Find the top rated dog walking trails in Solon, whether you're looking for an easy short dog walking trail or a long dog walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a dog walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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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.
We frequent this trail a few times a year traveling about an hour to get here. Worth the trip.
Parked at the Sunside Trailhead on 305 and biked through Trumbull County to the Ashtabula County line. We continued into Ashtabula County a few miles to Orwell. Then biked back. Approx round trip 27 miles.
Trail has some areas of new pavement (2018) and goes through open farmland areas, offering full sun, and closed wooded areas shaded by trees.
Trail is virtually flat though at times you may notice slight grades.
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.
The Hoover Park Connector Trail is a nice trail that combines asphalt and crushed limestone surfaces. It is maintained by the Stark (County) Parks. Basically this trail connects Hoover High School with Walsh University. Along the way it also connects to the Hoover Community Recreation Complex and Middle Branch Trail (and Glen Oak High School) while winding its way through several residential neighborhoods. The trail is fairly flat with a few short steep climbs that can be easily tamed if you stand up out of the saddle.
My one complaint about this trail was that there were a few spots where the trail ended at a street and it was not exactly clear where the trail picked up again. There was always an arrow sign at each of these endings indicating the direction one would need to travel but in each case the path arrow on the sign showed several turns and there was no indication how far it was to pick up the trail again. In this aspect the trail could be improved.
While I would not characterize this trail as a destination trail for people outside of the area, I can see that this trail has great utility to the local residents who can utilize it to travel between popular community facilities.
Alliance, Ohio’s Iron Horse Trail is a nice flat crushed limestone trail that runs from the University of Mount Union south through a low traffic residential neighborhood (on road) and then connects to a rail trail that quickly gets into farmland and much more wild open space. There are a couple of 2 car parking lots/trailheads along the route, but signage along the trail suggests parking at the Trailhead at First Christian Church on Beech Street. This is probably because it has a much larger parking lot, bathrooms and a picnic pavilion. I started at the FCC trailhead and headed south first. I then rode back to FCC and then up into Alliance where the trail ends at the university's gates on Clark Avenue. This is a nice little trail that currently seems more popular with joggers and pedestrians rather than cyclists based on my observations during my ride. I think if the trail were to be extended further south beyond the current end at Cenfield Avenue, NW then more people might actually bike this trail.
Parked at the lot in Orwell behind the blue metal building just off Route 322. No restroom at that lot but there is a fix it tool station.
This is at mile 2. Biked North to the Interstate 90 underpass at mile 21, and back. The trail is virtually flat and nice asphalt pavement in good condition. Mostly out in the open you will go through a rural area of farmlands. There are a few parking areas along the trail. In Austinburg there is a convenience store steps away from the trail and a Dollar Store off the trail. Had lunch in Orwell at the Mexican Restaurant, all was good there. Also biked South of Orwell to the Trumbull / Ashtabula County line. There's a rock marker at the county line. Trail has mile markers. There are shaded areas of the trail as well. The day we went it was nearly 90 degrees and full sun so bring your sunscreen. And plenty of water. Great with friendly people on it!
The Chippewa Inlet Trail follows a creek simply known as the Inlet that flows into nearby Chippewa Lake. The trail is very flat and since it is only 4 miles long it does not take long to cover the entire route. The Inlet is in the middle of a wetlands nature preserve which makes the trail prone to flooding. So this may not be a trail to ride after several days of rain. You also may want to wear mosquito repellant.
The trail runs by and connects to Buckeye Woods Park as well. This is a recreational park that includes sports fields, picnic pavilions, playgrounds and a fishing pond. There are several small loops that you can ride in the park, but be aware of pedestrians as you ride in Buckeye Woods.
In addition, you can combine this trail with the nearby Chippewa Rail Trail, which starts just .8 miles east on Chippewa Road for an even longer ride.
This trail is a nature lovers delight and I would recommend riding it either in the early morning or late evening to maximize seeing what wild creatures may be paying a visit. This morning I saw a bald eagle sitting in a tree across Chippewa Road from the southern end of the trail.
bike trail very well maintained! very scenic and relatively flat. parking areas easy to find. we started at the Sunnyside trailhead. would definitely do another section another time.
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