We ended up not riding this trail, but had a nice drive along back roads along the river searching for parking. We stopped and walked part. Overgrown with grass. Would be more appropriate for a mountain bike.

My husband and I started at the main pavilion at North Bend State Park and walked to mile marker 30 before turning back. Great exercise for my recent complete ACL reconstruction, nice and flat. Bonus was walking through Tunnels #12 & #13!

I biked the North Bend Railtrail this past week. My summary:

Happy Valley to Petroleum: trail quite manageable, however some areas have gravel that is too large for a rail-trail, but not quite as large as comment below.

Cairo-Ellenboro: very nice, smooth

Westbound Wolf Summit- Ellenboro: first 16mi to Smithburg characterized by very soft surface with numerous large vehicle ruts in the trail—very little gravel-based portions. Would recommend for only the most hardy of bikers.

Smithburg- Pennsboro: smooth and in good condition

Pennsboro Tunnel (tunnel 8)– MM36: a total disaster—gravel the size of rail ballast. Whoever decided to cover the trail with ballast-sized gravel has never ridden a bike on such! Remainder to Ellenboro manageable.

Great Ride! Flat ride. Very enjoyable. Started in Nelsonville at Rocky Boot. Lots of wildlife on this June day. Cool under the canopy. Hot in the sun. Fellow bikers friendly. And courteous. Will definitely return!

This trail was a real treat! We started at the east end trailhead and at first I wasn’t impressed. The commercial area only lasted for a few miles. Next up was Ohio U which was beautiful. This area wasn’t shaded so bring plenty of water. After passing the school, we entered a gorgeous section with a tree canopy. The birds were very active and vocal. Nelsonville was an interesting old town. We rode the gravel bikes, but could have easily ridden road bikes. The trail was in great shape.

This trail was full of birds and the smell of honeysuckle. The asphalt path was extremely well-maintained. We brought our gravel bikes, but could have easily ridden our road bikes.

The trail is straight and a little boring but would be great for horse back riding. It’s roomy with a mix between grass and gravel. We only went on a small portion of it that ran along the highway so other portions of the trail could be more interesting.

From Haskins park towards Walmart could use a bench or something but otherwise a very nice trail. Small tributary nearby and several side trails into the woods by pple and animals. See a lot of birds and deer on the main path itself. A few walnut trees right along the trail. I see several people traveling on it every time I'm there.

EASTERN SECTION. Starting at the Wolf Summit terminus, I rode 10 miles (and 10 back) on a Saturday afternoon 10/19/19 on an old Schwinn LeTour w/ 27 x 1 1/4 tires. I knew it was not an appropriate bike for this trail but it's what I've got.
Yes, the trail is in awful shape, and the state should invest in its improvement. Even during an especially dry fall, I encountered mud and soft ground frequently. The surfaces really varied. The most common surface was grass, but there were sections of fine stone/hard trail (w/in Salem especially) and sections of single and double track. There were a few spots where gravel had been put over previously-muddy problem areas. But the gravel was too big and laid thick to bike through. In the 10 mile section I biked, there were a lot of paved roads that ran parallel to the trail in part. On the way back, I took those to switch it up.
I will bike here again because I live closeby, the tunnels are cool, and it's remote. I will absolutely not bike here in the spring (trail will be soft&wet and a mess then) or after a lot of rainfall.