by Ken Lahmers

Editor

A few years back, Aurora city officials had plans to turn the Norfolk Southern railroad line, which runs through town, into a bicycling and walking path.

Unfortunately, the unwillingness of the railroad company to give up the route, which hasn't been used for several years, has thrown a wrench into those plans.

The changeover still could happen, but it doesn't appear it will be in the near future.

Nevertheless, the concept of turning abandoned railroad lines into hike and bike trails has become very popular in many parts of Ohio and the United States.

With physical fitness being touted more and more these days by health care professionals, hike and bike trails are heavily used.

Just look at the number of people who walk on the path around Sunny Lake. And the city's new master plan and a Portage County Park District greenways plan call for more areas to be linked.

Recently, I set out to locate some information on "hike and bike" and "rails to trails" projects for a colleague at work who enjoys pedaling around.

The task was a learning experience for me, because I didn't realize there are so many of them in Ohio. I thought this week I'd share some of them with readers.

The Portage Hike and Bike Trail is a work in progress. Parts have been completed, but others have not. It parallels the old Erie Railroad line from the northeast side of Ravenna to Towners Woods Park to Brady Lake.

I once bicycled on the trail from Ravenna to about midway to Towners Woods and back with Record Publishing Co. News Leader editor Eric Marota. He and his wife cross country ski on the trail during the winter.

A SOUTHERN branch through the Kent State University campus and along the Cuyahoga River in Kent eventually will link up with a section of the Summit Bike and Hike Trail through Munroe Falls.

The latter runs north for 33 miles through Stow, Hudson, Boston Heights, Brandywine Falls and Northfield Center. A northern branch of the Portage trail from Hudson Road in Kent eventually will link to the Summit trail.

The Hike and Bike Trail was one of the first rails to trails conversions in the country, and follows the course of the old Akron, Bedford & Cleveland Railroad, which was the longest electric railroad in the nation when completed in 1895.

In addition to connecting portions of the trail around Kent, the project also includes a stretch running east of Ravenna to Warren.

The Headwaters Trail runs along the abandoned Erie Railroad line between Mantua and Garrettsville. That's the route which was removed east of the existing tracks in Aurora.

The Towpath Trail, which follows parts of the old Ohio & Erie Canal, runs for about 70 miles from Rockside Road in Independence to the northern border of Tuscarawas County.

It is open between Rockside Road and Akron, but some portions have not been completed through southern Summit and Stark counties.

At the southern end of the Towpath, a 20-mile stretch runs eastward from Fort Laurens in Bolivar to Route 8 near Zoarville, passing through historic Zoar Village, then continues south to historic Schoenbrunn Village in New Philadelphia.

Just last fall, the final 8.2-mile portion of the Maple Highlands Trail opened in Geauga County. The entire 20-mile stretch runs from Colburn Road through Chardon and over to East Branch Reservoir near Middlefield.

Portions of that trail follow the old B&O corridor.

Over in Medina County, the Chippewa Rail Trail runs for 2.4 miles between Wycliffe/Ryan and Chippewa roads. The old rail line connected to the former B&O main line.

THE SIPPO Valley Trail runs over the former Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway for about 9 1/2 miles from the northwest side of Massillon to Dalton in eastern Wayne County.

A 15-mile stretch called the Holmes County Trail runs along a former railroad bed between Fredericksburg in southern Wayne County and Killbuck, south of Millersburg.

I saw a portion of that trail -- the section through Killbuck which had just opened -- during a trip to Holmes County last fall. It runs past the Holmes County fairgrounds and a restored train depot.

In northern Harrison County, the 11-mile Conotton Creek Trail runs along the former Pennsylvania Railroad line between Bowerston and Jewett.

At the western terminus of the trail, the old Pennsy railroad line is still active under the auspices of the Ohio Central System. It runs westward through Dennison, Coshocton and Newark.

One of the unique trails is the National Road Bikeway, which runs 7 miles from the north to south sides of St. Clairsville in Belmont County. It is the only rail trail in Ohio with a tunnel (about 550 feet long under Route 40, the National Road).

When I lived in St. Clairsville in the mid-1970s, the Norfolk & Western Railroad still ran coal trains on what was then called the Adena Branch (Adena to Neffs).

In one of the most picturesque parts of the state, the 16 1/2-mile Hockhocking Adena Bikeway runs from Nelsonville through the Wayne National Forest to the Plains and the east side of Athens, passing across the Ohio University campus.

Plans are to eventually extend that trail eastward.

There are many more trails -- both rails to trails conversions and those which don't follow old railroad lines -- in Ohio. A good online source is www.trails.com (click on Ohio).

E-mail: klahmers@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3155