Spectrum News 1 continues its year-long celebration of Ohio’s state parks by highlighting a new trail that tells part of the state’s history.

What You Need To Know

  • This 0.7-mile trail is shaped like a distorted peanut

  • Mary Mertz, the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said it’s more than just a trail

  • Hutchison said freedom-seekers used nature to survive, and they followed what’s now called the bank of Alum Creek Lake

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources recently opened a new trail honoring the Underground Railroad.

Philip Hutchison, historic resources program administrator for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said this is one way people sought freedom. 

“We really wanted to tell you know Ohio was a critical state in the Underground Railroad network,” Hutchison said. “There were the Fugitive Slave Acts that passed, allowed people to come into Ohio and hunt for escaped slaves or freedom seekers and take them back to the south and it was dangerous, and you risked your life to get to freedom.”

This 0.7-mile trail is shaped like a distorted peanut.

People can walk, can take their dogs with them or even ride bicycles.

Hutchison said this used to be Alum Creek before they built the dam, and it was one of the primary routes of the Underground Railroad.

“It was often called the Sycamore Trail,” Hutchison said, “for all the sycamores that grew along the creek, and so there were a lot of safe houses and conductors in this area.”

Mary Mertz, the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said it’s more than just a trail.

They gathered a few people to cut the ribbon. Among them, poets recited some poetry dedicated to the people who followed this path.

“It’s about how history and nature come together,” Mertz said. “We have two or more in the works, a fourth in the planning stages, and we’d like to have a number of them.”

Across Ohio there are 76 parks. Mertz said public records show the Underground Railroad traveled through those lands which are now state parks. 

Hutchison said freedom-seekers used nature to survive, and they followed what’s now called the bank of Alum Creek Lake.

“Things like navigating by the sun and stars, foraging for edible plants, medicinal plants and using waterways to escape and mask the trail,” Hutchison said. “Ultimately, to freedom and safety in Canada.”