About Whiskey Island Trail
The Whiskey Island Trail is the paved bicycle and walking path that rings the northern tip of the Whiskey Island peninsula, connecting the new Wendy Park Bridge with the marina at the peninsula's western end. Approximately 1.5 miles end-to-end, it offers the closest public view in Cleveland of an active Great Lakes ore-handling port.
The Route
Between Industry and Lake
The trail runs in a rough arc from southeast to northwest, following the perimeter of the Wendy Park lawn, then tracking the lake-facing edge of the peninsula, and eventually turning south along the Cuyahoga-facing edge of the Whiskey Island Marina. To one side are the picnic grounds, cottonwoods, and open lawn of the park; to the other, the Hulett-era ore docks and conveyor structures of the working port.
The contrast is the trail's defining feature. There is nowhere else on the Cleveland lakefront where a public walk puts a visitor this close to active Great Lakes shipping operations. Bulk ore carriers offload iron ore throughout the shipping season (April through January), and the ore bridges visible from the trail handle the feedstock for much of the Great Lakes steel industry's remaining operations.
Connection
Closing the Lake Link
Before 2022, the Whiskey Island Trail was a dead-end: accessible only by car from the long industrial entrance road, and with no walking connection to the rest of the lakefront. The opening of the Wendy Park Bridge that year turned the trail into the final segment of the Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail — a continuous paved route from Edgewater through downtown.
Weekend bicycle traffic has increased substantially since the bridge's opening, and the trail has become a common route for commuting cyclists between the west-side neighborhoods and downtown.
Nearby on the Shoreline