Your Favorite Bike Trails in Ohio and Nearby (Long)

I hope that some of you would enjoy sharing your opinions on great
"non-automoble" biking spots I would like to learn of them from you.

I'll start off by sharing some of my favorites - backed up by a
personal experience or two for each. Can you add?

Fav #1. Little Miami Trail from Xenia to Milford/Terrace Park 55 mi.
one way

I use this one frequently. All asphalt minimal contact with streets.
Very green, rural, by wildlife sanctuary, along the Little Miami River,
old quiet historic towns. A bit urbanized south of Loveland OH, but
overall a decent ride and an opportunity to safely cover many miles.
Xenia (mile 0.0) is not the north terminus so much as it is a node:
with gateways to three more paved sections to Dayton (20 mi), Urbana
(30 mi) and London (30 mi), respectively. Want to do 150 easy miles
in one day on 100% bike path? Dayton to Xenia - 20 miles, Xenia to
Terrace Park 55 miles, and then go back. Would I do it again? Of
course.


#2. The Kokosing Gap Trail from Mt. Vernon to Danville - About 14 miles
one way, plus an optional 5.

Did this in 2003. It was recommended by a bike path acquaintance as one
of the prettiest he's seen. I took my wife and we both highly agree.
Hills in the distance, old well-kept historic New England style
structures along the way, colors on the rolling farmland. It approaches
The Mohican Valley Trail - a dirt trail that ventures about 5 miles
into Amish territory - the terrain abruptly changes to an Appalachian
feel. Nice in its own way, but no longer is it easy road riding.
Together a round-trip to/fom would be about 38 miles. We combined this
with a B&B stay in an old Mansion in Mt. Vernon for a trip back in
time. It was nice. Would I do it again? Yes!

3. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park Ohio and Erie Towpath Trail
connecting to the Summit County Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Did
this in 2004. Stone-paved - not asphalted, a bit narrow and too
urbanized in spots me - the nicest job of making an above-ground sewage
line seem tourist-worthy. Really pretty marsh land, history through
the National Park, and it was a nice day. Seems to me is was about 20
miles through the national park, plus another 20 through the Summit
County park system - one way back in 2003. (Has this changed?) thus
about 80 miles to/from RT. Would I do it again? Not sure, but glad I
did it.

4. North Bend Rail Trail in West Virginia. Did this in 2005. This
dirt rail trail is a real hoot. Get out your slow fat tired bike with
13 tunnels through the WVA mountains - some of them pretty doggone
long; cattle grazing on the wide spots (that means fresh cow patties),
visibile seams of coal in the railbed cuts, really old towns, abandoned
shacks, few people, noise from pumping oil wells, occasional yellow-boy
leaching in the mountain streams, one wash-out that required a muddy
detour. It's too non-technical to be called a mountain bike trail, but
harldy a place for roadies. 72 miles ow / 144 mi RT. I'm going back
to do this again!

Can you add to this? I am particularly curious (actual conditions and
mileage) about these spots:

1. The Wabash Cannonball Trail in NE Ohio - It's not really 63 miles of
useful trail yet, right?

2. What's near Windsor, Ontario? How about the Chrysler Canada Greenway
segment of the Trans Canada Trail?

3. The Cleveland Emerald Necklace Trail - is this really the beauty
that some make it out to be?

It has been my experience that some websites and brochures describe
some trails when the construction has barely begun. I saw one brochure
about a major trail across North America, with mileage charts. As I
drove by on my way home, I found that very little of the trail was
actually built. I've also seen some advocacy site that overstate how
great/ wonderful the biking experience can be. No one should have to
travel a distance only to find that the reports are not right.

So, does anybody have some good reports from personal experience?

Many Thanks

Daytin Capri

2. What's near Windsor, Ontario? How about the Chrysler Canada Greenway
segment of the Trans Canada Trail?


The Greenway is 41km of very flat hard packed dirt with pea gravel, easy
to ride on. Essex county has the lowest percentage of forested area in
Canada, so there's really only farmland for scenery. The trail passes
through two pleasant small towns (Harrow and Kingsville). There is a nice
winery http://www.peleeisland.com that the trail runs beside and it ends
at Colosanti's Tropical Garden http://www.colasanti.com/.

The barracades where the trail crosses several backroads tend to be
uncomfortably close together,however, the sponsor groups responsible for
trail maintenance continue to make small improvements: signage, interpretive
plaques, etc. year after year and hopefully will address that issue in the
future.

Windsor and Essex County has several other bike trails and bike friendly
areas (and sadly some not so friendly) The tourist bureau has maps
available with most of them clearly marked.

