BUCHTEL, Ohio — The Baileys Trail System celebrated two major milestones Wednesday, one an ending and the other a beginning.
A ribbon cutting marked the completion of all 88 miles of trail at the Buchtel–Snow Fork Trailhead. A groundbreaking ceremony kicked off construction of a new visitor center in Chauncey. Both events were organized by the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia that manages the trail system
“We have a new product to provide economic, social, environmental, and health benefits: the 88-mile Baileys Trail System and the Buchtel–Snow Fork Trailhead,” said ORCA Director Jessie Powers at the completion ceremony. “In short, we, all of us together, did this for us — those that call this place home — for our state, and for our nation, and ultimately for planet Earth.”
The trail system has been in development for about a decade, and many speakers at the ceremony emphasized the many players involved in bringing the project to fruition.
“It was built by small local governments, villages, townships, standing shoulder to shoulder with state agencies, federal land managers, and private philanthropy,” Jay Kline, the village of Buchtel representative on the ORCA board, said at the ceremony.
Speakers ranged from township trustees to directors of state agencies. Kline and ORCA board chair Tim Warren, representing York Township, spoke alongside Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Mary Mertz and Governor’s Office of Appalachia Director John Carey.
In addition to speeches, the Nelsonville-York High School marching band performed three separate songs, emphasizing the trail system’s connection to the local community.
Kline said, “Communities like the village of Chauncey have used the momentum of this project and status as the home to the Baileys Trail System trailhead to leverage additional infrastructure and investment — things like water, sewer, roads, sidewalks, and a bikeway extension. That’s what a catalytic development is supposed to do.”
He said he’s looking to do a similar thing in Buchtel, leveraging the new trailhead’s position just about one mile from the Nelsonville-York High School.
Multiple speakers mentioned the recent near-loss of state funding for ORCA.
“Sometimes the small guy and the good guys win,” Kline said during his speech at the completion ceremony.
Jay Edwards, former Ohio House representative for the 94th district and now the Republican candidate for Ohio Treasurer, praised Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine for vetoing the funding cut.
“I want to give him a ton of credit for somebody that hasn’t forgot about Southeast Ohio and was able to put pen to paper and go out of his way to veto to make sure the second half of [ORCA’s state appropriation] is going to the Baileys bike trail,” Edwards said.
Edwards said he spoke with the governor multiple times as well as others influential in state government about preserving ORCA’s funding after the legislature had proposed cutting it.
Carey said the Baileys Trail System remains an important project to the governor. “He fully supports ORCA and the mission that is taking place,” Carey said.
“This is a transformational project because it makes a real difference to the people that live here,” Carey said. He went on to note that the project supports both health outcomes and economic development.
“The opportunity to be outside and participate in the trail is just fantastic,” Carey said. “It keeps people here, brings people here, and it just makes a real difference to the future of our whole region.”
Powers said at the completion ceremony that the milestones celebrated Wednesday followed “countless tasks and sometimes unimaginable obstacles” over the course of the decade.
“It’s been a wild ride, and along the way, ORCA’s membership has changed, but the mission and vision did not. We’re still a council of governments here to deliver benefits for Appalachian Ohio,” Powers said.
Powers said ORCA will expand its work across the region in the years to come while continuing to steward the Baileys Trail System.
“There are years of maintenance ahead, years of events and programs, and a new Baileys Trail System visitor center coming online in Chauncey,” Powers said.
At the groundbreaking ceremony for the visitor center, Warren, the ORCA board president, said, “The visitor center will undoubtedly help maximize the economic impact of the longest continuous mountain bike trail east of the Mississippi.”
Totaling just under 5,000 square feet, the visitor center will be a multipurpose space, housing both upkeep facilities for the trail as well as leased space for commercial tenants.
BLOCK: Baileys Trail System visitor center aims for 2026 completion
ORCA hopes to complete the visitors center by the end of the year.
