Big Walnut: Hoover Reservoir Area

THE BIG WALNUT TRAIL HOOVER - INNISWOOD EXISTING AND FUTURE TRAIL	ADJACENT SECTION

DESCRIPTION

The first things that you have to understand about the Big Walnut Trail is that there isn't one yet. The trail is in the planning stages and, when built, will stretch from the London-Groveport Rd not far from the confluence of the Big Walnut Creek and Scioto River north to Hoover Reservoir. Along the way, it will intersect with the Alum Creek and Blacklick Trails in Three Creeks Park, connect, via another proposed trail, the Rocky Fork, with Gahanna's trail system and, via an extension on Dempsey Rd with the north reaches of the Alum Creek. It will also tap into the extensive Westerville trail system with access to the Ohio to Erie trail.

Like the other riparian trails which have been or will be built by linking existing short trails located in parks along the way, much of the Big Walnut will likely involve the same. As with other trails, there are some park trails which are already in use. So as a placeholder for the next few years until the trail construction gets underway in earnest, this section will catalogue possible bits and pieces of what might be the future trail.

HOOVER RESERVOIR AREA /
INNISWOOD METROPARK TO COLLEGE AVE.

So the first part of this trail will be the area around the Hoover Reservoir. This is actually a part of the Westerville Trail system and there's no guarantee that the trails detailed here will end up as a part of the Big Walnut.

The principal trail here is the Sunbury Bikeway. This is a 1.8 section of trail that runs from near County-Line Rd and Sunbury Rd and goes under the road via tunnel and into parkland which runs along the west side of the reservoir. It intersects with the roadway that runs along the top of the dam and then leaves the parkland south of the dam and runs along a widened concrete walkway to Central College Rd. From there, you cross Sunbury at the light, traverse a short, dead-end section of the road on the east side and enter the Chipmunk Chatter Trail, an 0.6 mile connector to the Inniswood Gardens Metropark. Once in the park, cycles are limited to the parking area.

There are side trips that can be made from the trail. There are observation points on both sides of the Walnut Creek below the Hoover Dam which can be reached from the trail or the access roadway across the dam. On the west side of the dam, there is a road which runs through the parkland on that side (giving access to the Frisbee Golf park on that side of the Creek.) which intersects Central College Rd on the south and Cabbage Rd on the North. The changes in elevation on this side offer some interesting challenges for running and short work cycling.

AERIAL MAPS

The aerial maps below were assembled from photography 1-3 years old. Some features may not be visible but will be annotated. The files below are reduced in size to speed page loading. The FULL SIZE files can be accessed by clicking on the thumbnails to the left. These are large file sizes.

AERIAL MAP 1: COUNTY LINE RD TO HOOVER DAM - MAP 2

AERIAL MAP 2: HOOVER DAM TO INNISWOOD GARDENS METROPARK - MAP 1

PHOTOS

THE SUNBURY BIKEWAY


The corner of College Ave and Sunbury Rd. The northern end of the Sunbury Bikeway. The sidewalk continues north but is narrower.	Looking south along Sunbury. Hoover Reservoir is visible on the left side of the road. The trail here is a wide concrete surface.	The trail here crosses several side streets. Here it approaches Marlene Dr where it turns and goes under Sunbury.	A view of the turnback.	A slight downhill as it approaches the tunnel. Note the gates (Westerville Parks Dpt) and, just visible in the right center, a parabolic mirror)	The tunnel under Sunbury Rd.

Once on the east side, the trail meanders through a long park area. Sunbury is visible on the right.	It does cross a few parking area entrances.	And occasionally runs along the road.	Approaching the south end of the park and the dam area.	Near the big parking area on the west side of the dam. The spur to the right leads to the parking area. The trail runs to the left.	Near the end of the reservoir park. The trail goes to the left. To the right is the roadway that runs along the top of the dam.

The crossing. The trail goes straight and morphs into a wide concrete walkway. To the right is the main parking area. To the left is the roadway (foot and bicycle traffic allowed - only official motor vehicles though).	Looking east along the dam roadway. (More on this below)	The walkway along Sunbury looking south. Note the doubling of the surface. The marking seem to indicate that there may be further work.	Approaching North Ave. The trail crosses to the right at the light.	Looking west, across Sunbury to North Ave. It is a short dead-end street which ends in the Chipmuck Chatter trail.	The transition from road to trail on North Ave.

The sign for the trail.	The trail	Another view.	And another.	The entrance to Inniswood Gardens Metropark.	Cycles and blades are restricted.

THE DAM AREA


The trail crosses and access road that leads down to an observation area on the west side of the dam.	The view across the dam from the west side.	The Hoover Reservoir as seen from the middle of the dam.	The spillway leading into the Big Walnut Creek.	Looking east from about the middle of the dam.	Looking west from the turnaround on that side of the damn.

On the east side, there is an access road that connects to Central College Rd on the south. The field on the right is a Frisbee Golf Course.	Looking north from the same point. There are some short elevation changes in this area.	There is also an observation point on the east side as well.	This observation point has access to the dam roadway via a long set of stairs.	The Frisbee Golf Course.	The Big Walnut Creek.