The following text is mostly excerpted from the book Following the North Country Trail written by the North
Country Trail Association's former magazine editor Wes Boyd. The book is now out of print, but you may read the entire text on our web site.
Largely due to the many years of work by the Buckeye Trail Association, the North Country Trail in Ohio is the most nearly completely usable of any of the seven states, even though much of the marked trail is located on roads. Twenty-four segments, totaling 287 miles (not all on the Buckeye Trail) have been certified as part of the NCT in Ohio. The NCT generally follows the Buckeye Trail, but diverges from it or is planned to in several locations.
However, the Buckeye Trail is not all of the NCT in Ohio, and long distance users will have to penetrate a fair distance into the state before encountering the Buckeye Trail. Before they do, they encounter one spectacular state park, and a new trail system that has several unique features.
The NCT enters the state near Negley, Ohio, on the former Montour railroad grade, which comes to an end near Fredricktown, Ohio. For the latest information on this still-developing part of the route, contact Sandy and Beaver Canal Association, attn: R. Baird Stewart, 215 West 12th Street, Salem OH 44460. It's still a roadwalk south from Negley to Beaver Creek State Park, the first certified trail encountered in Ohio, about six miles north of East Liverpool. The trail along Little Beaver Creek, a state scenic river and a component of the National Wild and Scenic River system, provi des a 6.25 mile certified segment. Numerous points of interest are located in the park, including Gaston's Mill and other historic building near the park headquarters, a covered bridge, and several stone locks of the old Sandy and Beaver Canal. There is camping in the park. For more information, contact Beaver Creek State Park, Rt. 1, Echo Dell Rd., East Liverpool OH 43930.
To the west of the park, most land is in private ownership, including the old canal lands, which were never in state ownership, (unlike most of the rest of the canal lands of Ohio), which provide a unique resource for trail users. The Sandy and Beaver Canal Association, along with other local interests, has been working with the National Park Service on a formal plan to finish connecting the trail from the state line to Bolivar.
The general route of the trail generally parallels US30, Ohio SR183 and other roads to the vicinity of Zoar, about 40 miles to the west of Beaver Creek State Park. However, until the NCT is completed in this area, the through-hiker is well advised to study county maps for Columbiana, Carrol and Tuscarawas Counties to find side roads that are less heavily used than these busy thoroughfares. Much of eastern Ohio both here and for a considerable distance to the west is coal country; the roads are narrow and the trucks are not, so even on side roads the walker should exercise plenty of caution. Though much clean-up of mine tailings has been done in recent years, users should be even more suspect than normal of surface water.
At Zoar, about 12 miles of the south of Canton, the hiker first encounters the Buckeye Trail, which the NCT more or less follows for more than 600 miles around Ohio.
First conceived in the 1950s, the trail has been planned, marked and maintained by the Buckeye Trail Association in cooperation with many agencies and individuals, including the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio Historical Society, US Forest Service, Muskingham and Miami Conservancy Districts, several metropolitan park districts, and other landowners.
The goal of the Buckeye Trail Association is to eventually have the entire route of the trail off roads, but this will be a long time coming. Due to the heavy population in some areas and a high proportion of private land, only about half the route the NCT follows is off roads, usually but not always on public lands when off-road. However, some roads have quite low use and are the next thing to being abandoned. Portions of the Buckeye Trail which are presently routed along roads cannot be certified as the NCT route, as the National Trails System Act prohibits location on roads. As new off-road segments are developed, they will be certified, but in the meantime they can only be considered as being "usable" NCT.
Portions of the Buckeye Trail are usable for bicycling and horseback riding. Horseback riders may use the trail, except in a few locations where horse use is prohibited. Where such limitations exist, an effort has been made to provide a marked bypass. Camping facilities are available at many locations along or near the trail. They are not always frequent enough to allow hikers trailside camping every night, but hikers can usually find facilities for overnight camping, given careful planning.
As with the Finger Lakes Trail in New York, it would be difficult to follow the Buckeye Trail without using the maps provided by the Buckeye Trail Association, PO Box 254, Worthington, OH 43085, or from the North Country Trail Store. The accompanying route descriptions are generally better than those of the FLT maps, and most read east to west. The newest series of Buckeye Trail maps, printed on waterproof paper, are a huge improvement over earlier efforts. The NCT through-hiker will need 14 Buckeye Trail maps: from east to west, Massillion, Bowerston, Belle Valley, Stockport, New Straitsville, Old Man's Cave, Scioto Trail, Sinking Spring, West Union, Williamsburg, Loveland, Ceaser Creek, Troy, St. Marys, Delphos and Defiance. Map revisions are less frequent than those of the Finger Lake Trail.
