September 11th. Never forget.
I’m back in Columbus, more specifically, Westerville on the capital’s north side. Today I will be riding the Alum Creek Trail. It’s going to be another hot one, getting up to the mid 90’s. The trail follows the aforementioned Alum Creek from Westerville to Three Creeks Park, a 24 mile(ish) north to south ride. I start at the northern trail head in Westerville’s Cooper Park. Good parking and a water station at the park.
The asphalt trail moves alongside the creek with several bridges and underpasses crisscrossing as I travel south. You still need to pay attention on the few road crossings, even when walking/crossing with the pedestrian right-of-way. I am riding my Fuji Jari gravel bike but the trail surface will accommodate any style and tire set up. I could have easily used my road bike. The overall trail surface condition is very good. As with the Olentangy Trail, the trail connects the many local parks to the trail. Note to follow the yellow broken center lines for the main trail, as the connectors do not have lines.
The trail is well marked with both signage and “paint-on-trail” markers. I still managed to take a small unintentional detour, circling one of the city parks, all good 🙂 In respect to the local parks, there are several and all offer some type of “relief station” but I didn’t find water access other than at Cooper and Three Creeks. I did see several “bike assist” stations – tools and air, along the route. Also, you could easily access retail areas near most trail head sections.
Even though I move from suburban to urban to rural areas, the vast majority of the time I am under a tree-lined canopy which helps with the heat. The northern most section of the trail connects to the Ohio-to-Erie-Trail too.
A couple of other really cool and interesting landmarks:
The Alum Creek Greenway Trail roughly parallels the Olentangy Trail which runs alongside the Olentangy River to the west. The two trails share similarities as both use waterway greenbelts that connect with parks along their routes.
End of ride treat at Graters in Westerville
BikeOhio1000
BikeOhio1000 