Initially proposed as a trail from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, the Buckeye Trail loops through Ohio, connecting the varied geophysical regions of the State. The 1445 mile route, which combines nature trails, abandoned rail beds and country roads, is maintained by the Buckeye Trail Association, founded in 1959.
In northeast Ohio, the Trail cuts through Cuyahoga Valley National Park and spurs out to Mentor Marsh and the Headlands Dunes on the shore of Lake Erie. Winding south across the Appalachian Plateau, the route, blazed with blue rectangles, enters the scenic Blackhand Sandstone region of the State; there it negotiates the gorges and waterfalls of Hocking Hills State Park and Tar Hollow State Forest.
Heading west, the Buckeye Trail drops from the Plateau at Fort Hill State Memorial and snakes across the Central Lowlands of the Midwest. Following branches of the Little Miami River and skirting large reservoirs, the Trail makes its way through southwest Ohio and heads north across the flat, till plains. There it picks up the abandoned towpath of the Miami-Erie Canal, which it follows to the Maumee River Parks, southwest of Toledo. Finally, the northern section of the Buckeye Trail leads across the Lake Plains of Ohio, from the remnant dunes of Oak Openings to the Emerald Necklace of Greater Cleveland.
