BUCHTEL, Ohio — The Baileys Trail System will reach “near-completion” over the next year with the development of new trails, including near Buchtel, according to a press release from the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia.
“Buchtel is starting to grow and emphasize the things that we have to offer,” said Buchtel Village Council member Jay Kline, who serves on the ORCA board. “Baileys trails and ORCA help us to be able to have opportunities in outdoor recreation and tourism, and we’re happy about this.”
In total, 25-29 miles of new trails will be added. The total mileage to be added is uncertain, ORCA Director Jessie Powers said, due to the variability of conditions along the routes. While not uncommon for trail constructions, Powers said the dynamic is heightened in the Wayne National Forest, which was “basically an area stripped to the bedrock” by extraction, she said.
The new trails will bring the Baileys to 83–87 miles of trail, nearly all of the 88 miles ORCA has promised. Powers said the new trails may be finished as soon as August 2025.
“We’re ecstatic,” Powers said. “The larger group of stakeholders started planning this project in 2016, and here we are nearing completion in less than a decade. So that’s pretty good in terms of securing millions of dollars for a recreation asset of this scale, which isn’t something that’s been done widely in Ohio before.”
Construction began on the new trails in November, according to ORCA’s press release.
According to the release, “New trails are not yet open to the public as compaction of the trail surface during dry conditions is essential to breaking in trails properly and ensuring long-term trail sustainability.”
The new trails will connect the Baileys to the site of the future Buchtel–Snowfork Trailhead, which Powers said is slated for development in 2025.
Kline said that the development of the Baileys in and near Buchtel — particularly the Buchtel–Snowfork Trailhead — will support economic development in the village and possible new local businesses.
He called the upcoming development of the Buchtel–Snowfork Trailhead the “biggest thing to happen in Buchtel since the discovery of coal.”
In addition to new trails near Buchtel and north of State Route 685, others are planned near the Doanville trailhead, off of Utah Ridge and Coal Run Road, and near Big Bailey Run Road.
The new construction initiatives will be funded through Appalachian Community Grant funds, according to ORCA’s press release on the project.
ORCA did not return the Independent’s request for records associated with the grant and the contracts for new trail construction by press time.
