Find the top rated birding trails in Sheffield 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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Pretty good for a trail that goes through a completely built-up suburban area. Flat and well-paved along its entire length. The prettiest part is along the shore of Lake Isaac nearly the southern end. Connects to Lake to Lake Trail at Lake Isaac. I recommend doing the 2 trails together. The numerous road crossings are annoying, but the major ones have pedestrian traffic lights, so they are safe.
Started in Akron and went downhill along the trail through the national park and just had a wonderful time. We also enjoyed riding the train back for just $5!
We were in town for the Cleveland Kite Festival and decided to knock out a ride on the Towpath Trail inside Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The northern trail head at Rockside Station was less than 10 miles from Edgewater Park downtown and easily accessible by car (41.392790, -81.628648 Independence, Ohio Lock #39). We had ridden southern sections of this long trail and this was no different - smooth and hard packed crushed limestone. Lots of trail traffic on a Sunday afternoon, but pedestrians and cyclists co-exist. Would like to return to take advantage of the Bike Aboard program.
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.
I biked this a few years ago for my birthday. We started in Peninsula, Ohio and took the train up about fourteen miles up the Cuyahoga River to Rockside Station and biked back to Peninsula. It was probably one of my favorite birthdays I can remember. They even had beer on the train. What a delight. Along the way we stopped at the Canal Exploration Center, had Ice cream at Trail Mix in Boston, peaked in the Boston Visitors Center, and watched the Steelers game at Winking Lizard Tavern. It was a great little adventure. There's so much to do and see in Cuyahoga National Park. I strongly recommend Hale Farm and Village.
I rode what I will call the northern and southern sections of the trail. On the northern segment the trail runs from the Erie County water tower to River View Drive. The southern segment runs for about a mile along the old Wheeling & Lake Erie rail corridor from North Main Street in Milan, Ohio. So, the lawsuit mentioned in other reviews here must have been favorable to the abutting landowners as the trail certainly does not cover the same distances as mentioned in zars 2010 review.
The northern section has a grass surface that covers a solid crushed gravel under layer. The DuPont Marsh is pretty with many types of aquatic birds to be seen. Where the trail ends you get a good opportunity to see the Huron River. The southern section is very similar to the northern section of the trail in that it has a grass surface covering a crushed gravel under layer. However, the surface is softer than what you find in the northern portion of the trail and probably difficult to ride after a prolonged rain. Definitely, not a trail for skinny tired street bikes.
At this point the Huron River Greenway is probably best left to the local communities as the grass surface and several mile gap between segments do not make it attractive to people looking for new trails to ride. Until local property owners decide to reopen their portions of the rail corridor to the public I would imagine that improvements to the trail surface and additional amenities probably are not in the picture for Erie MetroParks. There are a few pretty sights on these two trail segments but until they are connected to each other or to some other nearby trail I would not go out of my way to ride this trail.
This is a very pleasant trail. Most of it is wooded and shaded. Crushed limestone path in very good condition. Passes through some state nature preserve areas. Generally flat grade throughout. There's a restroom roughly halfway between Mantua and Garretsville. Nice change of pace from busier places like the towpath.
I waited for the rain to pass and still had to deal with sprinkles to check this short little trail off my list of TrailLink.com’s Ohio listed trails. The Heartland trail is under development and will achieve two major goals. First, it will fill in an on-road section of the Ohio to Erie Trail route and move it on to trail from Fredericksburg to Clinton and connect the Holmes County Trail with the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Secondly, this trail when completed will also be a piece of the RTC’s nationwide rail trail route, The Great American Rail Trail, as it makes its way through Ohio.
The trail is so short right now it probably is unfair to evaluate it. Presently, it travels through Orrville, Ohio’s Dog Park and parallels Main Street as a widened sidewalk up to a parking lot just south of Hostetler Road. I believe that the current map on TrailLink.com is incorrect as it shows the southern part of the trail in Orrville as an on-road route down N. Ella Street to W. Market Street. However, Sterling Avenue coming out of the Dog Park is signed as a bike route and is marked with sharrows. Once you reach W. Market Street, if you turn left and ride one block down to Depot Street you will arrive at Orville’s Union Station and a new trailhead for the Heartland Trail. In addition, the present map here at TrailLink.com doesn’t show what appears to be a fairly new trailhead with bathroom facilities.
There's great potential in this trail already, I can't wait until it begins connecting to nearby towns. Only two stars for now because of its current length.
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.
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