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Print Friendly MapThe Triplett Bikeway both figuratively and literally paved the way for more bike paths in the Village of Bluffton. The trail was built as a result of citizen organizing in the 1980's, led by Ropp and Mary Em Triplett. There are two off-street segments connected by village streets. The first segment starts on Lake Road and parallels the railroad tracks to State Route 103, a distance of nearly a half-mile. The lower segment can be reached by riding on village streets - Huber Street then Mound Street, Cherry Street, Geiger Street and College Avenue. This stretch, which passes under I-75, is much more wooded and winds its way along streams to Bluffton Village Park. Visitors there can engage in organized sports like soccer and baseball. There's also park seating and a playground.
Today, the Village is home to about 10 miles of soft and hard surface trails, and counting.
Parking can be found at the top of the trail on Lake Street. There's also parking at the south end at Bluffton Village Park (County Line Road 15, south of I-75).
I rode a total of 2.84 miles on two out & back rides on the two sections of the Triplett Pathway in Bluffton, Ohio. I started by riding the southern portion of Triplett Pathway that runs out of Bluffton Village Park which passes under Interstate 75 along the edge of Riley Creek, and enters into a residential neighborhood at East College Avenue where the trail actually ends. To connect to the northern section of the pathway you would have to ride on some residential streets but the route was not marked with a sign at the E. College Ave. intersection. Thus, I had to drive to the northern section trailhead located at the Village Arboretum next to Cobb Lake in order to ride from there to see if I could find the street route to this southern portion of the trail. Riding from the arboretum, the trail and the on-road route is better signed and was easy to connect to the section leading to Bluffton Village Park.
It appears that with the Triplett Pathway and the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway the Village of Bluffton is creating a multi-use loop that will connect Bluffton University students and Bluffton residents with the village's parks, restaurants (mostly fast food), and other village amenities. The off-road portions of the trail are fairly new and are in very rideable shape. The on-road portions of these trails are on lightly trafficked streets, but are not necessarily well-marked with signs so at this time having a map app would be a must to find your way should you get lost. I would like to return to Bluffton again, to see if I could complete this potential trail loop.
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