What's New in Miami Valley Rail
Trails?
There are 334.8 miles of paved
trail in the Miami Valley
(See Trail List for all Trails and mileage)
in the Miami Valley (2010)
The following is a list of the major changes to the Miami Valley
RailTrails Web Site, or trail news with the most recent
changes shown first.
Work continues on
building and marking the planned trail from Urbana West to the Indiana
border.
Interim
Trail from Piqua to Covington - In Piqua, the interim trail is being marked on farm roads in order
to have connectivity from Piqua to Covington and Bradford. This will also
enable a cyclist to reach the new trail section under construction from
Bradford West to Gettysburg. I have updated the page with this new
information.
Bradford
West to Gettysburg Section - I added information and new
pictures of the trail being built from Gettysburg to near Bradford
(1.8 miles)
Greenville
West to Union City Section - I have added information to the
page about the additional $220K that the Darke County Park District
received in August from the 2010 Clean Ohio Trail Grants. This
money will buy the 11 miles of railbed from Greenville Northwest to
Union City.
23 August 2010
New Maps for each Trail Page - I am removing the
older Yahoo maps which do not work and I am replacing them with Google maps
that do. I am putting new maps on each trail page that does not have a good
map. The newer Google maps
have an added feature. If you click on "More" just above the map
and then select "Bicycling" you'll be given a green line for each
bicycle trail in the area. I have already selected this feature for the maps
that I will provide on each trail page. For example see the new map on
the Iron Horse Trail page.
21 August 2010
Friends of The
Trail Page Updated - I have added information about the
Clinton County Trails Coalition and their new Facebook page; I Love The
Wilmington, Ohio Trails.
Updated Website Statistics
Page - I updated this page that shows my website usage with the 01
Jan - 30 June Google Analytics report.
20 August 2010
Website Sponsors Page Updated
- I have had for some time a page dedicated to those organizations that
help me maintain this website. They include County Parks Department, Cities
and Townships, Convention & Visitor's Bureaus, Friends Groups and
Metropolitan Planning Organizations (these groups fund road, bridges and, of
yes, trails!). I completely revised the form of the page to make it easier
to find organizations.
17 August 2010
Miami Valley
RailTrails Page Updated - I have added information about the trails
in Clinton County to this page which lists all of the trails (and their
mileage) in the fifteen counties that I choose to call the Miami
Valley. They currently have 4.3 miles of trail (all in
Wilmington).
Trail Maps Page Updated
- I received a great map from the Clinton County Trails Coalition so I added
Clinton County and its map to my maps page.
15 August 2010
August 2010
Newsletter is Available - Clean Ohio Trails Grants, and trail construction in Darke County. I have been
able to update several webpages with new pictures of completed trails and I have
been able to remove some "Construction Detour" signs on trails for
downtown Dayton. I have added a new Ohio To Indiana Trails page to show the
continuing development of trails in Champaign, Miami and Darke County so this
month's trail page is the Ohio To Indiana Trails page.
11 August 2010
Ohio To Indiana Trail
page - Because
of the new trails construction in Darke County and the new funding that they
received in August 2010 for two more trail sections, I have added a webpage
to celebrate the trail that, when built, will run West from Urbana in
Champaign County through Piqua in Miami County and Greenville in Darke
County to end in Indiana at the Union City
Gateway. As each section of trail is funded or is built, I'll add
information and webpages as appropriate.
01 August 2010
Iron Horse Trail in
Kettering Updated - I took new photos of the new
section of the Iron Horse Trail in Kettering. It runs from the South end of
Hempstead Station Road to E. Stroop Road. From there it continues to the
intersection of E. Stroop Road and Wilmington Pike. The trail extension is
about 1.2 miles. The trail is now about 3.5 miles from I-675 North past Iron Horse Park
to Hempstead Station Road (the border to Kettering) and through Kettering to
Stroop and Wilmington.
27 July 2010
Island MetroPark to Stewart Street Bridge
webpage updated - Until recently there was a Construction
Alert on the page dealing with the tunnel from Riverscape to the
Deeds Point Bridge across the Mad River. This construction has been finished
so the Alert has been removed. There is still an another Alert
on this webpage The Great Miami River Recreation Trail on the
West bank is closed until Fall 2011 because of I-75 bridges
over the Great Miami River. The East bank has a detour using North Bend
Blvd.
