Buckeye Trail - Norwalk

Norwalk Section

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Trail Description


Barrett's Chapel.
Connie Pond

Supervisor: Lena Dockery
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52 Total Miles / 30 Off Road Miles (57.7%)
Map Publication Date: March 2018

The Norwalk Section still provides a pastoral setting with many farms along the new route on the North Coast Inland Trail (NCIT). Though not filled with steep climbs or breathtaking views, this section offers an easier walk for those who want to stroll, not hike. The abundance of cross roads make it possible to 'loop' hike, returning to your start without backtracking. The Buckeye Trail itself heads primarily in an easterly direction, passing through several villages and the cities of Bellvue and Norwalk along the way. After exiting Wakeman and the NCIT just east of Wakeman, the trail follows a series of roads going east or south for another 14 miles, before finally going off-road and into Findley State Park. Here the section ends and the Medina section starts.

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Trail Alerts

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Map Updates

  • (10/16/2022) Section Supervisor Dane Miles announces a reroute of the BT between Points 19 and 20 of the Norwalk Section. This reroute is because the Firelands Rails to Trails organization has extended thier all purpose trail further east along US 20 from Point 20 past Butler Rd. This now allows our trail users to travel safer and to avoid half a mile of road hiking along SR 303.

    Point 19 is on the North Coast Inland Trail (NCIT) just north of the intersection of US 20 and Handford Rd. The BT now continues E past Handford Rd on the NCIT. In .5mi, turn R onto Butler Rd. Continue S on Butler Rd to Point 20.

  • (8/19/2021) Good news! About 1 mi of new trail along the North Coast Inland Trail has been opened just a little E of Norwalk. As a result of the change, we moved Pt 12 just a little east of where it is shown on the current map to Townsend Ave at NCIT where the new segment of the NCIT begins . The change added 1.0 mile of trail off road and removed 1.2 miles of trail on road. The new length of the Norwalk Section is 51.8 miles. The relative length of trail off road is 51.8%.

    See the details of the change below. These details apply to the Norwalk map edition of March 2018.
    CW CCW Pt
    22.3
    NE    		 29.5
    W    		 12 Townsend Ave at NCIT

    Exit Townsend Ave that continues E; turn NE onto NCIT; continue E across Laylin Rd (1.0 mi).
    CW CCW Pt
    24.3
    E    		 27.5
    W    		 13 NCIT at SR 601

    Facilities (S of intersection): P, Pr. Continue E on NCIT . . .


    This change reduces the length of the Norwalk section by 0.2 mi. The numbers above have been adjusted accordingly. Reduce all CW distances higher than Pt 13 by 0.2 mi. And reduce the CCW distances below Pt 12 by 02 mi.

Trail Towns

Wakeman

Buckeye Trail Association welcomed Wakeman as the 17th Buckeye Trail Town on June 25, 2022 with Wakeman village officials at the Wakeman Community Park. Afterwards, the celebration was held at the Wakeman Elevator. Wakeman volunteers, village officials, and Buckeye Trail Association members worked together to collaborate to make Wakeman a Buckeye Trail Town, located in the Norwalk Section of the Buckeye Trail.

Founded in 1824, Wakeman is an old railroad town about half way from Cleveland to Toledo and located just a few miles south of Lake Erie on the Vermilion River. Back when the rail was still running, it would stop at Wakeman to fire up the coal engine and refill the coal car while taking passengers on its way to and from the two major cities. A visit to Wakeman Village wouldn’t be complete unless you walked the downtown area. The downtown hosts many businesses: an upscale florist and gift shop, smoothie shop, homemade ice cream, pizza parlor, coffee shop, beauty salon, a pub, bank, and two automotive shops.


The Village of Wakeman and the Firelands Rails to Trails volunteers have been very active in promoting trail tourism. The North Coast Inland Trail, which passes through Wakeman, has recently been announced as part of US Bike Route 30. The US Bike Route 30 is an east-west transcontinental bike route. The US Bicycle Routes direct bicyclists to a preferred route through a city, county, or state, creating opportunities for people to bike (or hike) for travel, transportation, and recreation.

The Village of Wakeman was the recipient of $35,299 for trail paving improvements at Red Cap Park. The money will pay for asphalt paving of the trail, improving the Red Cap Trailhead and the NCIT. The money is awarded through the NatureWorks grant program by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The Lake Plains Chapter of the Buckeye Trail Association assisted with the trail town application for the Village of Wakeman.

Visit Wakeman's own Trail Town web page for more information.

Section Blogs

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