eBiking Mohican Valley and Holmes County Trails - OH

Our eBike adventure on the Mohican Valley and the Holmes County Trails - which are part of the projected 326-mile Erie to Ohio Trail System - was epic! We completed the Kokosing, Mohican, and Holmes in one day in celebration of the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. In retrospect, we should have just stayed overnight, because the drive home was pretty brutal on us after the long day. Luckily, we have our Little Red, Kia Nero, which has driver assist which keeps us in line figuratively and literally. We love that car! Worth every penny for retirees biking and hiking. The first leg of our journey, the Kokosing Gap, can be found on a previously published video under the Playlist “Take to the Trails” along with other Erie to Ohio Trails.
After finishing the Kokosing Gap, we hit the Mohican Valley Trail which began in Danville, OH and completed in Brinkhaven. It is an asphalt, multi-use trail (including horses) that has an epic highlight at the Bridge of Dreams. This covered, a 320 ft, bridge was built in the 1920’s for the railroad and then covered and named in 1989 for the trail. It is common to see swimmers, kayakers, and tubes floating in the river in and around the bridge. There is ample parking, picnic areas, and bathrooms at each of the trailheads along the route. Since horses are allowed, there are large piles of manure, in abundance, but it is not that big of a deal. You just go around.
Trail brochure: www.knoxcounty...
After completing the Mohican Valley, we continued on to the Holmes County Trail. This began in Brinkhaven, OH and ended in Glenmont. The trail currently ends in Glenmont unless you are willing to do street riding up to Killbuck, to pick up the trail on the other side. We typically prefer to stay on the trails, so Glenmont was our turn-around spot. Holmes County is about 8 miles one way, and is asphalt. All three trails of Kokosing, Mohican, and Holmes, were well maintained. There were some holes, and of course the horse manure on Mohican and Holmes, but overall, excellent. As like Mohican, you can find parking, picnic areas, and bathrooms at each of the trailheads. On the day we passed through, there was even free bottled water at the Glenmont trailhead!
Additional Trail info: holmesparkdist...
Amish Country info:
www.visitamish...
Length:
Mohican Valley goes from Danville, OH to Brinkhaven, OH and is approximately 5 miles long.
Holmes County Trail goes from Brinkhaven, OH to Glenmont, OH and is approximately 8 miles long. You can connect to the Kokosing Trail from the Mohican Valley Trailhead in Danville through an easily traversed back-road through the small town. If you want to continue on the Erie to Ohio trail after Holmes County in Killbuck, there street riding. We did not do that, so I am not sure how busy the street riding is to get up to the next trailhead in Killbuck.
Facilities:
Parking, picnic areas, and bathrooms at each trailhead. Bike fixing equipment can be found in Glenmont hanging from the side of the picnic shelter.
Trail Condition:
There are a few tree root pops, and holes, but it is obvious the trail is well loved and cared for by the locals. The majority of the trail is tree lined, so it stays a good 10 degrees cooler on hot days. There are some open, hot sections with corn and soybean fields on each side, but they are fairly small areas. Both the Mohican and Holmes have many Amish buggy riders, so there is an abundance of horse manure, but it’s easy to just go around.
It is always a good idea to check alerts on the Ohio to Erie website for any closures before you head out for the day. The link to trail alerts is below:
ohiotoerietrai...
Food:
Danville and Brinkhaven, had grab and go, groceries, and sit-down restaurants to eat at. I believe it was the time of day and Murphy’s Law in Glenmont that we couldn’t find anything open to get any snacks or food. We made a quick loop, couldn’t find anything open and decided to just start heading back to our starting point in Mt. Vernon.We had dinner once we got back to Mt. Vernon off of the Kokosing Trail. We ate at the Southside Diner, and it was fantastic! Delicious food, service and atmosphere. The prices were very reasonable and although the parking lot is a bit small, the restaurant is bigger than it looks from the outside. I especially loved their onion rings and their caramel cheesecake.
Website for location and menu:
southsidediner...
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