The Kokosing Gap Trail is a 14-mile (23-kilometer) recreational trail built on a former Pennsylvania Railroad right-of-way alongside the Kokosing River in east central Ohio. The trail connects Mount Vernon to Danville via Gambier and Howard.
Opened in 1991, the wide paved trail was designed for bicycling, walking and rollerblading. The trail begins in Mt. Vernon's Phillips Park, by a gravel parking area, and runs eastward along Knox CountyâÂÂs Kokosing River past forested hills, wetlands, and family farms. At Gambier, the trail runs through the campus of Kenyon College. A cosmetically restored 1940s-era ALCO 0-6-0 steam locomotive, tender, flatcar and caboose sit alongside the trail here; there are also a restroom and benches. From Gambier, the trail continues northeast toward Howard, underneath Route 36 through a stone-arched tunnel, and then on towards Danville.
This trail is the longest paved rail trail in the U.S. maintained solely by volunteers and donations.
Wildlife along the trail includes white-tailed deer, gray squirrel, chipmunk, groundhog, mink, wild turkey, great blue heron, bald eagle, and several species of hawk and owl. Spring and summer wild flowers include trillium, mayapple, and jack-in-the-pulpit.