COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new, first-of-its-kind state park trail is now open, and it is meant to remind people of and honor Ohio’s Underground Railroad history. 


What You Need To Know

  • ODNR has opened a new trail at Alum Creek State Park

  • They are calling it the Heritage of Freedom Trail

  • Two similar trails are in the works in Cincinnati and near Akron

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is calling it the Heritage of Freedom Trail.

Many officials attended the ribbon cutting ceremony, among them ODNR Director Mary Mertz, who said this trail tells part of Ohio’s story.

“Across Ohio, we have 76 state parks and quite a few of them we know from the historical records that the Underground Railroad traveled through those public lands,” Mertz said. “They might have been public lands at the time, they might have been private lands, but now they’re state parks, and so there’s this incredible history that we want to share with people.”

The trail, which is just less than three-quarters of a mile long, features signs along the way that show how freedom seekers interacted with nature.

Two similar trails are in the works: one in Cincinnati and another near Akron.

The site of a fourth trail is still undecided.

“We’d like to have a number of them,” Mertz said. “We’ve found a really good way to get people outside, which is one of our goals to have trails that are fun and educational.”