Originally constructed in the 1860s as the Niles and Lisbon Branch of the Erie Railroad Company, the rail line served as an important link between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. In its heyday, the track bustled with passenger trains and freight trains hauling coal, steel, iron ore, produce, and dry goods. Each community along the line boasted its own passenger depot, freight house, and telegraph office.

Patrons of the Canfield Fair depended on the line as a way to the fair. Improvements to the highway system resulted in the demise of rail lines all across the country. By the late 1930s the passenger service was discontinued on the Niles and Lisbon Branch. Subsequent bankruptcies resulted in its eventual closing. The tracks and ties were removed in 1989.

The conversion of the rail line to a biking and hiking trail was recommended in the 1990 General Plan for Mill Creek MetroParks. The establishment of the trail could once again connect the communities as the rail line had done over one hundred years ago. The MetroParks, working with Eastgate Regional Council of Governments, was able to secure Federal Highway Administration and Ohio Department of Transportation funding to acquire and construct the trail.

The MetroParks Bikeway opened in 2000. This 11-mile paved trail offers a variety of scenery and experiences for hikers, skaters, and bicyclists. The trail has been warmly embraced by the community and used by the young and the young at heart.

The MetroParks Bikeway is one section of the proposed 100-mile Great Ohio Lake to River Greenway, a developing corridor that will allow trail users to travel from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.