A 257-mile trail may be too much for one person to walk in a day, but the Little Loop Challenge, held July 14, encourages hikers to complete it together — by dividing and conquering.
The Little Loop Trail, which runs as far north as Headlands Beach State Park in Mentor and as far south as Crystal Springs Park in Massillon, is broken into 77 manageable segments that participants divvy up to hike in succession. When the group is finished, they’ll have conquered the entirety of the trail within the span of a day.
“If you can hike half a mile, you can be part of it,” says Randall Roberts, trustee of the Buckeye Trail Association. Some sections of the trail are flat, including disability-accessible bike paths; others wind the steep hills of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
“The Little Loop Challenge is a metaphor for being able to connect people and places,” Roberts says. So it’s fitting that all participating hikers are invited to attend a victory barbecue at the end of the day in Stow — right in the center of the loop. 5027 Stow Road, Stow, 440-363-0484, buckeyetrail.org
Conquer The Little Loop Challenge
The 257-mile race can be broken up into 77 parts to share
