Wabash Cannonball Trail

Wabash Cannonball Trail
Westbound tandem with picnic basket at Rotary Park
Rails to Trails
Established	1995
Length	Williams County: 9 mi. Fulton County: 26 mi. Lucas County: 22 mi. Henry County: 6 mi. Total: 63 miles
Location	Northwest Ohio United States
Designation	North Country National Scenic Trail
Trailheads	Parking available in all counties.
Use	Hiking, Bicycling, Cross Country Skiing, Equestrian
Highest point	879 feet (268 m)
Lowest point	640 feet (200 m)
Grade	flat to gentle railroad grades
Trail difficulty	Wheelchair accessible
Months	12
Waymark
Sights	Oak Openings Preserve Metropark Fraker Mill Covered Bridge Wabash Railroad caboose
Hazards	US and State Route crossings
Surface	Lucas County: all paved Fulton County: 2 miles paved remainder: gravel
Right of way	Wabash Railroad
Website	http://wabashcannonballtrail.org

The Wabash Cannonball Trail is a rail to trail conversion in northwestern Ohio, U.S. It is 63 miles (101 km) long. The North Fork of the Wabash Cannonball Trail is part of the North Coast Inland Trail, which plans to fully connect Indiana to Pennsylvania, and portions of the trail are included in the North Country National Scenic Trail.

History

The Wabash Railroad line used by the trail was first built in 1855, and service continued until 1969. The Norfolk Southern Railway then purchased it. The rails were finally abandoned in 1990. Local enthusiasts developed the idea of creating a public recreational trail and utility corridor. On March 24, 1994, the corridor was purchased from Norfolk Southern.

The name Wabash Cannonball stems from an 1882 American folk song about an imaginary train. No train actually had the name until 1949, when the Wabash Railroad actually named its Detroit-St. Louis day train as the Cannon Ball.

Other rail-to-trail conversions of the Wabash Railroad in the Midwestern region include the Kiwanis Trail in Adrian, Michigan, the Wabash Heritage Trail in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the Wabash Trail in Sangamon County, Illinois.

File:Wabash Cannoball Trail orientation map.png

North Fork and South Fork of Wabash Cannonball Trail

File:1900sWabashmap.jpg

Wabash Railroad map, showing North and South Forks of the trail in Ohio.

Location

North Fork: The northern section of the trail roughly parallels both the Ohio Turnpike I-80/90 and US Route 20A for about 43 miles starting in Maumee, and extending through Monclova, Wauseon, and West Unity, ending at its western trailhead near Montpelier, Ohio.

South Fork: A second, additional 18-mile spur runs from Maumee southwest to near Liberty Center, Ohio. That trailhead has a parking area near Whitehouse, Ohio.

Condition: All portions of the trail in Lucas County are paved. A 2-mile section of the trail in Fulton County, owned by the city of Wauseon, also is paved. The remainder of the North Fork in Fulton and Williams counties are unpaved, as is the South Fork in Henry County.

Trail Section	County	Township	Distance		Surface	Crossings	Notes
			(mi)	(km)
North Fork North Fork North Fork	Lucas	Monclova	0	0	Paved	Jerome Road	Eastern Terminus, near The Fallen Timbers Battlefield and Fort Miamis National Historic Site, Maumee, parking available.
			0.2	0.32		Fork branches South
			1.7	2.7		Waterville-Monclova Road	Parking in Village of Monclova, Ohio.
			2.7	4.3		Keener Road	Monclova Township Hall, with parking, bathrooms, and a bicycle maintenance station.
		Swanton	6.5	10.5		SR 295
			7.3	11.7		Evergreen Lake Trail	Oak Openings Preserve Metropark trail. Bathrooms and parking located one mile south at Ranger Station.
			9.0	14.5		SR 64	Oak Openings Preserve Metropark bathrooms and parking.
	Fulton	Swan Creek	15.2	24.5	Cinder, Gravel, Dirt, Grass	Fraker Mill Covered Bridge	Crosses Bad Creek, near Delta
		York	15.5	24.9		SR 109	Parking. NORTA (Northwestern Ohio Rails-to-Trails Association) offices. Bathrooms available in Delta.
			19.5	31.4		County Road 11	Two mile detour on County Road F, from County Road 11 to County Road 13
		Clinton	21.5	34.6	Paved	County Road 13	Paved trail maintained by City of Wauseon Parks.
			22.5	36.2		SR 108	Busy crossing
			22.7	36.5		Rotary Park, Wauseon	Parking
			23.5	37.8		Automotive Parts Factory	Pavement ends. One mile detour on County Road F via Krieger St.
			24.5	39.4	Cinder, Gravel, Dirt, Grass	County Road 16	Detour to County Road F.
		German	30.4	48.9		US 20A
			32.8	52.8		County Road 23 (old SR 66)	Parking in Elmira/Burlington.
			33.3	53.6		Tiffin River bridge.	Large railroad bridge north of north of Archbold.
			33.6	54.1		US 20A
	Williams	Brady	38.3	61.6		Wabash Park, West Unity	Parking and bathrooms.
		Jefferson	38.7	62.3		US 127
			44.7	71.9		SR 15	Western Terminus, near Montpelier, parking. Bathrooms available in Montpelier
South Fork	Lucas	Monclova	0	0	Paved	Jerome Road	Eastern Terminus, near The Fallen Timbers Battlefield and Fort Miamis National Historic Site, Maumee. Parking available.
			0.2	0.32		Forks branch
			0.8	1.3		The Shops at Fallen Timbers
		Providence	6.2	10.0		SR 64, White House	Parking and bathrooms available. Bicycle repair shop.
			7.5	12.1		SR 295
			10.2	16.4		Neapolis	Parking available.
	Henry	Washington	14.7	23.7	Cinder, Gravel, Dirt, Grass	Colton	Parking available.
			16.9	27.2		County Road 6C	Western Terminus end, Near Liberty Center

Note: Distance information about the trail differs slightly from one source to another based on whether missing sections of the trail are counted or not. Some sources say the north fork is 43 miles (not counting missing sections,) others say 45 miles (counting the missing sections) and others 47 miles (counting detour mileage.)

External links

• Traillink: Wabash Cannonball Trail, North and South Fork
• Google Maps: Wabash Cannonball Trail (North Fork)
• Google Maps: Wabash Cannonball Trail (South Fork)