Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Ohio, whether you're looking for an easy short mountain biking trail or a long mountain biking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a mountain biking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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First time on the trail, great experience. Caught me off guard when the trail broke off to a road but wasn’t bad. Smooth enough for rollerblading. My Fitbit said there and back is 13.5 miles. This is the longest distance I’ve gone. This distance should be for Inline Skates, large wheels. They are made for long distance and rough(ish) terrain. Seems like there’s a bench every mile/mile 1/2 which was very nice. I took advantage at stopping at everyone. Good thing because about 1/4 back to the starting point, I started to get real tired. Most of the trail is shaded. Not many people which I like. I listened to my AirPods the whole time and smiled when passing. 5 star trail. Id do this trail again.
I rode a total of 6.8 miles on two out & back rides on the two sections of the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway in Bluffton, Ohio. I first rode 4.61 miles on an out and back ride on the eastern section of the Lions Way Pathway. I later rode an additionalI 2.19 miles out-and-back on the western portion of the trail, labeled as the Augsburger Path.
I started near the center of the trail. I parked at the Village Arboretum on Lake Street next to Cobb Lake. I first headed east on the trail toward Commerce Lane. This portion of the trail leads to a commercial area next to Bluffton’s I-75 exit. Here you will find the Bluffton Inn & Suites Motel, a couple of gas stations along with several fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s. TrailLink.com maps show the trail ending before it reaches Jefferson Street, the main drag, where the exits of I-75 connect. However, this end of the trail now has been extended out to Jefferson Street where an additional trail section has been built along Jefferson toward the center of town. It seems to extend to the end of this commercial area where it crosses over Jefferson. I’m not sure where it goes after crossing Jefferson St. as I chose not to explore the parts not documented here at TrailLink.
Next, I rode back to Cobb Lake and then started riding the trail toward the Bluffton University. At Cobb Lake the trail is actually Lake Street so you may encounter an occasional car as you ride along here. When you reach N. Main Street you will come to a street crossing that leads to a parking lot for Buckeye Lake. This is another park. The city pool and the local YMCA is located next to this lake. If you follow the trail around the lake you will reach Spring Street. There is no indication that the trail/bike route continues from here, but if you head west on Spring Street you will eventually arrive at the Bluffton University Campus.
TrailLink's current map for Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway shows Rosenberger Road crossing through the Bluffton University's campus. I was looking for this street as it would lead to the western portion of the trail known as the Augsburger Path which runs along Augsburger Road. Unfortunately, there is no longer a drive through the Bluffton U. campus as the addition of Lincoln Hall has removed that through street. Ultimately, after trying to find an alternate on-street route on my battery drained phone forced me to return to Cobb Lake, recharge my phone, and find a parking lot along the Augsburger Path in order to ride that segment. When I eventually rode that segment I found it somewhat disappointing it seems to be mostly a commuter route connecting residential areas to the university campus with few interesting things to see.
It appears that the main purpose of the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway is to connect Bluffton University students and Bluffton residents with the village's parks, restaurants (mostly fast food), and other village locations. The off-road portions of the trail are fairly new and are in very rideable shape. The on-road portions of this trail are on lightly trafficked streets, but are not well-marked with signs. If you plan on riding this trail having a map app would be helpful to find your way should you get lost.
With the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway and the Triplett Pathway the Village of Bluffton seems to be creating a multi-use trail loop that will connect Bluffton students and residents with the village's amenities. I would like to return to Bluffton again, to see if I could complete this potential trail loop.
I rode 2.9 miles on an out-and-back ride on the Mad River Bike Trail in Tiffin, Ohio. This rail trail runs from the Seneca County Fairgrounds to the old Tiffin Train Depot located on the corner of N. Monroe and Brenner Streets. The trail runs along Fair Lane which is located on the perimeter of the Seneca County Fairgrounds. Fair Lane was actually built on the old railbed based on my observation of where the trail continues on the other side of Hopewell Avenue.
Crossing over Hopewell Avenue brings you to the nicest portion of the trail. The next half mile runs between the backyards of the surrounding streets. The pavement here is wide and in very good shape. Once you reach and cross Sandusky Street, the trail conditions change. The trail narrows to the size of a sidewalk as it runs parallel to Brenner Street. When you reach West Market Street, Brenner St. becomes a boulevard and the trail then runs in the median between the two directional halves of the street from West Market to Clay Street. After crossing Clay Street, Brenner is no longer a boulevard but the trail continues paralleling Brenner until both the trail and the street end at the Tiffin Train Depot at N. Monroe Street.
The condition of the trail seems to deteriorate as you travel toward the train depot. It appears that there is just less usage of the trail on the northern end of the trail. The pavement is more worn and crumbling in some spots. I found it unusual that there would be sharrows painted on Brenner Street while the trail was running through the median of its boulevard section. On a positive note, there are rider/pedestrian operated flasher crossing signals as the trail crosses over W. Market and W. Perry Streets.
The Mad River Bike Trail appears to be a nice way to access the Seneca County Fairgrounds for some of Tiffin, Ohio’s residents. However, at present, I view this trail's utility as limited. It is not a trail that I would recommend to people from outside of Seneca County unless the southwestern end of the trail is extended approximately 13 miles to Carey, Ohio.
