Hondo Gravel

jpescatore

Last year a friend who lives in Columbus and I (I live in Maryland) mapped out a ride from Cleveland to Columbus on that trail.Unfortunately, torrential rains caused us to cancel all but the last day - we did 48 miles from Mt. Vernon south back to Rick's house in Columbus. That section was well marked, except for one spot where a rail trail ended at a road and the map made it look like the rail trail continued. We had to detour a bit on a gravel (more like railroad ballast) road for a short stretch.

Rick has done the section south of Columbus, that is very well marked but can be confusing through downtown Columbus. The parts north of Mt. Vernon include some road riding and I don't think they are all signed but there are many online routes that you can download from RideWithGPS and the like.

You can see our planned route on Cycleblaze here.

The northern section does follow rivers and those rains caused serious flooding - worth checking the web site and the various state park sites to see where there are closures if there are heavy rains before your trip.

mrveloman

Just read a ride report on doing the whole trip. It can be found here: https://thetrek.co/ohio-erie-trail-b...g-across-ohio/

Sounds like a nice ride.

robert schlatte

Yes, I rode it in late August. I started in Cincinnati on a Thursday and got to Cleveland Sunday morning. (Officially 326 miles but my computer said more like 350) I camped along the way. There is a designated camping spot in London, 2nd night in Glenmont, and third along the Ohio to Erie towpath near Peninsula. I counted 19 -20 separate bike trails that are all interconnected. It is fairly easy to follow and is for the most part signed. (In my opinion the best markers simply say "Route 1"). The longest section that is not currently on a designated bike path is between Fredericksberg and Dalton (maybe 20 -25 hilly miles). My advice would be to look at the interactive trail map on the OTET website and get a little familiarity with the trail. There are a several sections that you should map out in advance. 1) Cincinnati- Ohio River to the Little Miami bikeway trailhead following city streets 2) getting through Columbus follows designated bikeways but can be a little tricky especially in the downtown area 3) Galena to Centerberg 4) Glenmont to Killbuck 5) aforementioned Fredericksburg to Dalton 6) getting through Massilon and finally 7) Cleveland when you leave the towpath trail. I loved riding OTET and will do it again, probably several times. Beautiful route and great historic communities along the way.

Rob_E

I've ridden the length of it, but not in one go. I gather that camping has improved since I did it, but I still feel like there are a couple of long days, or at least days where you have to be creative in your stop selection. Easier, I think, if you are credit card touring, because I saw a number of B&B options catering to trail users, mainly on the southern half.

Also there's a significant on-road section on the northern section between Fredricksburg and Massilon. It's pleasant enough countryside riding, but pretty hilly relative to the rest of the trail. Maybe not enough to bother someone who regularly rides hilly terrain fully loaded, but I found that I ended up pushing my bike up a number of hills. But apart from that stretch, I believe it is largely paved, rail-trail, although there may be a dirt stretch remaining in the north-central area between Danville and Killbuck.