The Wabash Cannonball Trail is Northwest Ohio's premier Rails-to-Trails project. When the abandonment of the Norfolk Southern railroad line was made known in 1990, several local visionaries and enthusiasts gathered to share ideas about creating a public recreational trail and utility corridor. Their dream became reality on March 24, 1994, when the corridor was purchased from Norfolk Southern.
The Wabash Cannonball Trail is one of Ohio's longest rail-trails, covering a total of 63 miles and traversing four counties: Fulton, Henry, Lucas, and Williams. So it should come as no surprise that the Trail is owned by several partners. With the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG) acting as coordinating partner for the project, the land-owning partners are Lucas County, the city of Maumee, Northwestern Ohio Rails-to-Trails Association, Inc. (NORTA, Inc.), the Metropark District of the Toledo Area, the city of Wauseon, and the village of Whitehouse.
The Trail is actually comprised of two rail lines that converge in Maumee at Jerome Road. The "North Fork" of the Trail runs in an east-west direction, 46 miles from Maumee to within 15 miles of the Indiana state line near Montpelier, Ohio. The "South Fork" takes a southwesterly route from Maumee to the edge of Liberty Center, Ohio for a length of 17 miles. The South Fork has been abandoned for a greater length of time, as is evidenced by the dense foliage lining the Trail. The minimum width of the Trail corridor is 100 feet, with the width of the Trail surface being 10 - 12 feet.
If you traverse the length of the Trail, you will cross over 16 bridges. The longest of these is the Tiffin River bridge, at 210 feet in length. The Beaver Creek bridge is the highest, at 38 feet above water level.
When Trail development is fully completed, the Trail will be surfaced with finely crushed stone. In the interim, as the Trail is opened section by section, you may find the surface a bit rough in spots. Mountain and hybrid/cross bikes will have no problem traveling on the open sections of the Trail.
Out of concern for the public's safety, some sections of the Trail may be closed periodically, due to agricultural spraying or during fire-arms hunting season, as the Trail passes by public hunting grounds.