We parked at mile marker 9, Bur Oak Trailhead and biked to mile 0.0 at Lakeside Landing in Lorain, on the shores of Lake Erie. This section is not a traditional rail-trail as it has hills and ramps and quite a few bridges which cross the Black River multiple times. In 9 miles we passed a few trailheads with parking and facilities. From mile marker 9 to 2, you're on a paved trail then the last 2 miles into Lorain are share the road sections. Worth the trip! Biking to Lake Erie from Elyria was very fun. While in the area we stated in nearby Vermilion.
In my opinion, this might weep be one of the top 10, if not top 5 trails in Ohio. Beautiful river crossings, rolling hills and a great mix of shade and sun. Watering and bike maintenance stations await you in Danville, Howard, Gambier, and Mt. Vernon. In addition, the trail itself is very well maintained. Happy trails!
Hello, we finished our lovely ride July 7 and returned to our car parked in Corwin. As my husband took off his glove, his wedding band came off as well and flew somewhere. It is gold with an inscription. We searched for a few hours as well as a few residents of Corwin and other bikers as they saw us searching. We returned today with a metal detector. I think it must have attached itself to a car. Please let me know if found
Trail is flat and paved, goes through mainly open areas of farmlands, a few short wooded sections offering shade. Old rail towns such as Kipton and Oberlin. One short share the road section, well marked. Several (back) road crossings with trailheads and parking. We rode from West Elyria to Huron Co line and continued into Wakeman. Round trip was 30 miles. Great trail! We stayed in Vermilion and went to the lighthouse on Lake Erie.
After parking in Hamilton, Ohio's Jim Grimm Park located on Cleveland Avenue, I rode 2.4 miles on an out-and-back ride on the Hamilton Beltline Recreational Trail. The current trail is a combination of the first and second phases of a planned 3.5 mile loop on the west bank of the Great Miami River. Eventually plans include an off-road connection to the Great Miami River Recreational Trail located on the east bank of the river.
Jim Grimm Park which is located in the center of the current 1.15 mile trail. The trail runs between Eaton Avenue and North B Street which runs along the Great Miami River. This tree-lined trail runs through a ravine in which Twomile Creek runs toward emptying into the Great Miami River. This asphalt trail is in very good condition and seems to be popular with walkers and joggers. I think that it would probably get more cyclists riding it if the entire planned loop were to be completed. This would include completing an off-road or separated bike lane along B Street and over either the Black Street or Main Street bridges in order to connect to the Great Miami River Recreational Trail. Early plans of the trail’s route showed a trail connection to these bridges along the banks of the Great Miami River. However, when I reached B Street there was a sign indicating the end of the trail and there was no indication of any route paralleling B street to the bridges. However, after looking at a photo I took at B Street, and also looking at images from Google Earth, the sidewalk on the west side of B Street appears to have been widened to accommodate both pedestrian and bike traffic. I may have to ride this trail again to explore this possibility.
From what little research I’ve done, the other phases of the project to extend the trail beyond Eaton Ave. are well behind schedule so perhaps local interest in completing the trail has waned. The Hamilton Beltline Recreational Trail seems to be a trail that local residents like, but at this time, it is not one I would recommend going out of your way to ride.
Beautiful ride
Rather than announcing on your left, just say passing. People start moving left and right and get confused about their left and right. I end up saying "your other left"
This path is located on the eastern shore of Grand Lake in Grand Lake St Marys State Park. The trail parallels the East Bank Parkway which features 3 picnic shelters with water and parking lots and great views of this large lake. Personally I think this path was created to keep joggers and cyclists off the parkway during the shelters’ busiest times – weekends and holidays during the summer.
The pathway is in fair shape but functional. There are quite a number of spots where wide cracks run across the entire width of the trail. Patching or resurfacing the trail would improve the ride. I could see this trail becoming a part of a larger network of trails that would encircle Grand Lake. Coupled with the Franklin Township Greenway Trail and the West Bank Trail the potential network is about half complete. Since I’m not a resident of the area perhaps there is a feeling that the loop around Grand Lake is already complete. However, several of the roads around Grand Lake carry cars at high speeds and do not have wide shoulders or bike lanes which makes an out-of-towner such as myself hesitant to ride them.
This trail primarily connects the athletic fields in Findlay, Ohio's Swale Park to nearby neighborhoods. However, a map displayed at the River Landings playground parking lot on Fox Street indicated that there was a lot more to this greenway on both sides of the Blanchard River. The maps here at TrailLink.com identify the trail on the opposite side of the Blanchard River from Swale Park as the Heritage Trail (OH) rather than the Blanchard River Greenway Bike Trail.
Supposedly once you reached the corner of West High and North Main Streets you could ride down N. Main St. to connect to the Findlay Downtown Riverwalk where you could connect to “trails” on both sides of the river. Since I was riding this trail during the afternoon rush hour, I found North Main Street to have too much traffic to my liking, and it did not include a designated bike lane or use sharrows. It appeared that North Cory Street may have been a better route to connect to the trail on the other side of the Blanchard River because it was less trafficked and had sharrows. The trail surface for this trail was in good condition with the exception of the spur that ran out of Swale park to the corner of Broad and Howard Streets. There was a 15 yard or so break in the asphalt somewhere between Bolton and Fox Streets that looked as though somebody decided that there should no longer be a connection to Swale Park. Maybe this was just an area where a repair was hastily completed.
While this trail is probably useful for Findlay residents, it is not one that I recommend to riders from outside the area to seek out for a ride.
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