Cuyahoga River Covered Bridge

The Cuyahoga River Covered Bridge carries the Maple Highlands Rail Trail over the East Branch of the Cuyahoga River in Geauga County, Ohio.

---

The Cuyahoga River Covered Bridge carries the Maple Highlands Rail Trail over the East Branch of the Cuyahoga River in Geauga County, Ohio. The trail occupies the former Lake Branch of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, a line that once connected northeastern Ohio’s industrial centers with Lake Erie.

The railroad that later became the Lake Branch was organized in 1870 as the Painesville & Youngstown Railroad, extending between Farmington and Fairport Harbor. ³ By 1873, it was operating between Painesville and Chardon, and it soon expanded south to Niles and Youngstown, ultimately reaching 62 miles in length. ¹ After a series of reorganizations and a conversion from narrow gauge to standard gauge in 1886, the line came under the control of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 1890 and was thereafter known as the Lake Branch.

For decades, the route served as an industrial corridor, moving coal north to Lake Erie ports and iron ore south to steel mills, while also supporting local passenger and freight service. With the decline of heavy industry in the region, traffic diminished significantly by the 1970s. Portions of the line were proposed for abandonment in 1974, ² and the Lake Branch was fully abandoned in 1982. ³

Following the abandonment of the Lake Branch, the Ohio Division of Parks expressed interest in acquiring the corridor for trail development. ² In 1986, the Geauga County Park District acquired the line within the county. ⁵

The conversion of the abandoned railroad corridor into a recreational trail proceeded in phases. In 2001, a 4.4-mile segment extending from Painesville south to the Geauga County line opened at a cost of $2.9 million as part of the Lake Metroparks Greenway Corridor. ^{5 6} The project was funded through a federal ISTEA highway grant administered by the Ohio Department of Transportation, with Lake Metroparks providing engineering and planning services. In 2002–2003, the trail was extended an additional 4.2 miles south to Chardon at a cost of $1.2 million, which opened as the Maple Highlands Trail. ⁶

A significant improvement when the trail was extended south of Chardon included the construction of a new bridge over the East Branch of the Cuyahoga River. ⁴ In September 2013, a covered bridge assembled off-site was lifted into place with a 500-ton crane and set onto the original concrete abutments once it was more than 70 percent complete. The structure was built by Geauga County Park District crews and received the 2013 Governor’s Award for Parks and Recreation.

---

Details

---

Sources

1. Fleischer, Richard K. “Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Lake Branch and the Painesville & Youngstown Railway.” Trumbull County Historical Society, 2025.
2. Interstate Commerce Commission. Environmental Threshold Assessment Survey: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company Abandonment, Portion Lake Branch, North Warren to Chardon, in Trumbull and Geauga Counties, Ohio. 21 Apr. 1976.
3. “The Fairport Branch.” Abandoned Rails.
4. “Maple Highlands Trail.” Portland Bolt, Sept 2013.
5. Downing, Bob. “Sweet excursions.” Akron Beacon Journal, 2 May 2010, pp. E6-E7.
6. Scott, Michael. “Soil under bike path being built in Lake County will be tested.” Plain Dealer, 8 Apr. 2001, p. 2B.