Welcome to the Home of Tri-County Triangle Trail, Inc.
A Volunteer Non-Profit Supporting Recreational Trails in Ross and Fayette Counties of Ohio
Visit our Facebook Page for more up-to-date information on the trail
also visit the Ross County Park District Web and Facebook page
Ross County Parks and Trails Web page
Ross County Park and Trails facebook page
ANNNOUCING! The Tri-County Triangle Trail 30th Annual Cookie Ride!
Start/FinishLocation: BRAD LIGHTLE PARK, RAILROAD STREET, FRANKFORT, OHIO (MAP)
Date: August 23, 2025, 8:00 a.m.
Cost: DONATIONS ONLY! 100% TO BENEFIT TRAIL
Routes: FIVE ROUTES OF SCENIC 14, 30, 36, 50 AND 62 MILES (14 and 30 mile routes are all on Paint Creek Recreational Trail!)
The 14, 30 and 36 mile routes are flat. The 50 and 62 mile routes have a few moderate hills on country roads but are mostly flat.
Click Here for map to Brad Lightle Park
Click Here to visit our Facebook Page
IMPORTANT! Please note the following recommended start time of no later than 10 a.m. so that you will arrive at snack and cookie stops at Shaw Wetland and Christman Park in Washington Court House by noon! These Cookie Stops will close at that time!
New Trail Construction and Trail Maintenance Grants Approved! On June 4, 2025 44 statewide projects in Ohio 33 counties were approved under the Alternative Transportation Program (TAP) administered by the Ohio Department of Transportation. (read more here) Ross and Fayette County were awarded two of these projects which will greatly improve and extend the Paint Creek Recreational Trail (PCRT)! In Ross County the project will resurface/repair trail from Frankfort Village east to Musselman Rd (3.2miles). A second grant will build a new trail to connect the Shaw Wetland to the City of Washington. The projects will be completed in 2027-28. We will have to wait a while but they are fully funded! A great thanks to the Ross County Park District, Fayette County Engineer and County Commissioners to successfully obtain these highly competitive grants!
We are also excited to announce that the Fayette County Commissioners have selected a contractor on the recommendation from the Fayette County Engineer to complete a previously approved ODOT TAP grant to extend the Xenia-Jamestown-Octa Connector east from Octa to Milledgeville with construction beginning as early as this summer!
We are excited about a promising future, much needed trail extensions and repairs to Paint Creek Recreational Trail and Xenia to Washington Court House extensions. In total over $3 million dollars have been allocated to improve our community trail network. Tri-County Triangle Trail is pleased to support these critical projects to improve recreational opportunities and economic benefits of our regional trail system. Since Tri-County Triangle Trail was created in the 1990’s to make a recreational trail system possible by purchasing most of the old B&O railbed and supporting efforts to make the trail a reality. We are optimistic about the recreational trails being developed and maintained by many including City of Chillicothe, Village of Frankfort, Ross County Park District, Fayette and Ross County Commissioners, Fayette County Engineer, donations by individuals and groups and many more! Thank You!!!!
The Paint Creek Recreational Trail (map) is a scenic 34-mile trail from Chillicothe to Washington Court House and passes through the Historic Village of Frankfort, a Hopewell Culture National Historic Park/World Heritage Site, Pleasant Valley and Chillicothe. The trail is maintained according to jurisdiction including the City of Chillicothe, the Ross County Park District, the City of Washington Court House, the Village of Frankfort, the Fayette County Engineer, the Wayne Twp Trustees in Fayette County and the non-profit Tri-County Triangle Trail.
Click on the link below to open a Google interactive map of the trail which maps locations of parking in Washington Court House and the Shaw Wetland, Austin Mills, Frankfort, Hopewell Culture Historical Park, Yocktangee Park and new parking area and trail access on Riverside Drive at Hickory Street in Chillicothe (Mile 1.3).
Restrooms, shelter, dining and water are available at sites along the trail or nearby, this includes Water Street Access-MM 1.0 (parking, bike tool station), Yocktangee Park-Mile 1.5 (restrooms, shelter, water, parking), Hopewell Culture Park-Mile 8.5 (water, restrooms, parking, picnic shelter, walking trails), Brad Lightle Park-Mile 15 on trail at Frankfort (shelter, portable toilets, water, parking, food nearby), visit the newly opened Austin Mill Brewery on the trail-Mile18.5, Shaw Wetland-Mile 30 (parking, wetland information and board walk, portable toilet, shelter) and Christman Park in Washington Court House (device charging, portable toilets, water, picnic shelter). Also note that there are covered and uncovered benches at many places along trail other than the locations noted above. Also, there are many pubs, restaurants and diners in Chillicothe, Frankfort (also the Village Scoop at 15 Springfield St. not on map ) and Washington Court House!