26 July 2010
Island MetroPark to Stewart Street Bridge
webpage updated - I went to downtown Dayton in late July to get for
you new pictures of the new and improved Five Rivers MetroParks Riverscape
MetroPark. I removed older pictures and replaced them with new.
Wolf Creek Trail (Downtown
Dayton) page updated - I took photos of the new Edwin C. Moses
bridge over the Wolf Creek Recreation Trail and replaced old photos and
descriptions with new ones. I also show photos of the old Bridge Street
Bridge being replaced by a bridge over the Creek at Philadelphia
Drive.
New Friends of
the Trails Page - I have added a page to the website to highlight
the "Friends" organization that exist to help maintain a trail.
The page is also there to encourage new "Friends" groups to
form.
16 July 2010
Updated Prairie Grass Trail
Pages - I have removed several very old maps of the London area of
the Prairie Grass Trail and replaced them with a new map complements of
Wilson Printing & Graphics of London. I updated the:
July 2010
Newsletter is Available - Latest status about trails
construction and other news in the area (seven articles) . The Prairie
Grass Trail pages on the website have been upgraded
with new pictures of the Prairie Grass Trail. The Webpage of the Month is
the Site Map. I also have other news of interest to
users of the Miami Valley Trails System.
May 2010
Newsletter is Available - More information about trail
construction in the Miami Valley from Dayton Daily News. The City of Dayton
has changed some downtown streets to two way and added some bike sharrows as
well as being awarded a Bronze for becoming a "bicycle friendly
city." Both the Wolf Creek and Stewart Street Bikeways have re-opened.
Since the Google Maps bike trail information is so important I have repeated
it. And finally the Interactive Trails Maps are this months, webpage of the
month.
20 April 2010
Trail Usage Statistics Page
Updated - I received updated information from several
agencies and updated the page with new statistics for trail usage. I also
added a link to MVRPC so that interested parties could get a copy of
the Miami Valley Trail User Survey
Report dated 9 December 2009.
17 April 2010
Revised Stewart Street Bikeway
Webpage - I photographed the Stewart Street Bikeway in mid-April and
have completely revised the page with new photos and descriptions of the new
trail built by the University of Dayton.
15 April 2010
April 2010
Newsletter is Available - Trail construction information from
Clark, Miami, Montgomery, Hamilton and even Northern Kentucky. More about
MVRPC's December 2009 Miami Valley Trail User Survey Report as well
as website page changes. More information about the new Google Bicycle maps
and news of upcoming events.
09 April 2010
Tecumseh Trail
Completed (Phase I) - The long anticipated trail through New
Carlisle is almost complete. The contractor has to add one course of asphalt
to the trail and stripe it, but the trail is usable now. I took new pictures
in April and completely revised the trail to show the new construction
through Smith and Brubaker Parks.
19 March 2010
Stewart Street Bikeway Reopens
- I have removed the Trail Closed For Construction signs on
the Stewart Street Bikeway page. The trail from the new Stewart Street
Bridge to Brown Street and the University of Dayton has reopened. I had
reported on the trail webpage earlier the news that: By 2010, the University of Dayton will have a path
suitable for walking or bicycling from the campus on Brown Street, down the
Stewart Street Bikeway across the bridge and South on Edwin C. Moses Blvd.
to the University of Dayton Arena and the other sports venues there.
15 March 2010
March 2010
Newsletter is Available - This month I provide information about construction on local trails
including the Iron Horse Trail, Little Miami Scenic Trail and the Prairie Grass
Trail . I also give you and update about the Miami-2-Miami Trail and Ohio River Trail in
Hamilton County. Then I tell you about all of the webpages in the website that
have been updated materially including describing funding for six local trail
projects. In our Did You Know Department? I discuss the fact that the City of
Dayton has adopted a "Complete Streets" policy. Also I tell you about
Google Maps which now has bicycling information in it and I add some historical
information about the Prairie Grass Trail near London. I talk a bit about a
reader who wanted information about daily or multi-day rides in the Miami Valley
and I thank all my friends who attended my presentation at the Outdoor Summit
held on 6 March. Since I've talked a bit about trail funding in the
newsletter, this month's webpage is the Approved Multi-Use Trail Projects
page.
14 March 2010
Approved
Multi-Use Trail Projects - The organization in the area that
funds for trails is Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC). This
March 2010 they approved six trail related projects. I have updated my
Approved Multi-Use Trail Projects to show the detail of these funded
projects.
