Cycling in Ohio - The Conotton Creek Trail

Conotton Creek Trail -  Bowerston to Jewett (Ohio) - 22.6 miles RT

We’re continuing to cycle on the GART (Great American Rail-Trail). There’s an unfinished gap between the end of the Panhandle Trail in West Virginia and the beginning of the next trail in Ohio. We drove to a tiny parking area in Bowerston, Ohio for the next leg of the GART and set off on our first Ohio ride, the 11.2 mile Conotton Creek Trail.

Meandering along the route that was once a segment of the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway, this line was used to haul iron ore from the Great Lakes to Ohio Valley steel mills as well as Harrison County mined coal.

The path is paved and well-maintained by what appears to be a dedicated volunteer group. Flowers were planted at the Bowerston terminus next to the trail sign. Informational signs along the trail pointed out interesting sights and provided some historical references for the area. For instance, General George Custer was born not far from here in New Rumley, Ohio in 1839 and Abraham Lincoln’s train car passed through on his way to Washington, DC for his inauguration in 1861. Clark Gable was also born in Cadiz, a nearby town.

A bit of Ohio trivia we found interesting… the state has produced seven US presidents (Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William H. Taft, and Warren G. Harding). I didn’t say they were all particularly notable presidents, but they did all hail from Ohio.

The day was sunny and cool and the trail was most pleasant to ride. We passed through five covered bridges that ford the Conotton Creek, all constructed by volunteers and donated by local organizations.

White water-lilies were blooming in the ponds east of Bowerston.

We spotted a great blue heron waiting patiently in hopes of snagging a breakfast morsel.

On the Jewett end of the trail is the last covered bridge, the Volunteer Bridge (no loitering allowed). We didn’t loiter, but we did linger long enough to find a place to sit and eat our breakfast. Named after a railroad official, we learned that the town was once the home of the Jewett Car Company which produced street cars that were shipped throughout the USA. (1894-1904) Those days are long gone. Today, it’s a quiet little town of ~700 people.

We’ve enjoyed the diversity of the trails we’ve been riding. Some are urban, some rural. All have history to be shared. Because they’re rail-trails, all have their railroad heritage in common. Paved trails are pleasant and easy. Towpaths and cart roads, though harder to maneuver and slower to transit, have their allure as well… they present more of a challenge. Being outside, riding along, spotting wildlife and wildflowers along the trail, checking out historical markers and landmarks, finding the unique aspects of places we visit, meeting other bicyclists… it’s awesome and the more we ride, the more we want to ride.

Next time, we head onto the Zoar Valley Trail and the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath. We’re also heading into the heart of Amish Country and we’d like to learn a bit more about the Amish and Mennonite folks and their ways. We’ve begun to see their buggies clip-clopping along on the roads midst other traffic. There’s much more to come… stay tuned.