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The National Park Service will host a public comment period to discuss potentially adding Ohio’s Buckeye Trail to the National Trails system, the agency has announced.
In 2022, Congress approved conducting a study regarding the feasibility of making the Buckeye a National Scenic Trail, with the goal of determining whether the route would be logistically and financially possible to develop and desirable to the public. A re-designation would provide the state of Ohio with more funding opportunities and resources to support the trail’s development and maintenance.
A 1,454-mile trail that stretches from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, the Buckeye Trail loops around the state of Ohio through some of the state’s most iconic places. The trail currently travels through 49 of Ohio’s 88 counties, Ohio’s only National Forest, as well as a number of historical sites, wildlife areas, and state parks. At the moment, about 70% of the Buckeye Trail currently overlaps with the North Country National Scenic Trail, which became a National Scenic Trail in 1980.
The first segment of the Buckeye Trail opened in 1959, and the last in 1980. Today, millions of people use the Buckeye Trail every year, predominantly for dayhiking.
Established by law in 1968, the National Trails System currently contains 11 national scenic trails, 21 national historic trails, and 1,300 national recreation trails. The purpose of the designation is to preserve important routes while providing public access.
The upcoming meetings will discuss the park service’s evaluation process and study criteria as well as provide a platform in which locals can ask questions. Giving the Buckeye Trail its own designation would not only require public support, but also congressional approval. The feasibility study is used to provide recommendations to Congress, which can in turn choose to provide new trail designations based on nine National Scenic Trail criteria.
In-person meetings will take place in Ohio on January 13-17. The agency will also hold a virtual meeting on the 23. Those who are interested in participating in a meeting can find more information here.
From 2025