Wayne County

Take US 30 W from Canton through Dalton. Just south of Rt. 30 on Zuercher Road, (take Wenger Rd. south off of Rt. 30 and follow signs) you’ll find P. Graham Dunn, maker of laser engraved inspirational carvings.  Back on Rt. 30, you won't want to miss the bigger than life cinnamon rolls at Das Dutch Kitchen before heading toward Kidron on CR52. If it's Thursday, you're in for a special treat. It's auction day in Kidron. After visiting the famous Lehman's Hardware, where you will find all the non-electrical appliances and equipment used by the Amish, don't forget the specialty shops at the Olde Millstream Plaza. Take home an authentic hand made quilt or a beautiful handcrafted piece of furniture. Don't miss the Kidron Community Historical Society, right on the square in Kidron.

Continue your journey by taking Emerson Road(CR 79) W out of Kidron to US250 W. Watch for slow moving buggies. Travel through Apple Creek where there are wonderful restaurants, unique shops and Troyers Home Pantry, an Amish bakery. Continue on US250 toward Wooster. A "must see" is the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and the Agricultural Technical Institute. Enter off Madison Avenue at the main entrance to OARDC and drive through the Secrest Arboretum. In the spring the trees are breathtaking. The Rose Garden is in its prime in early June.

Follow Madison Avenue N into downtown Wooster. The downtown is a shoppers paradise with the original Everything Rubbermaid Store, many unique pecialty shops and a 112 year old department store. After you have shopped 'till you drop, enjoy a delicious meal at one of the wonderful restaurants or coffee shops in the downtown area.  Just a few blocks from downtown are the ever changing Wayne Center for the Arts and the Wayne County Historical Society, complete with an 1873 schoolhouse, log cabin, mercantile shop and much more. The Ohio Light Opera performs at the College of Wooster during the summer. A Gilbert & Sullivan operetta may be the perfect finish to an eventful day in Wayne County. Just east of Wooster on Rt. 30, you’ll find The Cat’s Meow Village, maker of the two-dimensional wooden building and accessories. Visit the Mewseum, make your own piece and relax in Casper’s Cafe.

The southern route takes you S on SR3(Columbus Road) to Troutman’s Vineyard. Relax with a picnic and one of their award winning wines. Return on Rt. 3 to SR226. The Pine Tree Barn is just ahead. You'll be treated to a restored 1868 barn housing a year 'round Christmas store, fine furniture and a gourmet luncheon restaurant.  Continue S to visit the shops of Shreve, including a teddy bear store, quilt shop and Des Dutch Essenhaus, where you can eat in an Amish buggy. Return to US30 via SR226 and SR3.

The northern route follows SR585 N to Smithville where you can enjoy the Shops of Buchanan Place, featuring a general store, gift & collectibles and a toy and game store. The adjacent Barn Restaurant is a renovated 1937 dairy barn. You'll love a relaxing stroll around the lake after dinner. Just up the road is the Smithville Community Historical Society, where you can see cloth being manufactured on a 100- year old loom at the Mishler Weaving Mill.

Follow SR585 to Five Points (CR120). Turn E on CR120. Take 120 to Egypt Rd. South. Follow Egypt to Rohrer SW to Millborne. You’ll find the Rivendell Exotic Animal Farm with lions, tigers, bears and camels!! Learn how to chuff like a tiger and observe the expressions of the baboon. Take Back Orrville Road into Orrville. The Orrville Railroad Museum is open on Saturdays and has occasional train excursions. Across the street is the Orrville Historical Society. The Toy and Hobby Museum, on Smithville Road, will bring back fond memories of the toys you had as a child.

Continue on SR57 S, and just before you reach Rt. 30, you’ll see Simply Smucker’s, the wonderful store brimming with your favorite products and flavors. You’ll find gift baskets, gift ideas, and delicious products to sample - all in a beautiful timber frame barn.

Immediately on entering Wayne county on state route 172, you will be redirected back onto US 30.  One mile into the county, follow Old Lincoln Way/U.S. 30-A into Dalton.  Continue following Old Lincoln Way and meet up again with US 30. 

Wayne County is a part of Amish Country.  You may wish to make a side trip one and a half miles west of Dalton to visit an original concrete marker on Old Lincoln Way behind Shisler's Cheese House.  Continue on US 30 toward Wooster.  US 30 diverges from the Lincoln Highway east of town, follow Pittsburgh Avenue.  Immediately after this point you may wish to visit a small brick section on Sylvan Road or simply continue on Pittsburgh Avenue into town.  Leaving Wooster to the west, you will approach the intersection of US 250.  You will need to make a decision on whether to follow the 1913-1928 route into Ashland, or the 1928 route into Jefferson and Reedsburg via road named Old Lincoln Way/U.S. 30-A.

  Additional Points of Interest