I recently completed the Ohio to Erie Trail NoBo from Cincinnati to Cleveland and wanted to provide some feedback on the route.
On day 1 I rode from Cincinnati across the currently closed Purple People Bridge into Newport, KY and then across the 4th St Bridge to Covington where I crossed the Roebling back into Cincinnati. OTET starts at the base of the Roebling. The trail is well marked with Ohio Bicycle Route 1 signs as you leave the city and head north. Slight confusion near Lunken Airport where the trail splits. The sign before the split indicates you should stay straight but you actually need to take the slight left at the split. I stayed at a campground in Morrow called Morgan’s Riverside Resort. The owner let me set up camp under the pavilion as overnight rains were forecasted and indeed it poured most of the night.
On day 2 I took the Little Miami Trail to Yellow Springs and did some hiking at Glen Helen before taking the highway a short distance to Clifton to visit the historical Clifton Mill. From there it was a short ride on country roads to Cedarville to rejoin OTET. The folks in Clifton are working on a grant right now to build a MUP between Yellow Springs and Clifton. Camped at an AirBnB/Hipcamp called Little Darby Outdoors in Galloway.
Day 3 took me through Columbus where it poured allllllllll morning. It was a torrential downpour for hours on end. You have two choices here. The official OTET route is on the Alum Creek Trail which goes east of town or the route I took, the Olentangy Trail, which goes west of town through Ohio States campus. If you choose the Olentangy Trail you’ll rejoin OTET in Westerville. The midpoint of OTET will be just north of Columbus in Centerburg. I grabbed a hotel in Mount Vernon this day to dry out and refresh.
On day 4 I got into the middle of Amish Country in Holmes and Wayne Counties. Unfortunately there’s not a lot of trail in this section so most of the day was spent on the roads. The stretch between Glenmont and Killbuck on Highway 520 wasn’t fun. It’s a narrow two-lane highway with a lot of blind curves and high speed traffic. Outside of that it was rural country roads with more horse and buggy than automobiles. So many hills today but they were fun. Absolutely beautiful part of the country. I camped at a campground in Canal Fulton, one of my favorite towns on the route. It was my longest day at 92 miles.
On day 5 I had a short day to Peninsula so I could do some hiking at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The route skirts Akron on this stretch. I camped at Valley Overlook Campground which just opened in 2023. They don’t take cash normally but the owner made an exception for me since I don’t travel with plastic. After setting up camp I headed into the NP to do some hiking to Brandywine Falls. I left my bike at the Stafford House in the barn with the rangers permission. They do have a bike rack but I do not carry a lock when I travel.
On my last day I rode the trail to Brecksville where the trail is closed M-F until mid June but I wanted to see the bridge. From here it’s a short backtrack to the Bike & Hike Trail ran by Summit County to get around the detour. I spent some time riding in/around Cleveland went to Edgewater Park where OTET ends. I ended my ride with a trip out to my WarmShowers host in Cleveland Heights. Same folks I stayed with on my 2016 cross country ride.
I ended up riding 406 miles due to all the extra riding I did.
Some other info:
Maps: I didn’t find them useful. The trails are well marked and I never used them. Furthermore they’re just paper and not waterproof so beware if trying to use them in the rain
Food/Water: Plentiful. A few remote sections but never was without either. A lot of places are closed on Monday/Tuesday in small towns but most trailheads have water available at least.
Skeeters: Pretty early but they were miserable in Peninsula. I imagine they just get worse as the season goes on.
Ohio has some of my favorite bicycling in the USA so kudos to them.
If anyone has any questions etc feel free to ask. I’m sure I left out a ton of relevant information.