06 March 2010
Complete Streets Gains Ground –In a current Dayton Daily News article columnist, Ken McCall announced that, the City of Dayton had adopted a “Complete Streets” policy. It means “…From now on, whenever a street is scheduled to be built, rebuilt, resurfaced or repaired in the city of Dayton, traffic engineers and planners must consider pedestrians, bicyclists and bus riders as well as cars in their designs...” See Ken’s article Bicyclists, pedestrians part of street plan
Click
Here or above
Iron
Horse Trail Gets Construction Funds - The Iron Horse Trail (tentatively called the Southeast Bikeway Corridor) now runs through Beavercreek into Kettering. There is also a section in Centerville from I-675 through Iron Horse Park to Stroop Road. The trail has gotten additional funding for construction in 2012 from Kettering Northwest along the old railbed to the Southeast corner of the University of Dayton. The City of Dayton will build from
U.D. Southeast to Jane Newcome Park. From there the City of Kettering will employ the railbed and city streets to bring the trail South to it’s current end at Stroup and Wilmington Pike.
01 March 2010
Construction
Delay on Prairie Grass Trail (AKA Ohio To Erie) - Columbus
MetroParks has hit a snag in developing the 11 mile trail from Wilson Road
East to Sullivant Road on the Camp Chase RailTrail segment of this
portion of the Ohio To Erie Trail. It seems that the owners of the property
didn't actually own a section of the right-of-way.
23 February 2010
Ohio River Trail
Updates - There is new status of this proposed trail by the
Ohio River Trail Way, the organization that is raising funds for the new
trail from downtown Cincinnati at the Purple People Bridge 4 miles East to
Lunken Airport.
15 February 2010
February 2010
Newsletter is Available - New
construction on the Wolf Creek Trail in downtown Dayton, the I-675 bridge
gets engineering funding, Five Rivers MetroParks has information on the soon
to be completed Riverscape Bike Hub and other facilities. Five Rivers also
asks their readers (you) to take a short survey. There is news from the
Friends of the Little Miami Scenic Park. I have updated webpages to reflect
the latest news. The Rails-To-Trails ranked all the states for their trail
building efforts and we came in eighth overall. I will have a presentation
at the Adventure Summit on Saturday 6 March, 2010 in the Wright State
University Student Union. And finally this month's Page of the Month is my
Trail Maps page.
03 February 2010
I-675 Pedestrian/Cyclist Bridge Gets Engineering Funding
- This proposed bridge that will connect Beavercreek from the Fairfield Mall, across I-675 to Wright State University received funds to let a contract to engineer the bridge.
Bridge Street Bridge over Wolf
Creek RailTrail To Be Replaced - Construction will start soon to replace this bridge, which has been closed for about three years. The bridge will be replaced with a bridge that will be about 150 yards East of the current bridge. The new bridge will connect Philadelphia Drive to James H. McGee Blvd. A detour for the Wolf Creek Recreation Trail is yet to be determined.
15 January 2010
January 2010
Newsletter is Available - Information about my efforts to get good
historic information about our railtrails on this website. I have updated some
webpages . There was an article in the Rails-To-Trails online magazine that
highlights our Greene County Parks Trail Sentinels. The Five Rivers MetroParks
"Adventure Summit" is coming up on March 5 & 6th. This month we
feature our "Trails in Ohio" webpages with information on every other
bicycle trail in Ohio/
07 January 2010
Statistics Page Updated
- For those interested, I keep a Statistics page that shows who
uses the site and other data about my readers. I updated it periodically
from Google Analytics and Quantcast. It's there for your reading
pleasure.
Iron Horse Trail Pages Updated - I updated
both pages with new construction information for Kettering and Centerville.
The City of Kettering is extending the trail North from Hempstead Station Drive to
the Wilmington Pike / Stroop Road intersection. This will be complete in
Spring 2010. The trail was extended South from Iron Horse Park .4 miles to I-675.
Links to the pages are below.
The December
2009 Newsletter is Available - More onthe Tecumseh Trail in New Carlisle.
I photographed the construction sites in downtown Dayton that have closed
many of the trails and updated all of my pages with new photos and
descriptions. The Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC),
released on 9 December their long awaited "Miami Valley Trail User
Survey Report" which is the first attempt locally, to measure the
number of trail uses and the economic impact of such use. The Iron Horse
Trail in Centerville was extended South and Kettering is building the trail
North to the intersection of Stroop Road and Wilmington Pike. The
Rails-To-Trails Consortium picked the Little Miami Scenic Trail for their
on-line "Trail of the Month" for December. Google Earth is
starting to add "Bike There" directions for cyclists. We (actually
Mike Monett) will be helping them with Google Earth data on the trails in
Southwest Ohio. The webpage of the month is : Navigate this site by Menus or
Maps. Columbus Trails & Greenways is looking for a new webmaster to
keep the website up to date.
