Explore the best rated trails in Van Wert, OH, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Triplett Pathway and Erie Rail-Trail . With more than 24 trails covering 234 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The trail is blacktop, very well maintained.Shaded in evening, with lots of wooded areas along the river. Wildflowers too.The bathrooms in Heritage West Park, appear to be very nice.
The trail is getting widened so it will no longer be a glorified sidewalk. The surface will be asphalt. I can't wait to give it another chance!
7/19/24—just finished ride from Lehman Park, Berne to Snow cemetery on hard packed gravel ROW trail under construction. Nice ride even for 79 y/o with regular road bike. Scheduled to be paved starting late July.
Saw 4 red headed woodpeckers , numerous birds, chipmunks , rabbits and coyote scat. I was only one on trail during Friday early afternoon.
Hidden gem.
I’m not sure how this trail is a 5 star trail? The surface is mediocre with fragments, roots, and bumps. It’s confusing with multiple turns and trail closures. It’s unsafe with crossings at busy intersections and sections running along side busy roads. My husband and I used our road bikes. We were disappointed with the section we rode. Maybe other sections are better? We will not be returning or recommending this trail to others for biking.
I rode a total of 6.8 miles on two out & back rides on the two sections of the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway in Bluffton, Ohio. I first rode 4.61 miles on an out and back ride on the eastern section of the Lions Way Pathway. I later rode an additionalI 2.19 miles out-and-back on the western portion of the trail, labeled as the Augsburger Path.
I started near the center of the trail. I parked at the Village Arboretum on Lake Street next to Cobb Lake. I first headed east on the trail toward Commerce Lane. This portion of the trail leads to a commercial area next to Bluffton’s I-75 exit. Here you will find the Bluffton Inn & Suites Motel, a couple of gas stations along with several fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s. TrailLink.com maps show the trail ending before it reaches Jefferson Street, the main drag, where the exits of I-75 connect. However, this end of the trail now has been extended out to Jefferson Street where an additional trail section has been built along Jefferson toward the center of town. It seems to extend to the end of this commercial area where it crosses over Jefferson. I’m not sure where it goes after crossing Jefferson St. as I chose not to explore the parts not documented here at TrailLink.
Next, I rode back to Cobb Lake and then started riding the trail toward the Bluffton University. At Cobb Lake the trail is actually Lake Street so you may encounter an occasional car as you ride along here. When you reach N. Main Street you will come to a street crossing that leads to a parking lot for Buckeye Lake. This is another park. The city pool and the local YMCA is located next to this lake. If you follow the trail around the lake you will reach Spring Street. There is no indication that the trail/bike route continues from here, but if you head west on Spring Street you will eventually arrive at the Bluffton University Campus.
TrailLink's current map for Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway shows Rosenberger Road crossing through the Bluffton University's campus. I was looking for this street as it would lead to the western portion of the trail known as the Augsburger Path which runs along Augsburger Road. Unfortunately, there is no longer a drive through the Bluffton U. campus as the addition of Lincoln Hall has removed that through street. Ultimately, after trying to find an alternate on-street route on my battery drained phone forced me to return to Cobb Lake, recharge my phone, and find a parking lot along the Augsburger Path in order to ride that segment. When I eventually rode that segment I found it somewhat disappointing it seems to be mostly a commuter route connecting residential areas to the university campus with few interesting things to see.
It appears that the main purpose of the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway is to connect Bluffton University students and Bluffton residents with the village's parks, restaurants (mostly fast food), and other village locations. The off-road portions of the trail are fairly new and are in very rideable shape. The on-road portions of this trail are on lightly trafficked streets, but are not well-marked with signs. If you plan on riding this trail having a map app would be helpful to find your way should you get lost.
With the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway and the Triplett Pathway the Village of Bluffton seems to be creating a multi-use trail loop that will connect Bluffton students and residents with the village's amenities. I would like to return to Bluffton again, to see if I could complete this potential trail loop.
