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Bob Downing of the Akron Beacon-Journal took a walk along the Buckeye Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area.
A Path Less Traveled
By BOB DOWNING
It just might be one of the prettiest trails in the Cuyahoga Valley.
There's little doubt that it is one of the least-known trails in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area.
The hiking trail, a section of the Buckeye Trail, follows the western edge of the valley between O'Neil Woods Metro Park and Ira Road along the Cuyahoga Falls-Bath Township border. The 2.1-mile trail crosses a plateau as it winds past giant beech trees and skirts giant ravines that drop 200 feet to what was once the 228-acre Sherman and Mary Schumacher farm off Riverview Road. It is an otherwise undeveloped and wild corner of the park-
It is a trail that gets virtually no traffic, despite its beauty. . One may see white-tailed deer, wild turkeys and coyotes. Wildflowers are abundant and so, too, are birds.
"It's one of the most scenic trails in the park, with some great vistas when there aren't any leaves," said David Humphrey, a landscape architect with the Cuyahoga Valley park "It's just beautiful."
Park engineer and trail-builder Rob Bobel said what makes it unique in the southern end of the Park is its large expanse of relatively untouched mature woodlands. "It has a feeling of being remote, maybe because you rarely see anyone on it."
It is a trail endorsed by Patience Wilson Cameron, a Cleveland Heights woman and author of Beyond Cleveland on Foot (Gray & Co., $14.95) and Cleveland on Foot (Gray & Co., $14.95). [Note: both books are available from the BTA On-Line Store]. It is a pretty trail, she said, noting that she was involved in helping lay out the trail with the Buckeye Trail Association and the National Park Service in the early 1990’s.
The easiest way to get to the trail is to park at O'Neil Woods Metro Park off Shade Road in Bath Township. Follow the signs for the Buckeye Trail. That will take you across a meadow and into the woods. Look for the blue blazes painted on the trees.
The plateau is honeycombed with old Jeep trails cut years ago by the Schumachers.
"It's a great area in which to wander because it's difficult to get lost," Bobel said. "You may get lost but you’ll come across the blue blazes for the Buckeye Trail and can figure out where you are." The trail is generally flat until it drops down to Ira Road. The Buckeye Trail continues north beyond Ira Road.
The 1,200-mile Buckeye Trail circles Ohio on trails, country roads and city streets. You can walk from the Akron-Cleveland area west to Toledo, then south to Cincinnati - or you can head south, then west to Cincinnati.
Hikers can backtrack to return to the O'Neil Woods parking lot. That makes it a 4.2-niile round trip. Or you can return via the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail,, West Bath Road and Deer Run Trail in O'Neil Woods.
The old Schumacher-Botzum farm is being leased by the National Park Service to architect George Winkleman, who intends to offer refreshments to Towpath Trail users and to grow pick-your own berries, officials said. The Winklemans intend to live in the old farmhouse, but the barn and cottage will be available for family reunions and picnics, said spokeswoman Paulette O. Cossel of the park service. Their lease covers the farm and surrounding land but-not those hillsides or the upland plateau, she said.
Sherman Schumacher, a successful insurance agent, died in 1991. His wife lives in Fairlawn. They also donated property to Metro Parks, Serving Summit County. That parcel off Cuyahoga Street along the Akron-Cuyahoga Falls border has become Schumacher Valley Metro Park.
To receive more information about the Buckeye Trail, use the information request form or E-Mail to info@buckeyetrail.org.