Login | July 30, 2025
Wabash Cannonball Rail Trail
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: August 9, 2021
With the lost travel year of 2020 starting to feel like it’s finally approaching the rearview mirror this summer, I’ve been on a bit of a quest to make up for a host of trips I had to forego last year.
Some of those trips are what I call the “dude sabbaticals,” where my buds and I typically sleep in tents, cook unappealing backpacker foods and then grovel our way through muscle-taxing hiking, biking and canoeing treks.
While other trips are what I refer to as my “date sabbaticals” where my girlfriend and I typically stay at cozy hotels, do spirited rides and hikes, and inevitably dine at sumptuous restaurants while seated comfortably on intimate and airy outdoor patios.
Well, one of the several date sabbaticals that we finally got under our belts was a trip to the 64-mile Wabash Cannonball Rail Trail.
Now the Wabash originates in Maumee, Ohio, consisting of two forks, the north––running east-west––and the south––running northeast-southwest. And these two forks conveniently converge in a metropolitan area that provides just about everything you’re looking for when it comes to getting in an upscale athletic weekend––great trails, superb hotels, picturesque settings and plentiful dining choices.
The Wabash’s large primary trailhead lies in front of a shopping mall on Jerome Road in Maumee, near the Fallen Timbers Battlefield, the Fallen Timbers Monument and the adjoining Side Cut Metro Park.
So having three pretty cool historical sites all within a few miles of the trailhead makes it easy to mix a little bit of US history in with a whole lot of cycling.
The North Fork runs for 46 miles, from Maumee west to Montpelier, just about 15 miles shy of the Ohio-Indiana border.
Now take note that this fork is paved for the first 12 to 13 miles and it offers some really wonderful forest land scenery via the Oak Openings Preserve Metropark.
Then there’s unpaved grassy double track sections that continue on for pretty much the remainder of the trail.
I mention this because it’s these unpaved sections of the trail that require a cyclocross or mountain bike. So if you’re doing the whole trail, think Mt or X bike.
The South Fork rambles for 20-plus miles from Maumee to Liberty Center, with the first 15 or so miles being paved and the remainder being grassy/gravel double track. It passes through the village of Whitehouse, the Maumee State Forest and then runs out into some really tranquil farm country.
Generally the trail’s eight to ten feet wide and crosses some 13 bridges, with the 210-foot long Tiffin River Bridge being the longest.
What really surprised - and delighted - us was learning that the Jerome Road trailhead adjoins an access trail to the 1794 Fallen Timbers Battlefield and eventually to the Maumee River Tow Path Trail which you can further ride south from Maumee along the river to the city of Grand Rapids.
Within that 15-mile point-to-point towpath trek there’s a short four-mile stint that’s on W. River Road which is low traffic and super scenic.
I found the Maumee towpath to be just as well maintained and easily as scenic as our own Cuyahoga Valley Erie and Ohio Towpath trail.
Okay, enough about riding and more about sumptuous dining. So our typical couples sabbatical entails a dining game plan that consists of three crucial prerequisites: Short drive from hotel, interesting, eclectic menu and an inviting outdoor patio. And let me tell you, those three prereqs can shorten your list fast. Yet we still found three keepers on this trip.
Dale’s Bar & Grill, historic downtown Maumee: Wonderful outdoor patio space in the shade with a host of IPA beers and an interesting pub menu made Dale’s an easy choice. It’s burgers and appetizers were tasty and the outdoor patio space was intimate.
Stella’s Restaurant, downtown Perrysburg: A cool little restaurant, Stellas’s serves up a fun menu containing a nice variety of French, Italian and American food options. Its outdoor patio seating allows for views of the Admiral Perry statue and lake front park. The food was topnotch and ditto for the service.
Mancy’s Bluewater Grill, Maumee: Definitely the most upscale of the bunch. We experienced awesome service and excellent food during our dinner visit. The bread was excellent, the beer was ice cold, and the appetizers and entrees were awesome.
All in all our cycling sabbatical to Maumee registered as an easy home run trip.