The Buckeye Trail is marked by light blue paint blazes on trees, poles, etc., usually within 10 feet of the trail. At intersections, or where the trail sharply changes direction, two blazes are used; in some cases, arrows are also used. The trail is blazed in both directions, but only frequently enough to give the user assurance that they are on the trail. Side trails and alternate routes are blazed in white.
The North Country Trail picks up the Buckeye Trail at Zoar, a community with restored homes and shops that was the site of the first communal settlement in the US. The trail follows an old canoe towpath for a short distance southward from Zoar, then mostly follows roads southward, but using portions of Attwood Lake and Leesville Lake Recreation Areas, a longer segment in Tappan Lake Recreation Area, then shorter segments in Clendening and Piedmont Lake Recreation Areas. Information on these may be had from Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, New Philadelphia, OH 44663.
Several miles southwest of Piedmont Lake, the NCT has 7.8 miles in Salt Fork State Park. A campground and other facilities, including a lodge, restaurants and cabins are located here. Information may be obtained from Salt Fork State Park, Box 672, Cambridge OH 43725. From Salt Fork, the BT/NCT uses roads south to Seneca Lake Recreation Area, also operated by the Muskingum Conservancy District.
South of Seneca Lake, the NCT is planned to leave the existing route of the Buckeye Trail and pass through the eastern unit of the Wayne National Forest, but to date only about 35 miles of the new route have been completed, isolated from other marked trail.
This section of the Wayne National Forest borders the Ohio River, and covers 33,157 acres. Federal ownership is scattered, and only about 20% of the land in its boundaries is publicly owned. It lies entirely within the unglaciated portion of the Allegheny Plateau Region, and is characterized by high hills heavily dissected with steep drainages and small streams. These foothills of the Appalachian Mountains are underlain with sandstone, siltstone, shale and thin coal seams which tend to be poorly consolidated and easily eroded. A variety of wildlife makes its home along the trail. Along the path are stands of yellow poplar, black cherry, oaks, and other hardwoods.
Hikers wishing to visit this little-known certified section of the trail should contact Marietta Ranger District, Wayne National Forest, US Forest Service, Route 1, Box 132, Marietta, OH, 45701 (614) 592-6644, and be prepared to study the US Forest Service maps for the North Country trail in the forest (available from the district office), and the county road maps of Noble, Monroe and Washington Counties. "Certified Sections of the North Country Trail" has a segment about this section of the Wayne National Forest, available from the North Country Trail Store.
The North Country Trail rejoins the Buckeye Trail near Stockport, west of Marietta. The majority of the next
110 miles of trail is located off roads on the Buckeye Trail, in the national forest and on a variety of state,
local, and private lands, and will treat visitors to some of Ohio's most outstanding scenery. Hikers will soon
reach Burr Oak State Park. Seventeen miles of the 29 mile Burr Oak Backpack Trail form a scenic loop around Burr
Oak Reservoir; one developed and three primitive camping areas are located along the trail, which is closed during
Ohio's December deer season. For information in addition to that on the Buckeye Trail maps, contact Ohio Department
of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Fountain Square, Building C, Columbus, OH 43224. "Certified
Sections of the North Country Trail" has a chapter from Burr Oak to Sinking Spring, and a second from Sinking
Spring to Milford, each available from the North Country Trail Store.
West of Burr Oak,
the trail again passes through the Wayne National Forest and Lake Logan State Park before reaching the excellent
certified trail in Hocking State Forest and Hocking State Park. About 12 miles of the Buckeye/NCT will pass through
this forest and state park, which preserves for public enjoyment the outstanding scenery of this area, including
multi-colored rock cliffs, gorges and caves. There are 16 miles of hiking trails and 15 miles of bridle trails
in the complex and camping in the state park. Maps and information can be obtained from Hocking State Forest, Rt.
1, Box 216, Rockbridge OH 43149, or Hocking Hills State Park, 20160 SR 644, Logan OH 43148. Only a few miles southwest,
the Buckeye/NCT passes through Tar Hollow State Park and State Forest for about 14 miles. There are 16 other miles
of hiking trails and 14 miles of bridle trails in this area. For information, contact Tar Hollow State Park, 16396
Tar Hollow Road, Laurelville OH 43135 or Tar Hollow State Forest, Rt. 1, Londonderry OH 45647.
About 15 miles further west, the trail enters Pike State Forest. Much of the off-road trail here is located on private land, so users should take extra care. About ten miles of trail are certified; some information may be had from Pike State Forest, 334 Lappell Rd., Latham, OH 45645 or Pike Lake State Park, 1847 Pike Lake Rd., Bainbridge OH, 45612.
A few miles beyond Pike State Park, hikers reach the Fort Hill State Memorial. This is a most interesting stop along the trail. The Buckeye/NCT follows 3.6 miles of the Deer and Gorge Trails through this scenic and historic site. Fort Hill contains well-preserved Hopewell Indian hilltop earthworks. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The memorial site is also noted for its outstanding geological and botanical features. For additional information, contact the Ohio Historical Society, 1982 Velma Ave., Columbus OH 43211. If the Native American history excites you, the Buckeye Trail passes by Serpent Mound State Memorial about 5 miles to the south, site of the largest serpent effigy earthwork in the nation, also worth a stop.
