Van Buren Lake Trail is a 2.2 mile lightly trafficked loop trail located near Van Buren, Ohio that features a lake and is good for all skill levels. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
kid friendly
birding
camping
canoeing
fishing
hiking
mountain biking
nature trips
trail running
walking
forest
lake
views
wildlife
old growth
Van Buren State Park offers several miles of multi-use trials. There is a printable map of the trial system available on the OH State Park website. The trials are well marked and maintained. Wildlife is abundant and the trial along the south shore offers nice lake views.
sweet walk on a perfect hiking day.
If you're up for a walk in the woods, this is the place. Watch for roots on trail. Mud an issue up to 10 days after rain. Loop around lake possible if you don't mind crossing stream via RR tracks (smidge of a "climb" to tracks).
great for a day hike and nice place to train for bigger trail systems
The trails are so fun! Some of the most rugged in the area, which in extremely flat northwest Ohio that's not a huge achievement! The problem we encountered was the almost total lack of trail markings. We wandered through the network of unmarked trails for a few hours and had to find our way out by using the lake to help us navigate. The maps provided are virtually useless as they don't show parking lots or shelter houses. The park isn't so large that anyone would be in real danger of becoming dangerously lost, but some trail markers would be nice.
The trails were fun. In some areas of the trail (white) it was not clear and had to cut through the brush, but it was fun and gave the hike a little more adventure. Over all I enjoyed the scenery and trails. The trails were very muddy and in some places the trail markings were rather hidden. Otherwise a fun enjoyable hike.
I just did a few of the trails in this park today with my family. I was surprised to see how many trails there were and the fact that there is a path for everyone from horse back riding to walking! There are short loops perfect for nature walks with small children and plenty of shelter houses and pick-nick areas. There is also 2 play ground areas. I plan to return next week for some solo mountain bike riding.
The MTB trials at Van Buren State Park I would rate as easy to moderate. There are several loops in the trial system. I rode the outer orange trial 1st to learn the boundaries, then rode some of the inner loops. The trials offer many obstacles of varying levels of difficulty. The more difficult jumps, bridges and log climbs offer bypass loops. Several obstacles are immediately after blind turns in the trial and can catch you by surprise. I recommend riding at a moderate pace until you're familiar. the terrain is mostly flat, but there are several steep ravines. Some have narrow wood bridges and some are fast, steep descents and climbs. I'm looking forward to returning to Van Buren to ride some of the loops I missed.