Here is link to a useful planning map of the Paint Creek Recreational Trail
Trail Maintenance Complete! Tri-County Triangle Trail Volunteers have completed work in removing the root bumps from Hopewell Mound Group on Sulfur Lick Road west to the Fayette County Line a distance of 16 miles. Tri-County Trail rented steer-skid with an asphalt shaving machine attachment to plane the trail root bumps then seal the cracks in pavement. Trail users will no longer need to be wary of bumps and your ride will be much improved. Thanks to the Ross County Park District for allowing us to do this work and Friends of the Little Miami River Trail for technical assistance on this project! Update: the repairs have weathered the winter in excellent condition!
About Us: Tri-County Triangle Trail is a 501(c)3 non-profit (all volunteers!) promoting and assisting improvement of recreational trails in Ross and Fayette Counties including the Paint Creek Recreational Trail. Our mission is to provide support to assist in the routine maintenance of the trail as requested and in cooperation with the Ross County Park District and the Village of Frankfort in Ross County. In Fayette County, Tri-County Trail owns and is responsible for the trail from the Ross County Line to Robinson Rd. a distance of 5.5 miles. We receive valuable support in Fayette County from the Fayette County Engineer, Fayette County Commissioners and Wayne Township Trustees for mowing and brush removal. Fayette Travel and Tourism supports the trail with annual grants for improvements. Our volunteers help in removal of fallen trees, cleaning the trail and general maintenance in coordination with the Ross County Park District. Trail volunteers also mow the trail head parking lot area at the Shaw Wetland.
If you are interested in assisting with volunteer trail maintenance, have questions, making a donation or becoming an active member email us. Thank you!
A Brief History of the Paint Creek Recreational Trail: Actually, it is a 150-year project in the making!!! It began as the Dayton & Southeastern Railroad. Colonel S. N. Yeoman of Washington Court House created the railroad in 1871 hoping to build a standard gauge railroad to connect Dayton, Xenia, Washington Court House, Frankfort, Chillicothe and Wellston to connect to the coal mines of southeast Ohio. The railroad would provide a good way to move coal from southeastern Ohio to shipping west to Dayton and beyond. There was a railroad bed that had been graded 25 years earlier connecting Dayton and Washington Court House.
Yeoman was able to gain the rights to this roadbed to build the railroad but was unable to gain financing for the project. Three years later he hired a promoter to raise interest and funds to start construction. Ultimately, he was able to raise funds to start the project but in 1875 he was discharged at a directors meeting and replaced by the railroads chief engineer. Construction began in 1875, and the first train ran on the tracks from Dayton and Washington Court House in 1877. The section from Washington Court House through Frankfort to Musselman Rd was completed in November of 1877 and onto Chillicothe in 1879. This included at 1,000’ bridge over the Scioto River. The railway between Chillicothe and Washington Court House was abandoned in the early 1970’s by CSX who had acquired the rail from the Baltimore and Ohio Line and is now the Paint Creek Recreational Trail. The trail is approximately 32 miles in length from a trail head at Shaw Wetland on Robinson Rd 2 miles east of Washington Court House to the east side of Chillicothe at the Scioto River. We are awaiting an Ohio Department of Natural Resources Clean Ohio grant approval submitted by the City of Washington in March 2024 to complete the final 2.4 miles from Robinson Rd/Shaw Wetland to the City of Washington Court House.
By 1890 the railroad was extended southeast to Richmond Dale and onto Wellston in 1891. Then by 1892 the railroad reached Ironton. The dream of Colonel Yeoman was finally realized to connect the coal fields of southeast Ohio to the shipping port of Ironton and west to Dayton and beyond.
In 1990 Tri-County Triangle Trail, Inc. a 501(c)3 non-profit was created with the vision to convert the abandoned railroad right-of-way to and convert the abandoned rail bed to a recreational trail (commonly known as a rail-trail) to connect Chillicothe, Frankfort, Washington Court House. The group worked tirelessly to raise funds from supporters and businesses and were successful in purchasing the right-of-way from Washington Court House to National Park Service Hopewell Mound Group on Sulfur Lick Road a distance of 24 miles. The Ross County Park District acquire the right-of-way from Hopewell to Chillicothe a distance of 7 miles. The trail was constructed in multiple phases with Tri-County Trail assisting with local fund matches for grants, construction of amenities like covered benches and other rider amenities, maintenance such as mowing, trail repairs, pavement sealing and other improvements. Tri-County Triangle Trail has continued to support trail development in Fayette and Ross Counties and partnered with the Ross County Park District to assist with maintenance. In addition, Tri-County Triangle Trail has been able to purchase abandoned rail right-of-way from Washington Court House east to New Holland (the Pickaway County Park District owns the right-of-way from New Holland to Circleville and southwest from Washington Court House to Clinton County line (Clinton County Park District owns the right-of-way from Fayette County line to Wilmington (approximately 7 miles of this trail has been completed.)
When all these connections are completed the Paint Creek Recreational Trail will be connected to a regional and national trail system that consists of hundreds of miles of rail-trail extending across the United States!