Chapters
Join A Local BTA Chapter
BTA Chapters are groups that provide opportunities for outdoor recreation and volunteering within a region. Chapters host events throughout the year to support the Buckeye Trail that everyone is welcome to join. Chapters act as a local resource for their communities and encourage local involvement in the Buckeye Trail. You can select a local BTA Chapter to join when you become a member of the BTA.
Use the map to locate your local BTA Chapter or search for a county in the Chapter area descriptions to find one or two local Chapters.
Lake Plains Chapter
The Lake Plains Chapter is located along the Pemberville, Norwalk, and Medina sections of the Buckeye Trail and includes the Trail Town of Wakeman. The Chapter area includes Ashland, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Erie, Hancock, Huron, Lorain, Lucas, Medina, Ottawa, Richfield, Sandusky, Seneca, Summit, Wood, and Wyandot counties.
Volunteer and hike with the Lake Plains Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at LakePlains@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Facebook Group, Meetup Group, and Instagram Page.
Crooked River Chapter
The Crooked River Chapter is located along the Akron, Bedford, Burton, and Mogadore sections of the Buckeye Trail and includes the Trail Towns of Chardon, Mantua, and Mentor. The Chapter area includes Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Summit, and Trumbull counties.
The Crooked River Chapter highlights the Little Loop of the Buckeye Trail. Hikers that complete the entire ‘Little Loop’ are eligible for a patch. There is an annual ‘Little Loop’ Challenge where the Loop is divided into short segments and hikers commit to complete their assigned segment during the challenge and collectively we hike the entire ‘Little Loop’ in one day!
The Buckeye Trail passes through several parks including Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Headlands Beach State Park, Mentor Marsh, West Branch State Park, Mogadore Reservoir, the Ohio & Erie Canalway, Summit Lake Park, Cascade Valley Park, Sand Run Metro Park, Brecksville Reservation, Bedford Reservation, South Chagrin Reservation, the Polo Field, North Chagrin Reservation, Quail Hollow Park, Chapin Forest, Penitentiary Glen, Girdled Road Reservation, Big Creek Park, Headwaters Park, Headwaters Trail, and Canal Fulton Park.
Volunteer and hike with the Crooked River Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at CrookedRiver@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Facebook Group, Meetup Group, and Instagram Page.
Muskingum Lakes Chapter
The Muskingum Lakes Chapter is located along the Massillon, Bowerston, and Belle Valley sections of the Buckeye Trail and includes the Trail Towns of Deersville and Zoar. The Chapter area includes Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Muskingum, Noble, Stark, and Tuscarawas counties.
The Muskingum Lakes Chapter supports the Buckeye Trail through hiking, backpacking, community and volunteer events. The chapter sponsors a section of US Route 250 along Tappan Lake in the Adopt-A-Highway program. Chapter efforts to promote use of the Buckeye Trail in the Chapter regional footprint include scheduled events such as group hikes, scavenger hunts, geocaching, kayaking and canoeing, work parties, and campouts along with offering a shuttle service for hikers that travel from other areas so that it's not necessary for them to bring an extra vehicle when they hike the Buckeye Trail.
The Muskingum Lakes signature event is “Morel Fest” held annually in the spring. Many hikers are introduced to their first mushroom hunt on guided hikes led by the local chapter guides. The BTA Beall Barn, on the shore of Tappan Lake, serves as Morel Fest headquarters. This is a weekend of camping, hiking, music, and hunting mushrooms.
The Muskingum Lakes Chapter region includes a part of the Tuscarawas River watershed and the lakes of the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District of Leesville, Tappan, Clendening, Piedmont, and Seneca. These lakes offer some of the best recreational fishing in the state. This region of Ohio was one of the first areas settled after Marietta and has a rich historical background. The Ohio & Erie Canal was built in this area in the early 1800s and the Buckeye Trail follows its path through parts of Stark and Tuscarawas Counties. As in much of Ohio, water is the dominant force for creating the landscape as it is today. Prior to its settlement by pioneers, the area was a crossroads for the many indigenous nations living around here as they traded with or fought the coming of European migration and each other.
Volunteer and hike with the Muskingum Lakes Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at MuskingumLakes@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Facebook Group, Facebook Page, Meetup Group, and Instagram Page.
