DESCRIPTION

The Blacklick trail currently exists in two separate sections. One section of nearly 3 miles extends eastward from the Confluence Area of Three Creeks Park, where it adjoins the southern terminus of the Alum Creek Trail, to a turnaround loop in an undeveloped area about a half mile east of US 33. The western section picks up on the north side of Shannon Rd about a half mile west of the intersection with Winchester Pike.

There are plans in development to join these sections via trail with a dedicated trail bridge over US 33. Currently, it looks to be some time in 2008-9 before this will occur. (Though there is trail development going on off Winchester Pike already.)

NEW TRAIL SECTION

In the summer and fall of '07, work on the connecting section was begun. A short trail segment was completed off the northwest corner of the intersection of Winchester Pike and Ebright Rd. It passes around behind a farm and crosses the Blacklick where it dead-ends. The section is detailed below:

The current plans involved several projects: there is a plan to shift Shannon Rd slightly to the east. This would allow the trail to pass along the north side to Winchester Rd. Currently, there is no clearance on that side. The trail would, at some point, underpass Winchester and connect to the new section mentioned above. From the new dead-end, it would extend along the river to US33 where it would over pass the freeway on a trail-dedicated bridge. It would either then recross the river and connect with the current loop trail end on the west side or cross both the river and the freeway simultaneously and make the link. The tentative completion of this connection would be some time in 2009.

DETOUR ROUTE (SURFACE ROADS) BETWEEN SECTIONS 

In the meantime, the recent completion of a vehicular overpass of US33 using Ebright Rd now affords the ability to travel from one section to the other using a surface street detour. 

ROUTE (WEST TO EAST)

Mile mark 0 for the Blacklick Trail is located on the east side of the Confluence Area picnic area in Three Creeks Metropark. Go east following the trail for about a mile and three quarters until you pass under Hamilton Rd. About a quarter mile east of there, you will see a short trail access road (dirt track with a wire across it) to the south (right) side. Exit the trail at this point and follow the short dirt road to Old Bixby Road (maybe 50 feet). Turn right (west) on Old Bixby and follow it out to Hamilton Rd. Turn left on (south) on Hamilton and follow it one long block to
Noe-Bixby Rd. Turn left (east) onto Noe - Bixby and follow it for a mile and a half to a stop sign at Ebright Rd. (Residential area.) Turn left (west) on Ebright. Stay on Ebright and pass over US 33. Continue on the road to Winchester Pike. Cross Winchester Pike (Ebright turns into Shannon Rd. on the cross)  and continue on Shannon for about a half-mile. After the road curves, the trail resumes on the north side (look for the big red barn--it's across the road from that.) Traverse the short dirt track to the asphalt trail. It continues west continuously to either Portman Park or Pickerington Ponds Metro Park.

Note: on exiting the trail past Hamilton, it may seem easier to go left (east) on Old Bixby to Noe-Bixby Rd. Be aware that the road has a short hiatus where the asphalt has fallen in to an apparent sinkhole. You can get around it but you will have to carry your bike and climb over broken ground.)

ROUTE (EAST TO WEST)

From anywhere on the trail east of Shannon Rd, travel to the end of the trail, cross the short dirt track to Shannon Rd and turn right (west) and follow the road around to the intersection with Winchester Pike. Cross and continue (Shannon Rd turns into Ebright Rd.) on Ebright Rd. Pass over US 33 on the overpass and continue on Ebright (residential area) to stop sign at Noe-Bixby Rd. Turn right (east) and continue on Noe-Bixby for a mile and a half to Hamilton Rd. Turn right (north) on Hamilton. Go one long block to Old Bixby Rd. Turn right (east) on Old Bixby. Follow that road and watch for a dirt road access to the trail (left side). (There is an old metropark metal sign adjacent.) Use the dirt road (50 feet) to access the Blacklick trail. Go left (west) to Three Creeks. Go right (east) to turnaround loop.

AERIAL MAP: SUGGESTED BYPASS ROUTE  - 

The Aerial Map below is an on-road connection between the two sections of the Blacklick Trail. The map below is a 2/3 reduction to speed page loading. The thumbnail to the left is the FULL SIZE image. The file size can be quite large. Note: for continuity sake, the entire route is on one map. The eye height for this image is about 6800 feet. It is not to the same scale as the regular trail maps.

