This trail has many different aspects, which make it one of the best in the area. It starts off at the Butler Council Ring where the Spell of Marnoc was first told. You will then get on many trails provided by the Cuyahoga Valley National Parks, starting off with the Buckeye and Towpath Trails, then onto the Valley Trail, Wetmore Trail, and Salt Run Trail passing by Pine Hollow and Kendall Lake. Once passing Kendall Lake, you continue on Salt Run Trail, get onto Pine Grove Trail, and back into Camp Manatoc property returning to the Butler Council Ring.

During the early 1960s, the Order of the Arrow Marnoc Lodge of the Akron Area Council, now known as the Great Trail Council, discussed the possibilities concerning the adoption of a specific trail located within the Akron Metropolitan Park system. By the fall of 1966, Marnoc Lodge organized a Trail Committee that worked with the Akron Metropolitan Park, which had jurisdiction over the area at that time, to lay out and build the Cuyahoga Valley Trail, also known as the OA Trail. This trail received approval from the Activities Section of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America on October 6, 1966, and the 13.1-mile trail received approval from the National Park Service in May 1967. The Lodge has been responsible for the care and maintenance of this trail which has been extensively used by scouts and the general public. In June 2023, planning began to reestablish the trail as it needed to be remapped. We are still currently working with the Cuyahoga Valley National Parks and hope to release this new version of the trail in July 2024.

For more information, please check out the information packet below!

In 1961 the Activities Committee of the Mahoning Valley Council undertook the task of finding a suitable location where Boy Scouts could hike and complete certain basic Scouting requirements in an area relatively free of traffic hazards and where there was a camp-like atmosphere and the ability to observe nature.  Mill Creek Park in Youngstown seemed a good choice for these activities, so contact was established with the Park Commissioners.  Through cooperation between the council and the park district, a map was developed, rules for use were set forth, a patch incorporating the park emblem was designed, and the plan for a 10-mile trail was set into effect in May 1962.

The Scouting organization - now the Great Trail Council, serving Summit, Portage, Medina, Mahoning, Trumbull, and Northern Wayne Counties and the park district - now the Mill Creek MetroParks, serving all of Mahoning County, have undergone many changes.  However, the beauty, history, and nature along the Boy Scout Trail have remained relatively unchanged for over 50 years as it has been hiked, enjoyed, and remembered fondly by generations of Scouts and Scouters.

For more information, please check out the links below!