05 December 2009
Downtown Dayton trail webpages updated with new
pictures of construction - I added new pictures that I took 29
November of the construction projects still going on in downtown Dayton as
follows:
I-75
Construction North of Triangle MetroPark - The bridge over the
Great Miami River is not completed. It is scheduled to be complete by
July 2010. I have a detour for you but on weekends, you might we able to
push your bike under the new bridge and continue your ride.
I-75
Construction North of Deeds MetroPark - This construction is to
eliminate "Malfunction Junction" (the I-75 SR-4 Intersection)
in downtown Dayton. There is a detour on only the East bank of the
River. This work is not scheduled to be complete until Fall 2011.
RiverScape
Construction at Patterson Blvd. Tunnel - This has to do with the
new skating ring and Bike Central being built at RiverScape MetroPark.
The tunnel that takes the trail under Patterson Blvd. should be complete
by Spring 2010.
Stewart Street Bikeway -
This short trail along Stewart Street from the Stewart Street Bridge
East to University of Dayton is still closed. It is planned to be
opened December 2009.
01 December 2009
Iron
Horse Trail being Extended - The City of Kettering
is extending the trail North one mile on both sides of Hempstead Station Road North
with "Share the Road" signs. After crossing East David Road the trail
will be a off street trail on the West side of Hempstead Station Road and continuing
North to Stoop Road. Then the trail will run east to the
intersection of Wilmington Pike and East Stroop Road. It should be complete
by February 2010.
Iron
Horse Trail in Centerville Extended - The Centerville-Washington
Park District added about .4 mile of trail from Iron Horse Park in
Centerville to I-675. The trail is now 1.88 miles long in Centerville. Future plans are to secure funds to put a tunnel under
I-675 and carry the trail South.
30 November 2009
Construction Complete on some new Dayton Bridges
- I have been asking about bridge construction in downtown Dayton.
Several bridges have been completed as follows:
Monument Avenue West
Bridge - This bridge was opened in mid-November. The trail
construction will be done as follows:
West side trail - mid February 2010
East side trail - mid April 2010
Stewart Street Bridge
- The bridge was dedicated and opened Monday 30 November, 2009. The West
side of the bridge connection to the trail is not done.
15 November 2009
The November
2009 Newsletter is Available - The Tecumseh
Trail in New Carlisle is paved (but not finished) and I have information
about the Greater Springfield Friends of the Trail. The Simon Kenton Trail
got a Clean Ohio Grant to continue the trail North to Grimes Field. From
Greene County we have the 2009 report from the Friends of the Little Miami
State Scenic Park and how the Little Miami Scenic Trail was improved in
2009. The Miami County Trails Task Force was funded by the Paul G. Duke
Foundation to complete a section of trail. More planning is going into the Ohio
to Indiana Trail that will run from Urbana through Piqua and
Greenville and end in Indiana. I added a new webpage for the existing trail
in Moraine and one for the new Eldean Park to Peterson Road in Miami County.
I also updated my Approved Multi-Use Trails Projects page with the new Clean
Ohio Grants for 2009. In Warren County the Little River Cafe in
Oregonia is almost rebuilt. And since the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
(Miami County) is funded from Montgomery County all the way through Piqua, I
nominated the Eldean Park to Peterson Road webpage as this month's
"Webpage of the Month."
04 November 2009
Main Street - Pinnacle Road
Trail - (AKA Pinnacle Road Bike
Path) - Recently I was finally able to get photos of this existing trail in
Moraine. It runs West from the Main Street bridge over the Great Miami River
Recreation Trail just North of West Carrollton. There is a stairway that
will take you up to the bridge. From there you travel West 2.3 miles
alongside Main Street to Deer Run Park on Pinnacle Road where the trail
ends.
23 October 2009
Eldean Park to
Peterson Road Trail Section (Miami County) Finished -The
Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Miami County) grew another 1.99 miles in
October 2009. The much awaited section from Eldean Park to (almost) Peterson Road
alongside County Road 25A (CR-25A) was completed in late October. I was able
to get new pictures and update the existing page for this trail section. The
section is not finished all of the way to Peterson Road. That will have to
wait until 2011 when Miami County Parks gets funding to put a bicycle bridge
over the Great Miami River at the Northern terminus of the current
construction, which ends 600' North of the I-75 bridge.
