Van Buren

I went to this trail, and was extremely disappointed. The trail is not kept up, and most of the features are destroyed or unridable. This trail needs a lot of work to be able to have an enjoyable ride.

This is my go to trail. Northwest Ohio is flat but I always enjoy riding here. Contains both technical sections and fast singletrack.

Beginner trails with a few easy bridges.

I am no expert. I am very glad to have a trail like this within driving distance. I have a lot of fun on it. It is a little bit short, no so well maintained, and is marked poorly. Like I said, you can have a good time on this trail. Unfortunately I have been spoiled by some really awesome trails many hours from my home. If you want to go for a ride no doubt it is worth the trip.

Not really ten miles more like 4.5 miles. I ran my GPS and got 6.8 and did most of it twice. Fun course though alot of very steep valleys that add a challenge. And a sweet ramp that adds some excitement at the end of the run. "You can get like 3 feet of air!" There was a tree down that was a real pain in the but to get past. There is also a disc golf course at this park too.

Trail is in great shape, the best all year! Work had been done to some of the obstacles and trail is well groomed.

My home trail...closest one to me. I like this trail. Its got some decent challenges, not alot of climb and the trail criss cross to give you plenty of ride. It will get swampy after rain but dries out well other than a few patches. Trail is maintained well. Parking lot has facilities and always see a few people riding/trail running.

Trail maintenance is back under contol now that things are drying up from late July and early august rains. Bridges repaired or replaced, downed trees removed and grooming is on going. To Richard who made the last post come back and see what things look lIke when the 2 people who do 90% of the maintenance are not taking a needed break.

This is a tight and twisty singletrack with little elevation change. The hills that are present are short and steep ravines. For comparison, I would call this a poor man's Findley State Park. This biggest issue is that the trail is badly in need of maintenance. A weed whacker, some gravel, and a couple of new bridges would go a long way. I wish I lived closer so that I could help...

Very tight and twisty singletrack through the woods. The trail has steep but very short climbs and drops. We rode this trail as we were driving to Michigan. It is only 5-10 minutes off the freeway which makes it very convenient if you are driving by. I would not drive out of my way to ride it.

We were invited to try this newly maintained and signed approx. 3 mile singletrack trail this week and we found it to be a lot of fun. Won't appeal to the speedsters, but it had many log rideovers that were expertly done and safe to ride. Tight turns and climbs and divedown hills were great to ride. There are several bridges over drainage creeks that added character to the trail. Tentative plans to ride Tuesdays at noon weather permitting. Check out Van Buren MTB on Facebook for more info.

The main riding area is on the S side of lake. I only found a small piece of trail N of the lake. There are also equestrian trails E of twsh 228 shown on the Park map from their web sight. I agree mostly with the last review. of the trail I road Lakeshore/interpretive well maintained. They have options to drop in the gullies near the lake or cross up stream for easy ride. Coming off an injury it was a good place. lots of families around. All trails appear to be open to bikes, and hikers on bike trail. Some trails have big dead fall trees. Camping available.

I've ridden nearly every mountain bike trail in Ohio and drove from Columbus to Van Buren to ride this one today but was sorely disappointed. Despite being in an Ohio State Park, the trails are poorly maintained and the blue blazed mountain bike trail is awkward to ride. There are too many tight turns to build sufficient speed to do the log ramps. The best part of this trail is that it's less than 10 minutes from I-75 to the trailhead. So here's what I would suggest to make the most of a visit to Van Buren State Park:

Print out a trail map from the Ohio State Parks website. Park on the south side of the lake just off Township Road 229 near Shelter House 3 located at 41-07.942N and 083-37.922W. From there, ride out the driveway, turn right, and ride 50 yards to the main trailhead road at 41-07.864N and 083-37.872W. Ride along this double track trail/road until you see the very evident and well-marked Scarlet Haw trailhead at 41-07.913N and 083-37.991W and turn in there. The Scarlet Haw is one of five hiking trails that allows mountain bikes and from there to can connect to the other trails including the Blue mountain bike trail. I found the Lakeshore and the Interpretive (Nature) Trails to be the best-maintained with the best bridges and scenery. Follow these trails to the extreme western end of the lake to check out the dam and the south side of the spillway then dive down into the woods for a closer look. Ride the double track White Trail back to the parking lot.

Next, ride north on Township Road about 100 yards to get across the water and turn in to this parking lot where you'll find the northern legs of the Interpretive and Lakeshore Trails that will take you all the way to the north side of the spillway. There's a nice S-bridge on this route.

Finally, I would avoid the Pink (south), Red (north) and Yellow (north) trails because they are bridle trails. You are allowed to ride these trails, but your time would be better spent riding the Lakeshore and Interpretive Trails on both sides of the lake for more of what I would consider to be mountain bike riding.

This was a fun and challenging trail. Some of the downhills to bridge crossings are very challenging and take a lot of skill and commitment. It consists of mostly technical riding. There are very few areas to get any speed and the log crossings break up the flow at times. Overall its a fun trail and I will be going back quite often.

Not a bad place to ride after work or a quick morning ride. I found that almost all of the trails are multi-use trails, the trails on the lake side are mountain bike and hiking only. The horse use trails are torn up so bad in spots they are completely unridable after a small amount of rain. The trails on the MTB side are pretty well maintained except somebody thinks that you need a log pile every 100 yards. This makes riding here and maintaining any kind of speed or flow almost impossible. Overall I like riding here, just don't expect any epic climbs or white knuckle down hills.

Great trail, sleep slopes and some up hills that will challenge the best of riders. some different trails to ride on, all are fun and are a great workout. Be careful of the mud holes, look like nothing but will put you on your b*** if not careful. They have worked some trees into the trail and some great technical parts also. couple of spots there are trees you have to go between, they are just wide enough for the handle bars so be careful. Great fun and a good workout too. Happy riding my friends:)

Can a 3 mile trail suitable for beginners still be fun enough to keep advanced riders awake., I think this trail says yes. Just 2 miles off I-75. So if in the area give it a try and see if you agree. Trail is loaded with technical features of varying difficulty that are either on the side, or have a bypass. Although there are many miles of trail in the park that can be ridden, the "Blue Trail" is the MTB trail. (Ride clockwise)
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/vanburen/tabid/794/Default.aspx * Review edited 4/16/2010