Field Notes Ohio

Ohio's parks, forests and wildlife areas with camping, the ancient mounds beside them, and the Buckeye Trail that links them. Stories, trails, wildlife, and where to eat and fuel up nearby. Book campsites on ReserveOhio.

Try:

Explore Ohio

One map for every park, mound, historic site, beach, cave, waterfall and oddity in the app.

Tap a symbol for a preview, or search for a place. Open the key to show or hide categories.

117 parks in 7 regions

Burton Section

Lake, Geauga, Portage · Northeast Ohio

Buckeye Trail Association

57miles

1 of 26clockwise

3counties

From Lake Erie south through parkland, rail trails, small towns and farms. This is where the trail begins, at the northern terminus.

Starts at the northern terminus in Headlands Beach State Park on Lake Erie and travels south to the Cuyahoga River.

Highlights

Headlands Beach State Park, the northern terminus
Lake County Metroparks Greenway
Girdled Road Reservation
Chardon, Mantua and Hiram

Parks on this section

Headlands Beach State Park

The northern terminus of the whole Buckeye Trail

Open

Girdled Road Reservation (Lake Metroparks)

Free primitive camp for hikers, Point 10

Open

Big Creek Park and Headwaters Park (Geauga Park District)

Tent sites and Adirondack shelters, Point 11

Open

Historic sites near this section

Fairport Harbor Lighthouse and Marine Museum

A sandstone lighthouse on Lake Erie beside the Grand River

Open

Historic Kirtland and the Kirtland Temple

The first Latter-day Saint temple, and a village of conflict and faith

Open

James A. Garfield National Historic Site (Lawnfield)

The home of the first successful front porch campaign

Open

Century Village Museum, Burton

A Western Reserve village of moved buildings on a working farm

Open

Section map and alerts

Show this section on the map Distances between stops in this section

The Buckeye Trail Association sells a detailed map for this section and posts current trail alerts.

Official Burton Section page →This section on AllTrails →

Camping

Girdled Road Reservation (Point 10): primitive, free camping for Buckeye Trail hikers; request a permit at least 48 hours ahead (440-358-7275)
Big Creek Park and Headwaters Reservations (Point 11), Geauga Park District: tent sites or Adirondack shelters, reserved online at least seven days ahead

Campsites are run by different agencies and owners, and the rules and fees change, so confirm before you go.

Lodging near the trail

The Lodge at Bass Lake

Inn with a restaurant, Chardon

Inn and restaurant on South Street in a Buckeye Trail Town; some guests mention dated rooms.

Directions Call 440-285-3100

These are places to sleep near the route, not places that advertise to hikers. Confirm that they welcome hikers, and ask about shuttles.

Water

Water is available at parks and in the towns; filter anything from streams.

Take the stops with you

Save the camps, resupply, lodging, trail towns and parks for this section as waypoints.

Google Maps: stops 1 to 10 Google Maps: stops 10 to 13

The file holds 13 waypoints and a stop-by-stop route line. Locations are approximate, often a town center, so use the stop notes to find the exact spot. Your maps app chooses the roads between stops, usually the fastest, so follow the byway signs where they differ. The GPX arrives in a zip file; unzip it and open the .gpx in a GPS or hiking app. The CSV imports into Google My Maps.

Resupply

Frequent towns make resupply easy: Mentor, Chardon, Hiram and Mantua are all Buckeye Trail Towns.

Food and fuel

Mentor Trail Town

A Lake Erie town at the northern end of the trail, blending shoreline and natural areas.

Mason Social

Big bar-food menu with games; open daily