Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Ohio, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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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.
I've ridden this trail several times. This was the first time I've been able to go to end to end without some kind of obstruction or construction. It's a relaxing trail, but if you go on a road bike - ride with caution on the Ohio portion. It will absolutely blow out a tire if you're not paying attention.
My husband and I biked this trail taking the advice of other reviewers by starting at the southern end in Newark which for us was a good decision. The scenery was very nice, a tunnel of trees a lot of the way. Some parts were recently paved but I think at least 25% needs repair with lots of bumps and some sections the maintenance could have been improved. There was a section where the greenery was grown out over the trail. Would have been nice if there were a restroom somewhere along the 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.
My biking pal & I did 15 miles today! Online maps made the trail look paved all the way to 109. But it went to grass & dirt after Oak Openings. It was a grand adventure anyways!
I was in the Beaver County area for about a week. I new of some local areas to ride (I had my bike with me in case I had a chance to get out and ride) I rode a couple areas which were nice but not too long.
I found the TrailLink app and discovered so many trails! The Stavich trail was about 20 miles away but looked really fun.
I started on the Pa side and really enjoyed it.
Loved that there was a working railroad right beside the trail! Several trains went by as I was riding. Lots of little wood bridges to ride over. Nice creeks, wildlife and tree cover.
Heading in to the Ohio side did get a little bumpy but reading the reviews ahead of time really helped me prepare for it. Knowing ahead made it a non issue.
The only thing that I would have liked to seen was more portable toilets.
I don’t believe I saw any to be honest.
Anyway, marked that in down as “completed”!
Rode the trail from West State Street Park to Nelsonville, and back, about 14 miles each way. To reach the trail, follow W. State St. straight through the park, all the way to the end where it loops around the last baseball diamond. There is parking along the diamond loop. The trail is along the outer edge of the loop.
Riding the trail towards Nelsonville, the trail initially has a short downhill section (moderate) and then levels out quickly. The whole way out, I kept feeling like I was riding ever so slightly downhill, but the ride back felt just as easy. I wonder if the overall grade of the trail might be close to neutral, with sections that offer mild gradients periodically.
This section of trail is generally tree covered, providing nice shade. The portion through Athens itself, for the short portion I tried, seemed more open and exposed.
The trail does have some areas of root ridges, but they generally seemed to come it small clusters, and then be fine for a while. The trail otherwise seemed very smooth. There are periodic points when the trail must cross a road. Do follow the signs to stop/yield, but most crossings were easy. Mile markers are painted on the trail pavement, and while the numbers are not large, they are part of a stripe across the width of the trail, making them more pronounced.
I didn't really see any restroom facilities at West State Street Park, which seems odd for its size. Later, I found that if you follow the trail towards Athens for at most a quarter mile, after you go through the small parking lot and cross the street, there is a small red and white building on the trail that had signs noting it has water and restrooms available dawn to dusk (did not go in to verify). There also were port-o-potties along the trail by the road crossing at the Eclipse Company Store (mile 7), the Beaumont trailhead (mile 11), and in the Hocking College parking lot by the historical village (mile 16.5). The northern end of the trail runs between the Hocking College building and its parking lot. If you really had to, you could probably quickly run into one of the college buildings to find a restroom. The trail through Hocking College, by the historical village, also had a water fountain/bottle fill station, and a picnic pavilion to take a break. The signage at Nelsonville indicated restroom and water, but I didn't go into town to verify.
There are several points along the trail to park. They appear well illustrated on the trail's official pamphlet map (http://athensohio.com/wheretoplay/hockhocking-adena-bikeway-2/).
This trail overall just felt like a really nice ride. Very glad I tried it.
Rode north from Millersburg, through Holmesville, to Fredericksburg, and back on a Sunday afternoon. About 10 miles each way. Parked at the Hipp Station trail head, which has basic restrooms in the building (parking lot side) and a port-o-potty in the parking lot. Parking lot could hold 2-3 dozen cars, at least.
The trail starts under tree canopy for a bit and then reasonably mixes between sections of open farm field, limited trees, and denser tree coverage. Trail, which is almost like a colonial era road between villages, is wide and accommodating for its multiple users. The trail's asphalt surface is worn, but not broken, still giving a good ride. Horse and buggy traffic is directed to one side of the trail, so one side is naturally cleaner than the other. Be sure to signal when passing to not spook a horse. Most everyone on the trail seemed friendly and many gave a quick wave hello when passing.