From here on to Cincinnati, there's only steppingstones of off-road trail, though the Buckeye Trail is marked the entire way, with the exception of one deviation the North Country Trail hiker may wish to make: The NCT uses the northwest 14.5 miles of the excellent 60-mile Shawnee Backpack Trail in Shawnee State Park and State Forest. This beautiful trail, located in some of Ohio's most rugged terrain, is marked with orange blazes on the main trail and white blazes on the side trails. Two backpack campsites are located along the NCT-certified segment, and there is a developed campground in the state park near the trail. Information can be obtained by contacting Shawnee State Forest, Rt., 5, Box 151C, Portsmouth OH 45662, or Shawnee State Park, Star Rt. 68, Portsmouth OH 45662. The Buckeye Trail does not match up to the northern Shawnee trailhead, and only joins the Shawnee Trail shortly before leaving the west side of the forest. Hikers interested in getting to the certified section of the Shawnee Trail should see Adams and Scotio County maps.
The next major off-road segment of the Buckeye/NCT is a good many miles to the west- northwest, at East Fork State Park. The trail follows an 8.6 mile segment of the 37-mile East Fork Backcountry Trail for backpackers and horsemen. This trail is marked with green blazes depicting a backpacker and a horseshoe. A developed campground is located along the NCT segment. For a map and information, contact East Fork State Park, Box 119, Bethel OH. From East Fork, the trail heads on roads northwest about 15 miles to Milford, on the edge of the Cincinnati urban area.
As the Buckeye/NCT departs the East Fork area, the landforms are changing and becoming less rugged. At the same time, the population is becoming more dense; the trail is about to invade the largest urban area it sees anywhere from New York to North Dakota. Strange, indeed, that much of the next hundred and fifty miles is located off-road.
This area marks the first of three distinct character changes the trail will go through. Up to this point, the NCT has generally been an up and down affair, through foothills; the next several hundred miles are through relatively level farmlands. The trail flattens out for most of the rest of the way west, though there are hills here and there.
In spite of considerable interest in Rails to Trails development nationwide and considerable study of possible rail-trail routes for the NCT, only two have been developed for a long distance, both of them in Ohio; the first is the Little Miami Scenic Trail. The NCT utilizes about 55 miles of the 76 mile former railroad grade from the Little Miami Golf Center South of Milford to Yellow Springs (although the LMST continues farther north. The grade is developed for full non-motorized multiple use, with a paved path for touring bicycles and wheelchairs, and a grassy strip for hikers. All of the trail has been blacktopped. In places, the trail is very suburban in nature, and receives heavy use from hikers, joggers, and cyclists. A hiker/biker service center and hostel has recently been developed in the Xenia area. The route parallels the Little Miami River, a National and State Scenic River. The Little Miami was one of the first rivers in the country to be designated a Wild and Scenic River, which protects it from development. It is shallow, fast-moving, and extremely popular as a canoe stream. Camping sites are scarce along the trail, and canoe liveries have established campgrounds to alleviate this problem.
For more information, contact Ohio DNR, Fountain Square, Building C, Columbus OH 43244. "Certified Sections of the North Country Trail", by Byron and Margaret Hutchins, has a section on this trail, available from the North Country Trail Store.
The Little Miami Scenic Trail is finished through the village of Yellow Springs, and continues north to I-70. From there to Springfield this trail follows some discrete multi-use paths and some streets to get to the Heritage Center in downtown Springfield. National Trail Parks (Clark County) is acquiring land so that the LMST from I-70 North to the Heritage Center (about 3 miles) can become a dedicated multi-use trail.
From Yellow Springs, the Buckeye Trail turns west, and follows river levees, parks and the like west through Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Hikers with an interest in airplanes can easily blow a day in the Air Force Museum, which the trail passes. Continuing on, the trail follows parks, a bikeway, levees, and so forth through the center of Dayton before it turns north, and with a lot of off-road segments, eventually rejoins the planned NCT route at Troy. Though considered an alternate route, it is anticipated that this will be the primary route of the NCT for the long-distance user for many years to come.
About half of the next 25 miles on the Buckeye/NCT is located off-road, as the Buckeye/NCT picks up its next major theme: the towpath of the old Miami and Erie Canal.
