Beaver Creek
From TrailGuide
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Rider Rating
There is at least one big climb on each of these trails, so be prepared to suck wind. There are also some rock gardens that I'd question the rideability of. But there are also some easy sections near the creek and at the ridge tops, so intermediates can have fun if they're willing to walk some.
Current Trail Conditions
This trail is not a groomed, specific to mtb trail - it's a hiking trail that is open to bikes. So it's not cleaned and has no bike specific stunts or obstacles.
The trail is mostly pretty tough in the wet, though there are some mushy areas in the creekside sections. Once you start climbing it's fairly moisture resistant on the ridges, so you can ride here when it's a little too wet in other places. The leaves really get thick in the fall and there's definitely not going to be anyone out there with a leaf blower cleaning the trails.
Little or no evidence of mtb riding is seen on the trails, but the local horse crew is likely to ride on any trail - marked "no horses" or not - and can make significant damage in damp seasons. The worst of these spots has been rerouted, but others will occur.
Beaver Creek
Beaver Creek State Park features a restored Mill and pioneer village. There is a nice campground on top of the ridge, and lots of hiking and bridle trails available. There are around a dozen of the old stone locks from the Sandy and Beaver Canal. Some are car accessible but most require either a hike, ride or paddle to get to.
The creek provides the possibility to canoe or kayak from the main unit of the park to the group camping area, then mtb back up for your shuttle. Look for at least 400 cfs on the USGS Little Beaver Creek near East Liverpool real time stream gauge to make the canoe trip possible. The creek is paddleable from Lisbon down to the mouth on the Ohio River. Check the American Whitewater site for more information.
Location and Driving Directions
Beaver Creek State Park is located in eastern Ohio, north of East Liverpool and east of Lisbon. The nearest village is Elkton.
Easiest approach is from route 11, getting off at the route 154 exit. Take 154 east into Elkton. Where 154 turns to the left, just past the post office, continue straight on CR 419. Follow this road about 4 miles to the stop sign where it T's onto state route 7 and turn right. After about 1/2 mile you'll see brown and a white state park sign at a four way intersection - follow the sign and turn left, going up a steep hill. The campground is at the top of the hill, with the trail head beside the outhouse down the camp road on the left just inside the entry. Continue past the campground to get to the other trailheads. At the next stop sign turn to the right to continue down across the bridge to the main unit of the park (trails are actually on the near side of the creek). Or continue past the campground, turn left at the stop sign, then right at the next for about four miles to get to the group camp area and the trail there.
Trail Maps
Description and Review
There are two main mtb trails connecting three areas of Beaver Creek State Park.
The first trail (I believe it's called the Dogwood Trail) is a loop about 3 miles long that connects the campground with the main unit of the park, across the creek from the restored Mill. The access at the campground is via the road to the left just inside the campground entrance, and is to the right near the restroom. This trail connects to the picnic area across the creek from the restored Mill - either take the trail upstream right beside the creek or take the other section straight up the hill from near the outhouse.
The Dogwood Trail from the campground starts with a couple of short but steep downhills before the trail splits (take the left fork for a really steep rocky downhill, the right fork for a better, more varied ride). There are some steep downhill sections and some serious rocky parts before the trail drops to creek level. From there its a level ride down to the picnic area. If you take the other trail to the top be prepared to push some - its really steep and rocky. There are a few rideable sections but much hike a bike before getting back to the trail split. It'd be easy to just leave the bike at the bottom and make the short hike to the top, then driving back to the bottom to get the bike. But I'd consider going back the way you came if you want to actually ride.
The other trail is the Vondergreen Trail. It's about 3-1/2 miles long and connects the main unit of the state park with the group camping area (also known as Sprucevale or Gretchen's Lock). The connection at the main unit is through an upper or lower trail. The lower goes upstream from the bridge, right at the edge of the creek. The upper trail is along the same side, just starts up the road a bit and then goes down to the creek to join up. At the group camping area the trail leading upstream is the mtb trail.
From the group camping area the trail is level and leads upstream at creekside till it gets to one of the abandoned stone locks from the old Sandy & Beaver Canal, then turns to the right and climbs up the 200 foot ridge. Much of this is rideable, but there is a rocky section that is tough. Once you reach the top of the ridge there's a nice section of easy up and down as the trial traces the ridge for a mile or so. Then it T's onto a very old, extremely eroded road and turns downhill to the left. This technical rocky section is only a couple hundred feet long before the trail leads off to the right and swoops down a hill beside a hikers stairway. From here back to the main unit of the park the trail is mostly level, with only minor climbs, though there is enough trail variation to make it fun. The trail splits to the upper and lower Vondergreen near the end. If the water in the creek is high, make sure you take the upper trail as the lower one will actually be in the water. The upper trail takes another big climb, with a corresponding downhill onto the road that crosses the creek at the bottom.
Difficulty Level
This trail is a strange mix of very easy (the level sections near the creek) with the very difficult (steep rocky climbs and tough rock gardens). The ridge section of the Vondergreen is kind of intermediate, but have your health insurance paid up to try the downhills. The trails aren't that long, so if it gets too tough you can cowboy up and walk for a while until it gets rideable again.
