The Buckeye Trail is a

hiking trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

and

long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents excep ...

that loops around the state of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Part of it is on roads and part is on wooded

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...

. Road portions of the trail are gradually being relocated to separate trail. This trail passes through many of the most scenic locations in the state, such as the

Hocking Hills The Hocking Hills is a deeply dissected area of the Allegheny Plateau in Ohio, primarily in Hocking County, that features cliffs, gorges, rock shelters, and waterfalls. The relatively extreme topography in this area is due to the Blackhand Sand ...

region and the

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Cuyahoga Valley National Park is an American national park that preserves and reclaims the rural landscape along the Cuyahoga River between Akron and Cleveland in Northeast Ohio. The park is administered by the National Park Service, but within ...

. It also goes through many small towns in Ohio, making this trail both an outdoor as well as a history experience. The trail's northern terminus is on

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

Headlands Beach State Park Headlands Beach State Park is a public beach in Mentor and Painesville Township, Ohio, United States. It is the longest natural beach in Ohio and attracts two million visitors annually. The breakwall at the eastern end of the park, frequented by ...

east of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. From the northern terminus, one branch leads south down the eastern edge of the state while another leads west across the north towards Toledo. The two branches rejoin in southwestern Ohio in the city of

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

, where a single branch continues southwest to

Eden Park Eden Park is New Zealand's largest sports stadium, with a capacity of 50,000. Located in central Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, it is three kilometres southwest of the CBD, on the boundary between the suburbs of Mount Eden and King ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, the southern terminus. Major portions of the trail follow the old canal routes including the

Miami and Erie Canal The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845 at a cost to the state government of $ ...

and the

Wabash and Erie Canal The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 460 miles long, it was th ...

in the West and the

Ohio and Erie Canal The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth. It also ...

in the East. The

North Country Trail The North Country National Scenic Trail, generally known as the North Country Trail or simply the NCT, is a footpath stretching over from Middlebury in central Vermont to Lake Sakakawea State Park in central North Dakota in the United States; ...

coincides with the Buckeye Trail for a large part of its route, and the

American Discovery Trail The American Discovery Trail is a system of recreational trails and roads that collectively form a coast-to-coast hiking and biking trail across the mid-tier of the United States. Horses can also be ridden on most of this trail. The coastal tra ...

also coincides with it through southern Ohio. Th
Buckeye Trail Association
a non-profit volunteer organization, maintains and develops the trail. The trail is identified by blue blazes, , on trees or poles. A single blaze marks the trail where the route is fairly straight or obvious, while a double blaze marks a turn with the upper blaze offset to indicate the new direction. A double blaze with no offset simply means pay attention - the trail route may not be obvious.

Gallery

File:Blaze on beech tree North Chagrin Metropark Buckeye Trail.jpg, BT blaze on a beech tree in North Chagrin Metropark File:North Chagrin Metropark Buckeye Trail.jpg, BT in North Chagrin Metropark File:Lakelogan.jpg, BTA Trail Crew installing new puncheon at Lake Logan State Park File:Trailattarhollow.jpg, Winter View of the Trail in Tar Hollow State Forest File:Trailatbendview.JPG, View of the Maumee River from along the trail at Bend View Metropark File:Mentormarsh.jpg, A typical BT blaze at Mentor Marsh State Nature Preserve

External links

Buckeye Trail Association, Inc.Buckeye TrailFest - Annual Outdoors GatheringMiami Rivers Chapter of the Buckeye Trail Association, Inc.Trail Talk - The Forum of the Buckeye Trail Association, Inc.

References

Hiking trails in Ohio American Discovery Trail Long-distance trails in the United States Transportation in Cincinnati {{US-trail-stub

Gallery

See also

External links

References