I rode a total of 2.84 miles on two out & back rides on the two sections of the Triplett Pathway in Bluffton, Ohio. I started by riding the southern portion of Triplett Pathway that runs out of Bluffton Village Park which passes under Interstate 75 along the edge of Riley Creek, and enters into a residential neighborhood at East College Avenue where the trail actually ends. To connect to the northern section of the pathway you would have to ride on some residential streets but the route was not marked with a sign at the E. College Ave. intersection. Thus, I had to drive to the northern section trailhead located at the Village Arboretum next to Cobb Lake in order to ride from there to see if I could find the street route to this southern portion of the trail. Riding from the arboretum, the trail and the on-road route is better signed and was easy to connect to the section leading to Bluffton Village Park.
It appears that with the Triplett Pathway and the Lions Way Bike & Pedestrian Pathway the Village of Bluffton is creating a multi-use loop that will connect Bluffton University students and Bluffton residents with the village's parks, restaurants (mostly fast food), and other village amenities. The off-road portions of the trail are fairly new and are in very rideable shape. The on-road portions of these trails are on lightly trafficked streets, but are not necessarily well-marked with signs so at this time having a map app would be a must to find your way should you get lost. I would like to return to Bluffton again, to see if I could complete this potential trail loop.
It’s a fun trail only downfall is there’s no where to park at the start of the trail unless you park at the ymca the only place is at yeoman park which is like starting in the middle of the trail.
We bike this nearly every day. Easy access from our home. Great shad and wind block with only a few hills.
I rode this trail on 07/01 and they are about to pour the asphalt on it.
It is pretty wide trail and very bike/ walker friendly.
Thank you
This path is located on the eastern shore of Grand Lake in Grand Lake St Marys State Park. The trail parallels the East Bank Parkway which features 3 picnic shelters with water and parking lots and great views of this large lake. Personally I think this path was created to keep joggers and cyclists off the parkway during the shelters’ busiest times – weekends and holidays during the summer.
The pathway is in fair shape but functional. There are quite a number of spots where wide cracks run across the entire width of the trail. Patching or resurfacing the trail would improve the ride. I could see this trail becoming a part of a larger network of trails that would encircle Grand Lake. Coupled with the Franklin Township Greenway Trail and the West Bank Trail the potential network is about half complete. Since I’m not a resident of the area perhaps there is a feeling that the loop around Grand Lake is already complete. However, several of the roads around Grand Lake carry cars at high speeds and do not have wide shoulders or bike lanes which makes an out-of-towner such as myself hesitant to ride them.
This trail primarily connects the athletic fields in Findlay, Ohio's Swale Park to nearby neighborhoods. However, a map displayed at the River Landings playground parking lot on Fox Street indicated that there was a lot more to this greenway on both sides of the Blanchard River. The maps here at TrailLink.com identify the trail on the opposite side of the Blanchard River from Swale Park as the Heritage Trail (OH) rather than the Blanchard River Greenway Bike Trail.
Supposedly once you reached the corner of West High and North Main Streets you could ride down N. Main St. to connect to the Findlay Downtown Riverwalk where you could connect to “trails” on both sides of the river. Since I was riding this trail during the afternoon rush hour, I found North Main Street to have too much traffic to my liking, and it did not include a designated bike lane or use sharrows. It appeared that North Cory Street may have been a better route to connect to the trail on the other side of the Blanchard River because it was less trafficked and had sharrows. The trail surface for this trail was in good condition with the exception of the spur that ran out of Swale park to the corner of Broad and Howard Streets. There was a 15 yard or so break in the asphalt somewhere between Bolton and Fox Streets that looked as though somebody decided that there should no longer be a connection to Swale Park. Maybe this was just an area where a repair was hastily completed.
While this trail is probably useful for Findlay residents, it is not one that I recommend to riders from outside the area to seek out for a ride.
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