Ohio to add five more Trail Towns to boost local economies

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission plans to add five more communities to its Trail Towns program next year. The initiative launched this year with a pilot group of five towns. Melinda Vonstein, the Greenways Planning Studio Lead for the Commission, said several municipalities approached the group to join the effort.

The program is designed to convert leisure traffic into local economic activity. The Ohio-Erie Trail stretches 326 miles from Cleveland to Cincinnati. It serves as a key segment of the Great American Rail-Trail, a 3,700-mile corridor linking Washington, D.C., to Washington State. More than 150 trails are being connected to form this national network. The Ohio-Erie Trail currently has 245 miles of paved surface, 49 miles of crushed stone, 20 miles on-road, and 10 miles on street.

Officials note that visitor spending generates a multiplier effect. For every dollar spent by a visitor, the local economy sees a three-dollar impact. Centerburg, located at the mid-point of the trail, received a $1 million Transportation Alternatives Grant. The funds will pay for a connector path into the town center. Pavement counters indicate that 40,000 cyclists pass this location. The goal is to encourage riders to stop at local shops rather than just photographing the landmark and continuing.

The concept is modeled after the Trail Town Program created by The Progress Fund in 2008. That organization developed the framework for the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath. Columbus, the largest city on the Great American Rail-Trail, is implementing its own version of the model. The city is working to improve connectivity by adding bus services with bike racks and publishing a curated bike trail map through the Central Ohio Transit Authority.

Infrastructure improvements are also underway along the route. A newly repaved section of the Ohio-Erie Trail near the starting point of recent media coverage is open to riders. Construction is visible for a new segment that will replace an on-road portion. The trail passes through diverse landscapes, including an Amish community where horse-drawn carriages share the path. The trail was built wide enough to accommodate these vehicles.

Repurposed industrial sites now serve as trailside attractions. Ariel Foundation Park in Mount Vernon features the Rastin Observation Tower. This structure is built into the 280-foot chimney stack of a former PPG glass factory that operated from 1951 to 1976. Visitors climb 224 steps to a deck 140 feet above the ground. The park sits on the Heart of Ohio Trail, a 16.9-mile segment of the Ohio-Erie Trail built on former CANC and TNOC railroad lines. The trail committee purchased the railroad line in 2000 and completed the acquisition in 2005.

Mount Vernon is one of the original five Trail Towns. The community includes the Woodward Opera House, built in 1851 and restored in 1997. It reopened in 2019. The town also holds historical significance for Johnny Appleseed, who owned property there in the early 1800s. The Knox County Historical Society notes he voted in the first local election around 1806 and owned lots near the Kokosing River until 1828.