Follow the Blue Blazes: A Guide To Hiking Ohio's Buckeye Trail

by Robert J. Pond, Steven M. Newman (Contributor)

Unique among hiking trails is the one that forms a complete loop around the state of Ohio. That 1,200-mile trail is called the Buckeye Trail. Showing the way on tree trunks, rocks, and other natural signposts are the blue painted markings called “the blue blazes.” In Follow the Blue Blazes , the reader embarks on a journey to discover a part of Ohio largely unseen except along this great path.

Beginning with the startling rock formations and graceful waterfalls of Old Man’s Cave in southern Ohio, and leading clockwise around the state to visit expansive forests, lovely parks, ancient mounds, historic canals and battlefields, and scenic river trails, experienced trailsman Robert J. Pond provides a captivating look at each section of the trail.

Each chapter features an overview of a 100-mile section of the trail and three self-guided featured hikes. The overviews, with accompanying maps, may be read consecutively to acquaint the reader with the entire course of the blue blazes. But most readers will best enjoy the Buckeye Trail by taking the guide along on featured hikes. Each hike is supported by a detailed but easy-to-follow map and includes explicit directions to trailheads and approximate hiking times.

In addition to many outlying areas, the extensive Buckeye Trail is accessible in or near Cincinnati, Dayton, Toledo, Cleveland, and Akron. Robert Pond has supplemented each description with interesting details about the geology and the diverse habitats of flora and fauna. Readers, too, can enjoy the beauty and wonders of Ohio if they Follow the Blue Blazes .

328 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I live a block away from the Buckeye Trail and the American Discovery Trail, so I thought I would see what these trails are about. I've bicycled many times on some of the roads and bike paths that the Buckeye Trail uses in my area. I've seen the sign in Milford where a bunch of trails intersect, and the southern terminus sign in Eden Park (fantastic view from the overlook there by the way). So now that I know what the blue blazes are, I'm noticing them with more awareness. Follow the Blue Blazes presents a trivia-packed overview of all the sections of the Buckeye Trail, and features three short hikes within each chapter-section-grouping. The book seems to give more useful detail about these short hikes, which can take in side trails, than it does about the Buckeye Trail proper. For the latter you'll apparently need to buy the section maps from the Buckeye Trail Association. The book includes low-resolution maps that combine several sections, but these are woefully insufficient for figuring out where the trail goes, and thus not useful as a navigation aid for through-hikers.

More detailed navigational information is on the buckeyetrail.org site. It has text pages that describe the sections and their road and trail turns and junctions. See for example the Williamsburg section. That's the level of detail that a through-hiker would need. I was curious about that section in particular because I've bicycled on roads in that area many times. I wondered how the Buckeye Trail gets from Milford to Batavia. Several of the roads in that area, such as Round Bottom Road, combine the worst of all possible worlds: they're outside the dense urban core of Cincinnati, so they have no sidewalks (and often no verges or walkable shoulders); but they're close enough to population centers so that they carry sometimes heavy, always high-speed motor traffic. I've bicycled enough times on Round Bottom Road to know I'd never want to walk on it. I can't seem to recall ever having seen backpackers hiking on it, whereas I've seen numerous hikers and walkers on the Little Miami Scenic Trail which passes through Milford. Evidently some parts of the Buckeye Trail are more popular than others, such as the portions that actually deserve the title of trail. Anyway, the section page I linked above clearly has the Buckeye Trail following Round Bottom Road, for what I imagine is probably one of the least pleasant and most dangerous parts of the Trail, especially if you get there at a bad time. And unfortunately the local topography and development patterns mean there is probably no better way to get between Milford and Batavia - the East Fork of the Little Miami River flows through a valley with steep bluffs, and as the name suggests, Round Bottom Road follows the bottom of the valley, not leaving any wiggle room.

Incidentally, farther to the east on this section there is a newer alternate route around East Fork Lake that is shorter and free from any deep water crossing problems, compared to the official route: the Williamsburg-Batavia Hike Bike Trail.

The book contains one bit of advice that I strongly disagree with, in this paragraph:

The BT follows several miles of bike paths, especially those that follow the Little Miami River, the Mad River in the Dayton area, and the miles of canal towpaths on the east and west sides of the state. The rules for these paths can usually be found on signage along the paths. One rule for all is to stay to the left of the path to allow bicyclists to pass (sometimes without warning).

Walking on the left side of a multi-use path is catastrophically terrible. First, you don't need to see bicyclists coming up behind you when you walk on the right side of the trail where you belong. It's the bicyclist's job to see what's in front of them and not run into it. All you have to do is avoid making any sudden lunges toward the center or left of the trail, and the bicyclist will simply go around you. A considerate bicyclist will carry a warning bell and use it, and a considerate hiker will wave to let the bicyclist know they heard the bell, but you don't really need this. The bell is only to remind you not to make any sudden lateral lunges. Just get in the habit of always checking your six before you move away from the trail edge for any reason.

Walking against traffic on the multi-use path is a terrible idea because it can create a traffic jam when two-way traffic converges on your position. Consider: when you are walking on the left side of the path, and a bicyclist approaches you head-on, the two of you are converging on a particular spot. You're not giving that oncoming bicyclist the option of slowing down and riding behind you as you walk, because you're walking at that bicyclist head-on. Thus you obligate the bicyclist to move to their left. But what if another bicyclist, or two or three, is coming from the opposite direction, from behind you, but to your right? If the timing is unfortunate, you will all converge on a single spot. And now your head-on cyclist cannot move to their left (your right) and ride around you, because cyclists going in your direction are occupying that half of the path. Your oncoming cyclist has no option but to stop in front of you, forcing you to stop. You will both have to wait until the cyclists coming up behind you pass on your right. Now, if you had been walking on the right side instead, the cyclist overtaking you from behind could see their oncoming cyclist, and simply slow down to walking speed behind you, until the oncoming traffic clears. Nobody has to stop in this scenario. Your overtaking cyclist might be a little annoyed, but anyone who bicycles on a multi-use path should be used to it because it happens frequently. It's the small price a bicyclist pays for getting to ride where there are no cars.

The main thing is take the traffic level into account. If a multi-use path is crowded, you're going to have more of these two-way convergences. If you're hiking with a partner, please go single file if the path is busy. Although newer multi-use paths are often built to a wider standard, none of them are so wide as to safely accommodate multiple groups each with individuals going two or more abreast and convering on a given point.

Another rule is to never stop on the paved trail (except at road crossings). If you need to stop, please step off the paved trail and onto the verge. But on any multi-use path during a busy time you're likely to see groups of people who stopped on the paved trail and seem oblivious to the dangerous choke point they've created.

Another thing I found strange about the book is its frequent reference to the fossil fuel industry (whose wreckage and reclaimed land and the Buckeye Trail passes near or through in spots) but without even one mention of climate change. Furthermore, the author refers to automobile use throughout the book, and even the use of two cars to allow for one-way section hikes. I wonder if the author is a climate change denier. These are things that have to go away if we want civilization to continue.

[Jackie Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative...but alittle boring...