PHOTOS

BLACKLICK CREEK TRAIL: EBRIGHT CONNECTOR
With the completion of the Ebright Rd overpass, it is now possible to go between the two completed sections of the Blacklick Trail via this detour route until the actual connection is built in the next few years.
ROUTE: The eastern half of the trail currently terminates at Shannon Rd. about a half-mile east of Winchester Rd. Once the overpass is completed, follow Shannon Rd to Winchester Rd. Cross the latter (not signalized) and continue (the road turns into Ebright Rd.) over US 33 and approximately a quarter mile to Bixby Rd. Turn north (right) and follow that road to Hamilton Rd. Turn north (right) and proceed about fifty yards to a trail access entry point. This access brings you to the western half of the Blacklick Trail just south of Hamilton Rd.
DESCRIPTION: The connection is essentially two-lane black top roadway. Traffic is light to moderate. It is essentially flat open country roadway on the south side of US33 and suburban roadway on the north side.
The current end of the eastern half of the Blacklick Trail. The dirt track goes to Shannon Rd.	Shannon Rd looking toward Winchester. Traffic is sparse but fast.	A closer view of the curve. Shannon Rd is to be realigned here to allow the trail to fit along the right side of the roadway.	Approaching Winchester Rd.	The intersection with Winchester. Shannon ends and Ebright starts on the other side. The crossing road does not stop.	The proximity of the river to the intersection. The trail will eventually go through this area.	Ebright Rd approaching US33	Another view
The approach and new overpass.	The new overpass on the west side of US33. On Ebright Rd. There is about a six foot shoulder.	Ebright, at the crest of the overpass showing the shoulder.	Ebright, on the east side. The intersection with Bixby is about where the car is up ahead.	The intersection with Bixby. Go right (north).	Bixby starts off as a fairly quiet neighborhood road.	Farther down, it opens up some.	Another view.
Nearing Hamilton. The side road here can be used to access the western half of the Blacklick trail though I would recommend continuing to Hamilton.	The access road on this side has some some issues.	Not the least of which is this ditch.	Approaching the Hamilton Rd intersection.	At Hamilton, you go right and right again.	This is where the side road comes out. Turn in and head up.	Keep an eye out for this connector (the sign indicates that it is metropark land.)	Go along the old road for a little bit.
And the path intersects the Blacklick Trail (western half) just east of the Hamilton underpass.	Showing the proximity of the connector, the side road and Hamilton Rd.

NEW BLACKLICK TRAIL SECTION

I noticed that there was some brush clearing along the Blacklick on the west side of Winchester Pike this past summer. I asked at one of the trail meetings whether this was part of a trail project and was told that it was. I drove by a few times but didn't notice any particular activity so I made a mental note to check it out later in the year. A few weeks ago, there was a story in the Dispatch about some homeowners who were complaining about brush clearing along the river by power companies and the map in the paper was so broadly drawn that it looked as though the area I had looked at earlier might be a part of that project.

So I was somewhat surprised to drive by today (1/26) and find paved and marked trail. The entry is just off Winchester at Ebright Rd on the north side. The length is something around a half mile with a bridge over the Blacklick. I would assume that this section will link with the dead-end in Three Creeks once the bridge over US 33 is completed. For the moment, the other side can be reached by continuing on Ebright, over the road, turning right on Bixby Rd and right on Hamilton Rd and immediately right onto Old Bixby Rd (closed to through traffic) where there is an access dirt track to the Blacklick Trail on the left side.

There are plans to shift Shannon Rd to allow the trail to pass on the north side from its current dead end a half mile from Winchester Pike, under that roadway and to hookup with this new section of trail.  Adjustments to the Blacklick sections will be made over the next few weeks.

The entrance to the new trail section on Ebright Rd just west of Winchester Pike.	Looked towards Winchester Pike from Ebright. The new trail entrance is the snowy path to the center left.	The trail is already striped and marked. It passes a farm on the left and the Blacklick on the right.	The trail winds behind the farm, generally north west.	The trail winds through the woods and crosses the Blacklick Creek via a trail bridge.	The bridge crossing the Creek.	On the bridge.	On the other side. The trail section ends up ahead.
Nearing the end of the trail.	Trail ends.

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06/02/2008