Personally I prefer heading to Toronto and following the Lakeshore route
down into the Niagara region, over 300km of paved bike lanes and VERY wide
paved shoulders; absolute stress free touring.

Hey thanks for posting the trails, I'm planning some trips here in Oh
Dave
http://www.noweldrecumbent.com

"daytoncapri" wrote in message
ps.com...
I hope that some of you would enjoy sharing your opinions on great
"non-automoble" biking spots I would like to learn of them from you.

I'll start off by sharing some of my favorites - backed up by a
personal experience or two for each. Can you add?

Fav #1. Little Miami Trail from Xenia to Milford/Terrace Park 55 mi.
one way

I use this one frequently. All asphalt minimal contact with streets.
Very green, rural, by wildlife sanctuary, along the Little Miami River,
old quiet historic towns. A bit urbanized south of Loveland OH, but
overall a decent ride and an opportunity to safely cover many miles.
Xenia (mile 0.0) is not the north terminus so much as it is a node:
with gateways to three more paved sections to Dayton (20 mi), Urbana
(30 mi) and London (30 mi), respectively. Want to do 150 easy miles
in one day on 100% bike path? Dayton to Xenia - 20 miles, Xenia to
Terrace Park 55 miles, and then go back. Would I do it again? Of
course.


#2. The Kokosing Gap Trail from Mt. Vernon to Danville - About 14 miles
one way, plus an optional 5.

Did this in 2003. It was recommended by a bike path acquaintance as one
of the prettiest he's seen. I took my wife and we both highly agree.
Hills in the distance, old well-kept historic New England style
structures along the way, colors on the rolling farmland. It approaches
The Mohican Valley Trail - a dirt trail that ventures about 5 miles
into Amish territory - the terrain abruptly changes to an Appalachian
feel. Nice in its own way, but no longer is it easy road riding.
Together a round-trip to/fom would be about 38 miles. We combined this
with a B&B stay in an old Mansion in Mt. Vernon for a trip back in
time. It was nice. Would I do it again? Yes!

3. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park Ohio and Erie Towpath Trail
connecting to the Summit County Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail. Did
this in 2004. Stone-paved - not asphalted, a bit narrow and too
urbanized in spots me - the nicest job of making an above-ground sewage
line seem tourist-worthy. Really pretty marsh land, history through
the National Park, and it was a nice day. Seems to me is was about 20
miles through the national park, plus another 20 through the Summit
County park system - one way back in 2003. (Has this changed?) thus
about 80 miles to/from RT. Would I do it again? Not sure, but glad I
did it.

4. North Bend Rail Trail in West Virginia. Did this in 2005. This
dirt rail trail is a real hoot. Get out your slow fat tired bike with
13 tunnels through the WVA mountains - some of them pretty doggone
long; cattle grazing on the wide spots (that means fresh cow patties),
visibile seams of coal in the railbed cuts, really old towns, abandoned
shacks, few people, noise from pumping oil wells, occasional yellow-boy
leaching in the mountain streams, one wash-out that required a muddy
detour. It's too non-technical to be called a mountain bike trail, but
harldy a place for roadies. 72 miles ow / 144 mi RT. I'm going back
to do this again!

Can you add to this? I am particularly curious (actual conditions and
mileage) about these spots:

1. The Wabash Cannonball Trail in NE Ohio - It's not really 63 miles of
useful trail yet, right?

2. What's near Windsor, Ontario? How about the Chrysler Canada Greenway
segment of the Trans Canada Trail?

3. The Cleveland Emerald Necklace Trail - is this really the beauty
that some make it out to be?

It has been my experience that some websites and brochures describe
some trails when the construction has barely begun. I saw one brochure
about a major trail across North America, with mileage charts. As I
drove by on my way home, I found that very little of the trail was
actually built. I've also seen some advocacy site that overstate how
great/ wonderful the biking experience can be. No one should have to
travel a distance only to find that the reports are not right.

So, does anybody have some good reports from personal experience?

Many Thanks

Daytin Capri

A.M. wrote:

Personally I prefer heading to Toronto and following the Lakeshore route
down into the Niagara region, over 300km of paved bike lanes and VERY wide
paved shoulders; absolute stress free touring.

Wide paved shoulders can be excellent (no enthusiasm for bike lanes in
city streets though)

Stress-free? Great! Tell me more; maybe I'll do THAT next season.

1. Where exactly is this 300km stretch?
2. Is it all continuous?
3. Is there a specific segment that you really like?
4. How much hazard could one have to encounter?
5. How far is this from Niagara Falls, NY?
6. Where in/near/outside Toronto is a good place to start/end?

Dayton Capri