The original Miami and Erie Canal was 248 miles long, and was built in the 1840s to provide transportation between Toledo and Cincinnati. The canal was 40 feet wide at the top and 26 feet wide at the bottom, with a minimum depth of four feet. The locks could accept canal boats up to 14 feet, 10 inches wide and up to 76 feet in length. The first boat to Toledo left Cincinnati on June 27, 1845, with the trip taking four days and five nights; the cost for passengers was 5 cents per mile. The canal boats were pulled by mules at two to two and a half miles per hour through the 108 stone and wood locks built to raise or lower the boats to the next level of the canal.
The Buckeye/NCT starts out
from Dayton by following short sections of the canal towpath, one of them passing the Lockington Locks Museum north
of Piqua; then, at Lake Loramie State Park, a 42-mile certified segment begins. Historic remnants of the canal
are visible along the trail, including several well-preserved locks and an aqueduct transporting the canal over
a creek.
The high point of the canal was at Loramie, 512 feet above the Ohio River and 395 feet above Lake Erie. Three large reservoirs were built to supply water for the canal, Lake Loramie being one of them. Another, Grand Lake, to the north, holds the distinction of being the largest artificial lake ever made without machinery; over 1700 men took eight years to cut down trees and move soil with wheelbarrows to build the dam.
The largest excavation necessary in building the canal was south of Spencerville, known as Deep Cut, where a ridge of blue clay separated the watersheds of the St. Marys and Auglaize Rivers. A huge ditch was dug with picks and shovels and blasted, 6,600 feet long and up to 52 feet deep.
With the advent of railroads, the canal declined in importance, and it ceased operating in 1906. However, many of the canal lands remained the property of the state of Ohio, leaving the door open to the future route of enjoyment by hikers and canal enthusiasts on the Buckeye/North Country Trails.
Camping facilities are located in Lake Loramie, Grand Lake and St. Marys State Parks. For more information, contact Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Fountain Square, Building C, Columbus OH 43224.
"Certified Sections of the North Country Trail," by Byron and Margaret Hutchins, has a segment on the Miami and Erie Canal, available from the North Country Trail Store
The canal towpath comes to an end at Delphos, with another canal museum and restored canal boat, the "Marguerite", which was built about 1850, and is the last surviving original canal boat.
North of Delphos, the canal has been filled in, the Buckeye/NCT returns to roads, more or less paralleling the Auglaize River for about 35 miles to Defiance, where the next certified bit of the NCT in Ohio begins. Seven miles of the Miami and Erie Canal have been preserved along the Maumee River. The Buckeye/NCT follows the towpath of this canal northeast to the village of Florida, all in the park. Camping facilities are located in the park. For information, contact Independence Dam State Park, Rt. 4, Defiance OH 43512.
At Napoleon, the North Country Trail says goodbye to the Buckeye Trail, its more or less constant companion for 600 miles. Near Liberty Center, northeast of Napoleon, the North Country Trail joins the southern leg of the Cannonball Trail, the other major rail-trail the NCNST follows in Ohio. The Cannonball is nearly unique among rail-trails, in that it is being developed and operated not by a government entity, but by a private organization. The Northwestern Ohio Rails to Trails Association is planning about 67 miles of trail, about 47 of which will eventually be certified as NCNST, and about 7 already are. It's not as highly developed as the Little Miami, but has decked bridges, and a dirt/cinder surface; other amenities are planned as funds become available.
The NCNST follows the southern leg of the Cannonball Trail northeastward to Whitehouse, on the fringes of Toledo, then departs the trail and travels north for several miles through Oak Openings Metropark. Partway through Oak Openings, the NCNST rejoins the Cannonball, now on its northern leg, and follows it westward about 40 miles to the village of West Unity. A fair amount of work remains to be done on the northern leg of the trail, but it can be followed as it exists. Certification of the entire segment of the Cannonball to be used by the NCNST is planned by 2000.
For more information on the Cannonball Trail, contact NW Ohio Rails to Trails Association, PO Box 234, Delta,
OH 43515 (800) 951-4788.
For more on the Trail in Ohio, try these choices:
| Slide Show | A visual tour of the trail in Ohio |
| Trail Condition Reports | Up-to-date news on any trail problems in the state |
| Northwest Ohio Rails-to-Trails Association | A nonprofit organization that develops, maintains and promotes the Cannonball Trail in northwest Ohio |
| Buckeye Trail Association | A nonprofit organization that develops, maintains and promotes the Buckeye Trail, which follows the entire perimeter of Ohio |
| Miami Valley Rail-Trails | A great source of information on the Little Miami Scenic Trail, which the NCT follows in western Ohio. |
| Great Trail- Sandy Beaver Canal Chapter | A local club of the NCTA that is working to build, protect and promote the Trail in eastern Ohio |
| Ohio Valley Chapter | A local club of the NCTA that is working to build, protect and promote the Trail in Marietta and east through the Wayne National Forest. |
| Adams County Chapter | A local club of the NCTA that is working to build, protect and promote the Trail in Adams County including portions of Shawnee State Forest. |
For information on a different state, click on the map below:
