Cycling in Ohio - Mohican Valley & Kokosing Gap Trails

A gap in the Holmes County Trail had us driving to a new trailhead to continue our Ohio cycling trek. We’ve been using a Rail-Trails Ohio guidebook along with maps.me and TrailLink to plan our route and give us highlights of what to expect during our rides. The next couple of days had some interesting sights to see, so we were on the lookout as we rode.

All of the trails in this area are vital parts of Ohio to Erie Trail which runs along abandoned railbeds and spurs of the old Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad. When completed, this complex of trails will eventually connect and form a 320-mile route from the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland to the Ohio River in Cincinnati. But for now, some gaps exist and we’re working around them.

Mohican Valley Trail to Kokosing Gap Trail

Danville-Glenmont-Danville- Howard-Danville - 34 miles RT

We were camped at the Kokosing Valley Camp & Canoe Campground and drove to Memorial Park in the little town of Danville and began cycling east to Glenmont on the Mohican Valley Trail. The paved 4.5-mile Mohican Valley Trail was an abandoned stretch of the old Penn Central railbed repurposed in 2001 into a multi-use trail accommodating bikers, hikers, horses, and buggies. It is now a connector between the west end of the Holmes County Trail and the Kokosing Gap Trail.

From our reading, we anticipated coming across the Bridge of Dreams, a 370-foot long bridge spanning the Mohican River. This railroad bridge was originally built in the 1920s and, through a local effort, was covered in 1998. According to Wiki, “It is  the second longest covered bridge in Ohio and the third longest covered bridge in the United States.”

Since it’s a covered bridge, we stopped in the middle for our requisite covered bridge kiss. A pleasant diversion in our morning ride. Balancing the bikes in the middle of a plank bridge while kissing and trying to hold and aim the camera for a selfie was a challenge, but we managed.

Once we transited the Rt. 62 underpass, we were back on the Holmes County Trail again.

We’d seen ads for Mail Pouch Tobacco before. We weren’t sure why they were painted on the sides of barns, but it was an interesting photo opp just off the trail in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere.

We completed the western section of the Holmes County Trail to Glenmont. It was a moderate grade up to Baddow Pass and then down, down, down to the end of the trail at Glenmont. All the while down we knew we’d be pedaling up, up, up to the Pass on the return trip… one of the negatives of choosing to yo-yo up and back a trail.

We had our usual yogurt breakfast and a protein bar at the rest area in Glenmont, then began the climb back to Baddow Pass. Though it’s a railroad grade, it seemed a long climb up to the 1100’+ altitude of the Pass and we were huffing a bit by the time we arrived. We imagined how hard the freight train engines would have been working to get their fully laden cars to this point. They would have been huffing, too.

At the Baddow Pass stop, we unexpectedly ran into Sasquatch. Luckily, we were out of Sasquatch territory in no time.

The return to Danville was a downhill grade and a chance to see all the same sights from the other side.

After a quick stop to check on Blanche, we headed west along quiet Danville side streets to pick up the Kokosing Gap Trail. Evidently, there was some action from the other night’s storm here in Danville as we encountered a downed tree across the path almost immediately.

We stopped for the day at the Stone Arch In Howard, turned around and headed back to Danville by early afternoon.

We were enjoying our time at Kokosing Valley Camp & Canoe and in fact, extended it to three nights. It’s a family-owned business and Craig Gilmore, the owner, was most hospitable.

I asked about the name Kokosing (ka-KOH-sing) and he explained it meant ‘the owl place’. I researched a bit further and according to Native American place names at visitcoshocton.com “The word derives from the Delaware language word, Gokhos, which means “owl”. Kokosing means “Where there are Owls” or “Place of Owls”. The area of the river is documented to have been “alive with owls” in the 18th century. A Native American village named Gokhosing was also located on the river in the 1770s.”

We had a grassy campsite with water and electric and plenty of space. There’s lots to do there since the Kokosing River is close by. In addition to canoeing and tubing, there’s a putt-putt golf course and a driving range. The camp store has lots of supplies and even scoops up ice cream. I thought we’d take advantage of the mini-golf or at least the ice cream, but alas we were either too tired or too full each time opportunities presented themselves.

Next time, we’ll start at today’s endpoint in Mt. Liberty and pick up the Heart of the Ohio trail for our final day of cycling for awhile. It’s time to head back to Pawtucket, Rhode Island for a bit.