Trail Life

Recently, MarketWatch published an article in response to a retiree looking for an affordable trail town.

Frostburg, MD, my summer escape town, topped the list, but I hold out hope for Cleveland. Justin Bibb is our new mayor and there are promising signs that he will coordinate services to include trails and transit. I tried out a hike yesterday at Garfield Park.

From my house, I took the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority route #18, which departs from the MetroHealth campus (shoveled) and includes stops through Steelyard, Washington Park, Fleet, Harvard, Warner and Garfield Heights Blvd, and Garfield Park, before the final destination of Marymount Hospital. I jumped off at Turney and Garfield Park - but I could also choose to access the trail from the Mill Creek RTA station on Turney. https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/ohio/mill-creek-trail

The Cleveland Metroparks provides outstanding trail maintenance and there is much good news for east side residents:

Cleveland Metroparks was awarded a $950,000 grant to pay most of the $1.5 million planning and design bills for four regional transportation projects, three of which are in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood, that encompass 5.7 miles of trail and bike connections. The U.S. Department of Transportation grant was awarded through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program...

In the Slavic Village area, the grant will fund the full design of 2.2 miles of bicycle paths from E. 14th St. to the intersection of Broadway and Dille Ave. The Slavic Village Downtown Connector Phase 2 North project will connect Slavic Village and the completed Morgana Run Trail to the Towpath Trail through Cleveland Metroparks Washington and Ohio & Erie Canal reservations along with Downtown Cleveland. It will also connect to the all-purpose trail built as part of ODOT’s Innerbelt Project along Orange Ave. that connects to E. 14th St. and on to the E. 9th St. Extension, Metroparks says. The grant will also fund the full design of a .8 mile all-purpose trail to link the completed Morgana Run Trail to the Mill Creek Falls area of Garfield Park Reservation. It will also connect to the Warner Road bike lanes and Mill Creek Connector Trail, as well as the future Slavic Village Downtown Connector via the Morgana Run Trail.

It was cold and grey for most of the day, but the trip showed me that it is possible to plan hiking trips using transit and to skip the car.

I encountered others hiking yesterday - mostly dog owners - but I also found it very interesting that the trail to the Mill Creek RTA station was plowed and HEAVILY used by foot traffic- indicating the significant multimodal need supported by the Cleveland Metroparks.

My photos are here: Google

And - it is worth noting that the Cleveland Metroparks is hard at work providing additional park amenities that will include restoration of the historic boat pond and Iron Springs Picnic area .