The Wilderness Chapter
The Wilderness Chapter is located along the Road Fork and Whipple sections of the Buckeye Trail. The Chapter area includes Monroe, Morgan, Noble, and Washington counties in Ohio as well as Marshall, Pleasants, Tyler, Wetzel, Wirt, and Wood counties in West Virginia. Morgan county is shared with the Little Cities of the Forest Chapter.
The Wilderness Chapter highlights the Wilderness Loop of the Buckeye Trail.
Volunteer and hike with The Wilderness Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at TheWilderness@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Facebook Group, Facebook Page, and Meetup Group.
Little Cities of the Forest Chapter
The Little Cities of the Forest Chapter is located along the Stockport, New Straitsville, and Old Man’s Cave sections of the Buckeye Trail and includes the Trail Town of Shawnee. The Chapter area includes Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Meigs, Morgan, Perry, and Vinton counties.
The Buckeye Trail passes through Appalachian Hills Wildlife Area (AHWA), Burr Oak State Park, Wayne National Forest, O'Dowd Wildlife Area, Boch Hollow Nature Preserve, Lake Logan and Hocking Hills State Park, private lands and the little cities of Stockport, Chesterhill, Murray City and Shawnee.
The AHWA is the largest ODNR owned wildlife area and consists of 35,396 acres of reclaimed strip mine land. It contains many lakes and ponds along with 5 campsites and 25 miles of the Buckeye Trail. Burr Oak State Park is the site of the BRRRRR Oak Winter Hike and the EGGS Hike events. In addition to the Buckeye Trail, there is a lodge, and multiple campsites, a backpack trail around the lake, Wildcat Hollow Backpack Trail and the Buckeye Trail. Hocking Hills State Park is a nationally known outdoor recreation destination with multiple outdoor recreation opportunities. Be sure and check out Brewery 33 and the official Buckeye Trail beer!
These sections are rich in history as well as blessed with unique rock formations and a variety of wildflowers - check it out in the spring. The Old Man’s Cave section contains trails designed by Grandma Gatewood herself! Stop by the Tecumseh Theater in Shawnee to learn of area coal mining (The Little Cities of Black Diamonds), the birthplace of labor relations, the New Straitsville Fire, the challenges of reclaiming land damaged by mining, and the area indigenous peoples. The John Hunt Morgan Trail is also in this area - his raiders went through Nelsonville.
This area is reinventing itself as an outdoor recreation destination for hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, canoeing, fishing and hunting. Multiple campsites are available throughout the section.
Volunteer and hike with the Little Cities of the Forest Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at LittleCities@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Meetup Group.
Appalachian Foothills Chapter
The Appalachian Foothills Chapter is located along the Scioto Trail, Sinking Spring, Shawnee, and West Union sections of the Buckeye Trail. The Chapter area includes Adams, Grown, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, and Scioto counties.
Four different physiographic regions come together, creating a diverse experience of geology, flora, fauna, human history, and beauty. In the Appalachian Foothills region, the BT has its greatest elevation changes in “Ohio’s Little Smokies” located in Shawnee State Forest (Ohio’s largest state forest) and Shawnee Wilderness Area (Ohio’s only State Wilderness Area). The Buckeye Trail in the Appalachian Foothills region also crosses the site of an ancient meteor crater, which spans for several miles, and passes next to the largest earthen effigy mound in the world, Serpent Mound. Also located in the Appalachian Foothills region is the Nature Conservancy’s 21,000 acre Edge of Appalachia Preserve as well as other smaller preserves. The Appalachian Foothills Chapter contains incredible biodiversity, the likes of which can’t be found anywhere else in Ohio.
Volunteer and hike with the Appalachian Foothills Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at AppalachianFoothills@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Facebook Group and Meetup Group.
Ohio River Chapter
The Ohio River Chapter is located along the Williamsburg and Loveland sections of the Buckeye Trail and includes the Trail Towns of Loveland and Milford. The Chapter area includes Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, and Warren counties.
One of the highlights of the Ohio River Chapter is the view of the Ohio River at the southern terminus, but there are so many other locations to visit: Caesar Creek State Park, Fort Ancient Earthworks, Milford, Cincinnati (Ohio River’s Queen City), Batavia, East Fork State Park and more. From the southern terminus, you can also hike into Cincinnati to Ohio’s western border via the American Discovery Trail. Traveling north away from the Ohio River, the trail runs along the Miami & Erie Canal, which was built to connect Lake Erie to the Ohio River.
