Three Days in Athens: The Outdoor Town in Ohio We Didn’t Expect
- 7 hours ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
What started as a trail trip turned into three days of riding, paddling, exploring and experiencing the Appalachian side of Ohio.
BY Ara G.
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We arrived in Athens, Ohio, expecting a college town. We threw the bikes on the rack, loaded the paddles, tossed our daypacks in the back and headed toward a corner of Ohio we'd never explored before.
The goal wasn’t to check every box in three days. We wanted to put in some miles on the trails, get out on the water, explore the forests and experience Athens the way locals do. We wanted to see what makes this place stick with people.
What we found was something much more unexpected. Athens wasn’t just a place with good trails or a college town. It was a place where the outdoors was part of everyday life.
For three days, we slipped into the local routine. Mornings started with good coffee from Athens Rise and Grind, a gourmet coffee truck we caught on the streets (keep your eye out for a bright blue truck!), before we threw the bikes on the trail or grabbed a paddle for the lake.
We rode beneath hardwoods on the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway, hiked through the forests of Strouds Run State Park and spent the afternoon on Dow Lake.
By the time the sun started setting, we headed back into Uptown Athens with tired legs and that post-adventure feeling. That's when local resident Alex summed up the town better than any guidebook ever could.
Athens is a place that calls to all sorts of folks. You really get to be an eclectic kind of person yourself. I've got one friend that came from pure city life, now they randomly show up to the local band nights covered in dirt from Strouds.
That might be the best description of Athens. In Athens, you never had to choose between time on the trail and time in town. Somehow, the two seamlessly blended together.
You ride, hike or paddle, then you head downtown for coffee, food or a live band. It’s all part of the same day.
Day One: Rolling Into Athens
The best way to understand a place is usually through the people who know it best. In Athens, that started with Nick Tepe. Nick handed us the local beta: start with the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway.
Like many people we met in Athens, Nick wasn’t interested in selling us a checklist of attractions. Instead, he pointed us toward the places locals actually spend their time.
Athens County has earned a reputation among road, gravel and mountain bikers because riders can spend days exploring completely different terrain without repeating the same experience.
The Hockhocking Adena Bikeway became our first introduction to Athens. Twenty-two miles of paved trail follow a former railroad corridor connecting Athens and Nelsonville.
On paper, it sounds straightforward: an easy spin through southeast Ohio. But once you’re on the bike, the character of the trail starts to reveal itself.
The bikeway settles you into a rhythm almost immediately. The pavement rolls beneath your tires as the trail winds through hardwood forests, wetlands and pockets of protected land.
The farther you pedal, the deeper you get into the landscape once battered by coal mining. It’s the kind of ride where, for us, the miles became an afterthought. Distance mattered less, and we started noticing the details.
The scenery changes almost every few miles. One minute you’re cruising along the Hocking River, and the next you’re tucked under a canopy of hardwoods where the shade and quiet make it easy to forget you’re only minutes from town.
Farther down the trail, wetlands, wildlife and wide-open views keep things interesting. Nick, especially noted we keep an eye out for the bluebells.
One thing we liked was how the bikeway naturally connected to Athens itself. The Brewed on the Bikeway stops made it easy to finish a ride and roll straight into lunch or a locally brewed beer without feeling like the day had ended.
Post-Ride Athens
One thing that stood out about Athens was how seamlessly the outdoors carried into town. After spending the morning on the trail, it didn’t feel like the adventure was over when we rolled back into Uptown. It just shifted gears. Gears for good grub and reprieve from the late June sun.
The brick streets, local shops, coffee spots and breweries became part of the day. We could finish a ride, grab breakfast and end up talking with locals who were just as excited about the trails as they were about the town itself.
Later confirmed by the mountain biker we met at Strouds who, covered in scratches, dirt and blood, said “you gotta try this,” before leaving to get lunch with his kids in town. And, before you ask: yes, he went covered in scratches, dirt, blood and all.
Our first stop was breakfast at HangOverEasy, located on North Court Street. The restaurant sits on the historic footprint of Athens’ Berry Hotel, a former African American-owned hotel that played an important role in the community’s history. Inside it had that laid-back local feel you hope to find when exploring somewhere new.
Creative breakfast skillets and hearty favorites fueled us for the trails ahead. Later, we'd wander the brick streets, duck into local shops and stop at the Athena Cinema, one of those places you stumble across while exploring a new town. The vintage marquee and old-school charm made it impossible not to stop for a few minutes.
Throughout our stay, places like Bagel Street Deli, Little Professor Book Center and Jackie O’s Taproom became more than just stops along the way. They became part of the experience.
The same people riding trails in the morning were often the ones grabbing coffee, meeting friends or relaxing at a brewery later that afternoon. It never felt like you were choosing between the outdoors and town.
Day Two: The Side of Athens You Don’t Expect
We didn’t expect this side of Ohio. Like a lot of people, we pictured open farmland and flat roads. But once you start moving through southeast Ohio, the landscape tells a different story.
The roads start climbing, the hills roll deeper and the forest closes in around you. Cool, shaded hollows create pockets of dense maple and hemlock forest that feel more like the Northeast than central Ohio. And after spending time in Strouds Run State Park, we understood exactly what he meant.
Pulling into Strouds Run, we had to remind ourselves we were still in Ohio. The hills surrounding Dow Lake, the deep green forest stretching in every direction and the towering hardwoods lining the shoreline looked like something we'd expect to find several states away. It wasn't the Ohio we thought we knew.
The woods weren’t just a backdrop. They were the experience. They climbed every hillside, wrapped around every cove and made the whole park feel tucked away from everything else.
