point and turned around.
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