The Ohio River Chapter extent includes a region of the Little Miami River watershed. This region of Ohio is rich in cultural and natural history and opportunities for a variety of trail experiences. As in other areas of Ohio the Buckeye Trail serves as a unifying thread between communities, protected lands and important landmarks tying people and the landscape together. Between Fort Ancient earthworks, Milford, the Ohio River’s Queen City, Cincinnati, Batavia and East Fork State Park there is so much to explore in southwestern Ohio. The Ohio and Miami River are the dominant natural forces in the region, creating hills by carving out gorges and valleys and providing transportation for each wave of settlement. The area has been settled by moundbuilding cultures, the Shawnee Nation, frontiersman, Revolutionary War veterans, and early American industry each weaving together the fabric of an American story best experienced on foot.
Volunteer and hike with the Ohio River Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at OhioRiver@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Meetup Group.
Miami Rivers Chapter
The Miami Rivers Chapter is located along the Caesar Creek and Troy sections of the Buckeye Trail and includes the Trail Towns of Dayton, Piqua, Troy, Xenia, and Yellow Springs. The Chapter area includes Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, and Shelby counties.
Hiking the Buckeye Trail in this region, for a day or several week long backpack trip, reveals how the enduring landscape, artifacts of our history, and present day life flow together to create an enriching experience. There is so much to do, so close to home, and so much to be proud of along the Buckeye Trail in western Ohio.
The Miami Rivers Chapter region includes the large region of the Great and Little Miami River watersheds. This region of Ohio is rich in cultural and natural history and opportunities for a variety of trail experiences. As in other areas of Ohio, the Buckeye Trail serves as a unifying thread between communities, protected lands and important landmarks tying people and the landscape together. Between the historic Miami & Erie Canal, downtown Dayton, Springfield, and Yellow Springs, the Little Miami National Scenic River and Little Miami State Park bike path, Xenia, Caesar Creek State Park there is so much to explore in southwestern Ohio. The Ohio and Miami Rivers are the dominant natural forces in the region, creating hills by carving out gorges and valleys and providing transportation for each wave of settlement. The area has been settled by moundbuilding cultures, the Shawnee Nation, frontiersman, Revolutionary War veterans, and early American industry each weaving together the fabric of an American story best experienced on foot.
Volunteer and hike with the Miami Rivers Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at MiamiRivers@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Facebook Page and Meetup Group.
Miami and Erie Canal Chapter
The Miami and Erie Canal Chapter is located along the St. Marys, Delphos, and Defiance sections of the Buckeye Trail and includes the Trail Towns of St. Marys, Delphos, Defiance, and Napoleon. The Chapter area includes Allen, Auglaize, Defiance, Fulton, Hardin, Henry, Logan, Lucas, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Shelby, Van Wert, and Williams counties.
Along the Miami & Erie Canal, where the Miami & Erie Canal Chapter operates, are several historical locations. The towpath runs parallel to the Miami & Erie canal, past many of the original locks of the canal. The Buckeye Trail in the Miami and Erie Canal Chapter region also passes through Deep Cut Historical Park, a National Register Historic Site in Spencerville, Ohio. Deep Cut Historical Park, named for the deepest “cut” of the Miami and Erie Canal that is 6,600 foot long, 50 foot deep (all done by hand). You can take a ride on a 19th century replica canal boat through a working lock at Providence Metropark near the Maumee River or in Piqua at the Johnston Farm & Indian Agency. The Buckeye Trail also passes by several historical forts and some Adena Earthworks.
Volunteer and hike with the Miami and Erie Canal Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at MiamiErie@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Facebook Group and Meetup Group.
Central Ohio Chapter
The Central Ohio Chapter is located in central Ohio, where there are no sections of the Buckeye Trail. The Chapter area includes Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Knox, Licking, Madison, Marion, Morrow, Pickaway, and Union counties.The Central Ohio Chapter is unique in that it does not contain any parts of the Buckeye Trail, but is a relatively short drive to all sections of the Buckeye Trail, allowing the Chapter to highlight various portions of the Buckeye Trail for outdoor adventures and volunteer opportunities. Along with serving the central Ohio audience, the Chapter also serves as a catch-all and addresses unmet trail needs around the state.
Volunteer and hike with the Central Ohio Chapter by contacting the Chapter Leadership at CentralOhio@BuckeyeTrail.org. You can also visit the Chapter Facebook Page, Meetup Group, and Instagram Page.