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Print Friendly MapThe Wabash Cannonball Trail is a 64.1-mile multiuse trail in northwest Ohio. Running along a former railroad, the rail-trail surface is a mix of paved asphalt and hard packed cinder ballast.
The trail has two main forks: North Fork runs east–west for 46 miles and its South Fork runs southwest-northeast. The forks converge in the eastern city of Maumee and then jackknife away on their separate routes.
About the Route
The Wabash Cannonball, one of the state’s longest rail-trails, traverses four counties along the former corridor of two rail lines established by the Wabash Railroad. The South Fork was built in 1855 and the North Fork circa 1900. See vestiges of the Wabash as the trail travels through the small towns that were once bustling with railroad activity. Spot an original depot, travel over railroad bridges, and browse railroad memorabilia at the historical museum in nearby downtown Montpelier.
Also enjoy spectacular wildlife-viewing opportunities. Portions of the trail are segments of the North Country National Scenic Trail, a 4,600-mile-long hiking trail that will eventually connect the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail in western North Dakota with the Appalachian Trail in Vermont.
Beginning in Maumee at the northeast end of the trail, both sections of the route meet at Jerome Road within sight of The Shops at Fallen Timbers. Don’t be confused by the sign labeled Wabash Cannonball Trail—North Fork; just 0.25 mile west, the South Fork breaks off to the left (southwest) while the North Fork continues straight (west).
It’s worth noting that a side excursion to the Fallen Timbers Battlefield and Fallen Timbers State Memorial (recognizing the 1794 battle that helped open the Northwest Territory) is within easy reach; simply take a paved trail spur south along Jerome Road for 1.6 miles, passing over US 24 on a bicycle and pedestrian bridge. Side Cut Metropark is also accessible on the south side of the US 24 bridge. The park gets its name from an offshoot of the Miami and Erie Canal and provides a great place to learn about Ohio’s canal history or enjoy beautiful views of the Maumee River.
Traveling west from Jerome Road, the first 15.7 miles of the North Fork are nicely paved (up to SR 109). Travel across several bridges over small creeks, marshy wetlands, and deeper ravines before the pavement ends and the smooth paved trail gives way to crushed stone, grass, and dirt for the remainder of its length, with the exception of 2 paved miles in the town of Wauseon.
Along this first paved stretch, the trail passes the scenic Oak Openings Preserve Metropark. More than 50 miles of trail, a few of which intersect with the Wabash Cannonball Trail, exist within the park, so there is an option to take one of these into the park to explore the range of habitats found within its almost 5,000 acres.
Approaching Wauseon, the trail follows a short on-road section at County Road 11. To navigate this, take a right onto CR 11, traveling north 0.2 mile, and then turn left onto CR F, traveling west 2 miles, before turning left onto CR 13 another 0.2 mile south. The trail appears again on the right.
Back on the path, the route comes to the town of Wauseon. Rotary Park, on the right side of the trail, offers parking, restrooms, and plenty of shade. Continue to the trail’s northwest end in Montpelier.
The beautiful South Fork route travels through western Lucas County for about 17 miles. The first 10.5 miles are paved and deliver a fun, flat, and fast ride. The final miles are similar to the unpaved section on the North Fork; the crushed-stone section is best suited to walkers, equestrians, and hybrid or fat-tire bikes.
Traversing the charming community of Whitehouse, the trail passes Whitehouse Village Park, where there are restrooms and picnic tables. A little farther on, there is a red caboose circa 1927 sitting trailside. Just before the caboose, the route crosses Providence Street, a major thoroughfare in town; turn right onto the street to reach restaurants. The trail passes through two more small communities, Neapolis and then Colton, before reaching the trail’s southwest end at the historical depot in Liberty Center.
Connections
In Maumee, the trail connects to the Wabash Cannonball Trail Connector.
The Wabash Cannonball Trail runs between Montpelier, Maumee, and Liberty Center.
Parking is available at:
These are not official addresses, visit the TrailLink map for all parking options and more detailed directions.
On recumbent trikes, we recently rode about 15 miles of the North Fork; 5 non-paved miles on the far west end, and 10 paved miles on the eastern end. We did not ride the middle section around Wauseon. We also rode the 10 paved miles of the South Fork. The unpaved west end of the North Fork was in very good shape, much better than many parts of the C&O Canal Trail. Any bike with wider tires should be able to enjoy it.
No one has commented on the number of road crossings on all the trail sections. In the 62 miles of trail, there are more than 75 road crossings! Just when you get pedaling up to speed, you come to a road crossing. Some road crossings are very busy, with lots of cars coming fast. Others are not. You have to slow for each one to be sure.
A very nice trail and very worth riding.
I live close to Fallen Timbers and pick up both the north and south paths often and I have road the whole south trail a couple times. I ride both a full suspension and no suspension mountain bikes from the early 2000s. Either is adequate for the parts of the trail I’ve road on. I find the trail beautiful. I’d like to make it out to Montpelier but have only made it just past the detour between Delta and Wauseon. The posted detour has you going about 4-5 miles on county roads. This is very dangerous. I would not recommend as the traffic is very fast and if cars come from both directions you have to get off and the off often ends up in a ditch and not easy. I’ve found it better to just continue on the path and avoid the detour. But this places you along the railroad tracks and it’s very difficult to ride. They are active tracks also and trains will come by. Riding on the trail though the detour is possible but rough and the part that goes over the tracks and along them is not marked well. It took some exploring to figure it out. I can’t speak for the trail after wauseon to Montpelier as I haven’t made it that far but the parts I’ve road are a great path for all day riding. You will have to cross streets along the way so you will have starting stopping.
I started on the north fork just east of Montpelier riding east and after awhile realized this trail was just not passable by bicycle (rough aggregate / overgrown / down trees). After West Unity I moved to neighboring highways (mainly roads G and F) until I got east of Wauseon. When rejoining east of Wauseon the quality of the trail was still very poor. But once I reached the Delta trailhead on Hwy 109 the trail transformed into a very nice quality paved trail all the way into Fallen Timbers. I was just passing through on longer ride so did not spend anytime on the south fork.
I would probably characterize some of the sections west of Wauseon as some of the poorest trail situations for bicycling I have ever seen. Then on the flip side the section east of Hwy 109 were great. Assuming this Jekyll and Hyde scenario is due to different groups maintaining the trail with Toledo Metroparks section to the east of north fork being very nice. Northwestern Ohio Rail to Trails Association maybe lacking resources to conduct proper maintenance in western portions of north fork (or maybe bicycling is not considered a primary use for the trail in the western portions of the north fork).
Parked at Keener Park, which has a lot of parking, restrooms and water. Rode east until turn on southern leg, went to Fulton-Lucas Rd (CR1) where the pavement ended. Turned north on CR1 for 4.5 mi and only had 4 cars pass me on a Saturday late morning. Turned west when rejoined the northern leg and rode thru pavement end, before trying to go further about a mile over coarsely crushed stone surface and grass.
Turned back and proceeded past Keener Park and past south fork to Wabash Cannonball Connector trail which winds past mall and over freeway to Fallen Timbers monument area. Down the hill to the trails in the Side Cut Metropark along the muddy Maumee River. Then back up to Keener Park- about 52 miles.
Although my plans had been to ride further west until the trail became too bumpy even on my hybrid, adventuring over to Fallen Timbers and the park more than made up for my disappointment. There is a lot of history and scenic things to see that I might have otherwise missed had I hit my distance goal (50) sooner.
Not a destination trail yet as the unpaved surface needs improvement, but certainly a great day trip and one I would repeat in the future.
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