The trail does go onto surface residential streets through Holmesville. It's only a few small blocks, the streets are wide and only 25MPH, and well marked with green bike route signs. When you arrive in Fredericksburg, you will be just over a small bridge from the elementary school to your right, which has a small playground and basketball courts with a gravel lot (so, this is probably the noted Fredericksburg trail head). If you continue through town, following the Ohio-Erie trail signs, in just a couple blocks will be a community park, which had a port-o-potty and a picnic pavilion, nice spot to take a break (Jackson St at Henry St). There appeared to be a small convenience store by the one traffic light in town, if you need a beverage.
My one negative comment would be that the mile markers are generally difficult to see. They are painted onto the pavement of the non-horse side of the trail. The white numbers were generally difficult to see as the fading and the worn white paint lacks contrast against the aging grey asphalt.
The Marion Tallgrass Trail is as straight as an arrow for its 12.4 mile length and for the most part it is a green tunnel of trees and shrubs that is surrounded by corn and soybean farms. For this reason people looking to get more of a scenic view of the surrounding country side may want to put off riding the trail until Fall or early Spring. However, riding in the Fall may not be advisable due to hunting season. There were numerous signs along the trail stating that there was absolutely no hunting allowed within the 100 foot wide Marion Tallgrass Corridor. The trail itself is paved and is in excellent shape.
I unexpectedly found the Marion Tallgrass Trail interesting. First, there is almost no change in elevation so it is easy to get up to speed and sustain it throughout the entire length of the trail. However, there are quite a few road crossings (12) that could effect your ability to sustain your speed. Secondly, based on the location of the trail in Mid-Ohio farm country I doubt that you will ever find the trail crowded. I did come across a few bikers and pedestrians on the trail but most of the time I was on my own. So if you’re looking for a ride were you can get inside your own head, the Marion Tallgrass Trail may be the trail for you. Finally, there was a surprising amount of wildlife to be found along this trail. Despite it being around noon when I hit this trail, I encountered close observation of deer, hawks, Turkey buzzards, ducks, chipmunks, squirrels, and ground hogs. Lots and lots of ground hogs. What would I have seen if I had ridden early in the morning or later in the evening?
The Richland B&O Trail runs through the Richland County, Ohio towns of Butler, Bellville, Lexington, and Mansfield. What's nice about this trail is that the distance between towns is approximately the same throughout the trail -- approximately 6 miles. Throughout its run, the trail goes through several types of scenery from farmland through woods and into urban settings.
The trail is paved but I noticed that several areas are suffering from tree root uplift so the surface gets bumpy at times. In addition, some road crossings are tricky, particularly, either due to the amount or speed of traffic and in some cases the angle at which the trail crosses the road. The worst offending crossings have flashing stop signs directed at riders and pedestrians on the trail, but I feel that perhaps these crossings should also have push button flashers for the trail users to activate to alert drivers when they want to cross.
Overall a trail worth checking out.
The Loudonville Pedestrian and Bicycle Pathway is a pleasant little utilitarian path. It runs between the Riverside Park in the town of Loudonville, Ohio and the entrance to the campground in Mohican State Park to the south. Most of this pathway runs parallel to State Route 3 and runs through the commercial district south of town. Much of the businesses in this commercial district focus on the camping and canoeing tourists that come to take advantage of the Mohican River and the nearby state park. From what I can see it provides access to local residents to reach the businesses along Route 3 which I'm sure employ quite a few people. It also provides the tourists staying at the numerous campgrounds along this stretch to a number of eateries in the area and the town in general. The pathway is is good shape except for a 100 foot section just north of Wally Road that has been dug up and not repaved at this point.
Currently this trail services only the local community, but I’ve read of plans to attempt to connect this trail with Mohican Valley Trail, which is part of the OTET (Ohio to Erie Trail) Route. This 16.5 mile proposed route is called the Wally Road Multimodal Corridor Concept Plan and would connect to the MVT in Brinkhaven, Ohio. I would not consider this trail one to travel to at present, but if the Wally Road Multimodal Corridor Plan is developed, then it and the Loudonville P&B Pathway would be a part of something worth seeking out.
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