Get to know small-town Ohio's backroads, byways, and genuine friendliness as you base your next outdoor expedition from an Ohio Trail Town.

A trail town provides a destination around which you can plan your outdoor recreation. Head here for a weekend or more and set up your base camp at a local campground, or enjoy creature comforts at one of the local motels or bed and breakfasts. There are hometown restaurants, shops, and other in-town amenities to complement your outdoor forays on the Trail and other outdoor activities along creeks and rivers in your kayak or out on a bike trail on your bike.

Featured Trail Towns

Wakeman

Founded in 1824, Wakeman is an old railroad town about halfway from Cleveland to Toledo and located just a few miles south of Lake Erie on the Vermilion River. When the rail was still running, it would stop at Wakeman to fire up the coal engine and refill the coal car while taking passengers to and from the two major cities. A visit to Wakeman Village wouldn’t be complete unless you walked the downtown area.

Defiance

Defiance is the heart of the historic Maumee River Valley and is where the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers meet. From its earliest days, Defiance has been a hub for the shipping and receiving goods. Whether it was early supplies passing through Fort Winchester or goods being transferred on the Miami-Wabash and Erie canals that ran through the community, transportation has played a major role in our development. In later years, the addition of several railways that traveled through Defiance helped to facilitate the industrial growth that continues to support the city today.

Featured Trail Towns

All Trail Towns