The Maple Highlands Trail and the Greenway Corridor, maintained by Lake Metroparks, form a continuous multi-use route extending from eastern Cuyahoga County through Geauga County and into Lake County in northeastern Ohio. Constructed largely on former railroad alignments, the corridor provides a level and accessible path for walking, cycling, and seasonal cross-country skiing across a predominantly rural landscape.
The trail occupies the former right-of-way of the Lake Branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, which once linked steel mills and coal fields to Lake Erie ports. Built in stages during the mid-nineteenth century, the line became an important freight corridor. It carried agricultural products, timber, and dairy goods from inland communities, while also transporting iron ore from Lake Erie freighters to steel mills in Warren and Youngstown and coal from mines in West Virginia and eastern Ohio northward to shipping terminals.
By the mid-twentieth century, expanded highway trucking and the decline of the domestic steel industry reduced rail traffic significantly. Service along the Lake Branch diminished, and the line was formally abandoned in 1982. Although the rails were removed, the graded bed, bridges, and drainage structures remained, preserving the corridor’s linear form across fields and woodlots.
Public acquisition and adaptive reuse transformed the dormant rail bed into recreational infrastructure. Along the route, covered bridges add architectural distinction. The Tare Creek Covered Bridge, a modern Howe truss structure spanning Tare Creek near Middlefield, reflects traditional covered bridge design while serving trail users. Farther west, the Cuyahoga River Covered Bridge, a modern Pratt through truss structure, carries the trail over the East Branch of the Cuyahoga River, combining contemporary engineering with historic form. Together with preserved culverts and embankments, these structures underscore the corridor’s transition from industrial freight route to regional recreational spine.
