Lotus907efi

Any bikeforum members ever ride through Mill Creek Park in Youngstown Ohio?
I have moved back to the Youngstown area after being away for several years. I used to live and ride in the Youngstown area when I was growig up ad during college. When I went to Youngstown State University I was a member of an intercollegate cycling team for a couple of years and had a great time attending various races across Ohio and western PA. Some of my favorite rides however we in Mill Creek Metroparks in downtown Youngstown.

According to the web site for MCMP Mill Creek Metroparks ranks among the largest metropolitan-owned parks within the city limits of any US city. There are more than 20 miles of paved roads in the park with some beautiful scenery and interesting terain.

I have been riding a 30 - 35 mile loop here in Youngstown Ohio that takes me through Mill Creek Park. I start out north of the city, ride through downtown, then head into the park where I ride the park roads out to 224 in Boardman south of the city. Then I head back north through the park on other roads stretching through the park, back through downtown Youngstown city center, and then back north to my house. I am constantly amazed at how few people I see in such a large inner city park. Usually on my loop through the park I usually only see two or three other road cyclists.

Shown below is a picture of the oldest bridge in Mill Creek park that was errected in 1895 and still functions as a regularly used vehicle and pedestrian bridge spanning the east and west sides of Mill Creekin the center of the park. The one side of the road that leads down to this bridge is very nice downhill section where I usually hit 30 - 32 MPH. The other day I passed a newer Mustang on the outside of a curve and then stayed ahead of them until I hit an uphill stretch further down the road.

swampboy62

I live in the county to the north, but work in Youngstown.

I think Mill Creek is supposed to be the 2nd biggest metropark in the US, behind Philadelphia's big park (Schenley?)

There is quite a bit of good riding in the area, between the dedicated bike paths in Mill Creek, their paved roads, and our growing rail trail network. Yet there still doesn't seem to be a big core of riders, either road or mountain bike.

Out Spokin' Wheelmen is the road club in the area, and they have some rides (but very little online info). There is an inactive mountain bike club in the area - but CAMBA from Cleveland is the closest club for real, active mountain bikers.

Welcome back to NE Ohio.

Steve Z

stardognine

Well, here's an old thread, that's pretty interesting for me. I lived around Youngstown quite a bit, growing up, and graduated high school in McDonald, just before you get to Niles, which was president McKinley's birthplace. I too left the area, when they started closing down all the steel mills, and I've passed through a few times over the years. It sure has changed, looks a lot cleaner now, lol, but also a ghost of it's former self. I've considered moving back there, but I've kinda gotten used to Lake Erie now. Maybe Cleveland would be cool, I still haven't been to the R&R hof.

ScootermanBob

I ride the park every day. I am in the park year round either on the bike, scooter, or walking/hiking. Beautiful place to be. I have a 15 mile route that I ride daily on the bike that includes the East Golf hike/bike trail and West on 224 to the golf course. The traffic is very light usually so even the roads that have cars are not a problem. Definitely a GEM.


Bob

T Stew

I love that old bridge. Haven't been to Youngstown myself, a bit to far to go for just that. Sounds very nice though!

ScootermanBob

You should see it now. The leaves are changing but the weather is in the 80's. Perfect. We rode through the entire park yesterday evening on the scooters (after my bike ride) and it was just spectacular- deer everywhere too.


Bob

sonatageek

I live just south of Cleveland but now want to drive out to Youngstown to take ride in that park. Thanks for making me aware of it!

stardognine

Hey, just checking in again. I don't really know Mill Creek Park yet, lol, but I'm living in Niles again, and live pretty near the trailhead that goes from Niles to Canfield. I've ridden the full length round trip a couple times now, and it's great. 😁 I'll definitely be looking around more. BTW, I came close to hitting a deer on Friday, probably 6 or 8-point, on the mighty Trek.😟

swampboy62

Stardognine - I'm just north of Niles, in Warren, and ride the local trails pretty often. My default is the Western Reserve Greenway north of Warren, but all the trail in the area are fair game. I also spend a lot of time mountain biking in the area, and am the trail builder behind the mtb trails at North Road Nature Preserve, near the Eastwood Mall.

If you want to keep up on the local cycling developments, check out 'Warren Bicyclists' on Facebook. It's a page I put together a couple of years ago that lets people in the area know about organized rides, developments in rail trail construction, and allows people to post up if they want to meet to ride (though there seems to be precious little of that).

Steve Z

GentlemanGeorge

I was there to run the Peace Race last week. I'll second all the comments on how great Mill Creek Park is. Perfect park for road/trail running and of course cycling.

As a Youngstown native now living elsewhere, it's a go to stop any time I'm back for a visit.

Lotus907efi

There is a pretty active cycling club in Youngstown Ohio called the Out-Spokin' Wheelmen. They have a ride schedule posted at:

Ride Schedule

The membership cost is only $15 per year but anyone is welcome to join any of the rides as a guest. Only rule I think there is pertains to wearing a helmet. Earlier in the year they usually have one or more regularly scheduled rides through the park. But there are also many different rides out in the country around Youngstown, Poland, Cortland, Salem, and etc.

ScootermanBob

I'm not a member but I see them on their organized rides all the time. Now that I'm on my bike as opposed to the scooter I'm more interested in the possibility of joining. I think my cousin was one of their founding members long, long, time ago. I'm still in the park every single day. It is absolutely beautiful right now. The colors are spectacular. I did 17.5 miles through there today at an average of 14.1 miles an hour on my hybrid. Not bad for an old dude.... Definitely the GEM of Youngstown.


Bob