Down at the Boat House, the pace stayed just as relaxed. It felt less like a rental shop and more like the kind of lake shack you hope to stumble across. People were grabbing gear, loading paddleboards and getting dogs into life jackets before heading onto the lake.
Zach Frasure, who works at the Boat House, had that same relaxed energy we kept finding throughout Athens.
We have pontoons out here, paddle boards, kayaks, canoes. Even swan boats you can take out. People can come out here and find whatever kind of day on the water they’re looking for.
A few minutes later, we pushed our kayaks away from shore. The farther we paddled, the quieter it became. Tree-covered hills rose above the shoreline, Athens’ wildlife filled the soundscape, and small coves opened around nearly every bend.
The 161-acre lake gave us plenty of room to wander without any real destination in mind. We hugged the shoreline, drifted through quiet stretches of water and found ourselves stopping more than once just to take it all in.
From the water, Strouds Run looked even bigger than it had from shore. What stood out was how connected everything felt. The same hills we were looking up at from the canoe were the ones we had been exploring on foot and would later see from the trails above the lake.
Strouds Run doesn’t separate its adventures. Hiking, mountain biking, paddling and horseback riding all share the same landscape.
With miles of multi-use trails winding through the park and nearby Sells Park, you can spend an entire day exploring without ever feeling like you’ve seen it all. One trail might lead you through dense hardwood forest, while another opens up to a quiet overlook above Dow Lake.
While we were loading our boats, we met a local couple getting ready to paddleboard with their dog, Azriel.
“We’re out here all the time. Strouds Run is kinda like the giant ‘backyard’ you’d want as a kid. It’s got everything for people who like the outdoors and a chill downtown in Athens for something more urban.”
That’s exactly what we felt since arriving in Athens.
Following the Singletrack
If you really want to understand Athens' outdoor culture, you have to spend some time on dirt.
A short drive from Uptown, the roads wind deeper into the hills. Old mining communities appear between stretches of forest, and before long you're at Baileys Trail System.
The first few turns told us everything we needed to know. These trails were designed professionally using 21st century techniques to work with topography and really shed water.
And as riders, you can feel it. The climbs made sense. The descents flowed naturally through the terrain. Every corner felt like it belonged there instead of being carved into the hillside.
Located on reclaimed land within Wayne National Forest, Baileys has grown into one of the largest purpose-built mountain bike trail systems east of the Mississippi. But what makes it memorable isn't just the mileage. It's why the trails exist in the first place. They started because local riders wanted better places to ride.
They built the kind of trails they wanted to spend their weekends exploring, and that mindset still shapes the entire system today. Whether you're brand new to mountain biking or looking for a long day of technical singletrack, there's room to build your own ride.
It's an 88-mile trail system, so you can do a pick-your-own adventure based on the route that works best for you. It's a very adaptable experience for all skill levels.
Baileys also tells another story. The same hills that once supported coal mining are now drawing people back for an entirely different reason. Today, they're filled with riders, runners and hikers. What makes Baileys even more impressive is what the landscape represents.
These hills were once shaped by coal mining and industry. Today, the same land is being brought back to life through trails, conservation and outdoor recreation. The trails don’t hide the history of this place. They carry it forward.
For more trails, visit baileystrailsystem.org
The Road Home
Three days went by faster than we expected. By the time we strapped the bikes back onto the rack, packed away the paddles and pointed the car toward home on Day Four, Athens didn't feel like a place we'd simply visited. It felt familiar. That probably surprised us more than anything.We came for the riding, but we stayed for everything around it.
Over three days, we rode a rail trail that disappeared beneath trees that reclaimed old coal-mining land, paddled a lake surrounded by hills we never expected to find in Ohio (it’s supposed to be “flat,” right?) and explored miles of trails built by people who love the land and being outside in it.
In between, we wandered Uptown, found good coffee, ate more than one memorable meal and spent as much time talking with locals as we did looking at maps. Every conversation pointed us toward another trail, another overlook or another place worth checking out.
Nobody handed us an itinerary. They simply shared the places they enjoyed themselves. Looking back, that's probably what we'll remember most. Nothing felt overbuilt or overhyped. It just felt real.
As a local, Rose, told us, “Athens has got a little taste of everything. I recommend y’all just let it guide you. You’ll find yourselves out here easily.”
After a while, you stop thinking about where the trail ends and town begins. Maybe that's why Athens caught us off guard. We expected good trails. We didn't expect to leave talking about when we'd come back.
As we pulled away, the hills slowly disappeared in the rearview mirror. But that feeling of finding a place that still feels genuine stuck with us long after the last turn out of town.
And that might be the best thing about it.
UNPLUG. Tested: The Perfect 3-Day Athens Adventure
Learn more about Athens
DAY ONE
Ride the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway
Breakfast at Bagel Street Deli
Explore Nelsonville
Experience Brewed on the Bikeway
Browse Uptown Athens and Little Professor Book Center
Dinner and drinks at Jackie O’s Taproom
DAY TWO
Coffee at Athens Rise and Grind Gourmet Coffee Truck
Explore Baileys Trail System
Ride Wayne National Forest
Paddle or hike Strouds Run State Park
Watch sunset over Dow Lake
DAY THREE
Morning hike at Strouds Run State Park
Walk the Blackhaw Accessible Trail
Play disc golf
Visit Dutch Creek Winery or Dirty Girl Coffee in Glouster
Visit the Ohio Pawpaw Festival in September
Free Visitors Guide Here:
To plan your Athens, Ohio adventure, visit athensohio.com or click the logo below to go directly to their website.
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