Defiance County Hiking Trails

Buckeye Trail

Defiance County loves its section of the Buckeye Trail. The Defiance City Reservoir to the southwest of town or Independence State Dam on the northeast side are both great places to park your vehicle and start your hike. Walking toward Napoleon from Independence Dam takes one through heavy woods following the old towpath walked by mules pulling canal boats to Defiance from Toledo. There is a popular spillway just outside the county locals call “the waterfall.” If you walk the other direction of the old towpath you’ll follow the berm of the same trail Anthony Wayne used to march his troops to the Battle of

North Country Trail

The North Country National Scenic Trail follows the Buckeye Trail through Defiance County. Outside the county, it crosses seven northern states beginning in New York, joining the Buckeye Trail through parts of Ohio (including Defiance) and ending in North Dakota.

Fallen Timbers in 1794. At the edge of the city, hikers reach Pontiac Park where they’ll discover the concrete stump of the largest French Indian Apple Tree on record measuring over nine feet in diameter, forty five feet tall with a 60 foot spread. The trail continues into Defiance’s historic downtown, jogs to Jefferson Street, west on Deatrick and Downs until heading south on Jackson to the Defiance Reservoir. Don’t miss the Reservoir Nature Trail, or continue southwest on the Buckeye Trail through the rural farm-fields of the Great Black Swamp. The trail continues into Junction, a near ghost-town just inside neighboring Paulding County. The Buckeye Trail is a 1,444 mile hiking and long-distance trail that loops around the state of Ohio. The Buckeye Trail Association maintains and develops the trail.

In 2017 the Buckeye Trail Association named the City of Defiance an official Buckeye Trail Town and the Defiance Reservoir a Buckeye Trail Campsite.

See More Trails Below…

AuGlaize Village Buckeye Trail Extension

Proposed Trail from the current Reservoir Trail to AuGlaize Village

Reservoir Boardwalk Trail

This beautiful boardwalk creates a 2,500 foot completely accessible walkway through undisturbed Black Swamp wildlife.

Reservoir Rim Trail

Walking the rim of the Defiance is a 1.7 mile waterside trek with beautiful vistas overlooking the old Miami & Erie Canal path. Pet friendly with a leash.