(PHOTO BY JENNA FRISBY / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
NEW SIGNAGE … Shown above are (left to right) Julie Brink, Helene Moog, Todd Roth and Lyle Moog. Helene Moog presented the Yellowstone Trail sign off to Todd Roth so that the Williams County Engineers office can get the sign placed along the roadway path.
By: Jenna Frisby
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jenna@thevillagereporter.com
It all started back in 1912 when a group of businessmen from a small town in South Dakota decided to take on the project of making a cross country “trail” for people to travel and explore the United States.
Back in those days, to take a trail meant you were traveling on a long-distance automobile path. The desire to create the Yellowstone Trail was for the purpose of locating a route, improving the roads, and providing marked paths which led to the use of maps and navigation tools today.
Today’s Yellowstone Trail consists of the exact same path, but now those roads are definitely the less traveled roads to take an entire trip on.
On Wednesday morning two signs to mark the Yellowstone Trail were handed off to Williams County Engineer Todd Roth so that his department can install the signs on both sides of County Road F on the northeast outskirts of Bryan.
The signs were ordered by Helene Moog (Opdyke) and handed to Roth for the next step of the process of getting them installed. Moog, a former Opdyke expressed that she did this in honor of her family.
The property in which the signs will be placed on the outskirts of, is family-owned property which Moog is partial owner of.
Also involved in making this process happen in our area is Julie Brink, Director of the Fulton County Visitors Bureau. She is also driving force of working with the state of Ohio’s Department of Transportation (ODOT) in achieving proper signage across the state where the Yellowstone Trail route runs.
While the Yellowstone Trail may not be the fastest route to take, it is far more scenic and contains many hidden gems so to speak, across its path.
Another task Brink is a part of is marking those experiences on a map which will eventually be an interactive online map as well. Some of those experiences for Williams and Fulton County include the Spangler Candy Museum, Williams County Courthouse, Bay History Center, Sauder Village, Archbold History Mural, Woody’s Boathouse Museum, Museum of Fulton County, and Oak Openings Metroparks Tree House Village. All of these stops will also be on the map that is created in collaboration with America 250.
In 2026 America will be turning 250. In celebration, America 250 is working with Yellowstone Trail to create and promote the trail for people to be able to travel and enjoy.
By promoting the trail and increasing travel along it, it allows for people to slow down from the business of life and see new sights that aren’t too far away from home.
Or to even get to travel a little farther and explore all the little town adventures along the Yellowstone Trail. From Plymouth Massachusetts to Seattle Washington, the 3,719-mile trail is along the off-beaten of America and goes through a total of thirteen states.
Marking the trail pathway in Williams and Fulton Counties will be part of promoting the pathway in Ohio from Hicksville to Sandusky in Ohio. While it may seem like a small task, it truly is something that is monumental for our communities in the sense that it’s marking the path through our communities and promoting travel.
Increased travel will bring more business in and give the opportunity for so many others to see our community and the amenities it has to offer.
Once the Williams County Engineer’s office can get the trail signs in place, it will be one more step towards promoting the trail and informing people of something in our area that so many are unaware of, but could enjoy.