Explore Our Back Roads and Beaches

Calling all cycling and outdoor enthusiasts! The Lorain County Visitors Bureau in Northeast Ohio has put together a fantastic new eco tourism venture called "Back Roads and Beaches." As the name implies, the tour route takes you down little traveled country roads, through townships, past corn fields and cow pastures, into small towns and little traveled city streets, and along the Lake Erie beaches. If you go the distance, you will travel about 60 miles and maybe more if you take a few off shoots to listed sites along the route. Plan your trip so you can take your time to enjoy the sites, sounds, and smells along the way. Stop and smell the roses at Lakeview Beach. Sit,relax, stretch awhile, and listen to the sound of the waves of Lake Erie as they come ashore on the rocks.

Along the route you can explore the many museums of Lorain County from the Maritime Museum in Vermilion to the Heritage Center in Oberlin. Learn about the Great Lakes, Ohio's role in the Underground Railroad, and read information about our small towns and cities. Stop and try your hand at kayaking or canoeing on Lake Erie or at the lake at Findley State Park. Visit the Lorain County wineries for a tour and some refreshments. Come in the fall for the changing of the leaves. There is shopping and bike repair along the way, great places to eat, and super B & B's to spend a night or two. And of course when you arrive in Oberlin, plan to stay a day or 2 here at Hallauer House Bed & Breakfast where you can recharge, take a sauna, relax in the Jacuzzi whirlpool, sleep on a fabulous mattress, and eat a fantastic breakfast! Unfortunately, the pool will be closed next week for the winter but will reopen in April. So plan a spring trip now!

The route is laid out so you can take your time. Spend a few days going from beginning of the route to the end. Start at Findley State Park and end in Avon Lake or start in Avon Lake and end at Findley. Or if your time is short, just do one segment at a time. So come and visit! See what Lorain County has to offer. You won't be disappointed!