14 October 2009
The October
2009 Newsletter is Available - There is a
new trail section completed North of Middletown and construction continues
on the Tecumseh Trail in Clark County as well as two sections of trail
in Miami County and the Bike Hub at Riverscape in Montgomery County. Several
areas have received funds for new trail construction and I have updated my
Approved Multi-Use Trails Projects page. I have added a new webpage for what
I am calling the Middletown Trail (North). I recommend you vote for the
parks levees in Miami and Montgomery Counties. I have found that Google
Earth now has trail names on it for your use, MVRPC has started a Regional
Land Use Planning Initiative that they call "Going Places" that
you might want to look into. This month's "Web Page of the Month"
are the trails in Darke County; the Greenville Creek Trail and the Union
City Gateway. I nominated them to highlight the fact that Darke County Parks
has received some funding to start building additional trails.
12 October 2009
North Middletown
Trail Completed - The 1.92 mile
trail extension of the existing trail North towards Franklin was completed
September 2009. The trail starts just North of the Middletown Municipal
Airport at State Route 4 and continues to State Route 73. Plans are already
underway to finish the trail from it's current end at State Route 73 to
Baxter Drive South of Franklin to connect to the Crains Run Nature Park To Franklin Section that runs North to Dayton and beyond
11 October 2009
Approved Multi-Use Trail Projects
page Updated - I have updated this page with the completion of
the trail from Middletown 1.92 miles North to State Route 73. This
construction is a part of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail [GMRRT] in Warren & Butler Counties,
which when completed, will stretch over 90 miles from Sidney (Shelby
County) South through Miami, Montgomery, Warren and Butler Counties to
Hamilton. I have also updated the status of several other construction
projects in the Miami Valley.
10 October 2009
Web Statistics Page Updated
- I updated the data on this page
from Google Analytics. I now have a "Dashboard Report" that cover
the first nine months of 2009 (January to September). There is also a live
Quantcast Report on the page showing the daily number of people that access
the website.
16 September 2009
New Trail Construction North of
Middletown - The Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Warren &
Butler Counties) is growing. The City of Middletown is almost finished a
1.92 mile extension of the trail that takes it North of the current terminus
at State Route 4 North of the Middletown Municipal Airport and ends at State
Route 73. The $433K construction is planned to be completed by the
end of September 2009. I was told that engineering is going on to connect
from the trail's end to Baxter Road in Franklin, where the trail South from
Dayton ends now.
Trail Count Data for July
& August 2009 is becoming available - The Miami Valley Regional
Planning Commission, with the help of Greene County Parks, Five Rivers
MetroParks and Miami County Parks District along with several local cities,
performed a trail count on Sunday 26 July, and Wednesday 29 July & 12
August 2009. Preliminary data is now becoming available. I have placed two
charts from MVRPC on my Trail Statistics page for your edification.
15 September 2009
The September
2009 Newsletter is Available - This
month I tell you about two trail projects under construction in Miami County and
one potential project. In Greene County I tell you about the Towler Road Spur
off of the Creekside Trails, new trail signs at Xenia Station, and an extension
to the Xenia-Jamestown Connector. Due to the efforts of the Friends of the
Little Miami Scenic Park, (FLMSP), 11 old railroad bridges on the
trail were repaired. The Little Miami Scenic Trail South of Corwin is closed for
a month to 14 October 2009, but there is a detour you can take. I have added a
new webpage for the Towler Road Spur and updated others for your use. There were
two articles in the Dayton Daily News about a man hurt on one of those old
railroad bridges on Labor Day 2008 that you can read. I have a link to an
article that tells you the benefits of riding your bike to work. Finally, in my
webpage of the month section, I tell you about my friend Glenn Oster, who wrote
nine trail reviews for me that I published.
07 September 2009
Great Miami
River Recreation Trail (Miami County) pages updated - I
told you in my August
2009 Newsletter that I was working to change the
orientation of the trail pages in Miami County. They are all being changed
so that they read from South to North and there are appropriate links
between them so a reader can review the entire trail by going from page to
page. The trail pages revised (Please see 04 September 2009 below. The new
pages that have been revised are as follows:
Towler Road Spur -
For some time I have been meaning to photograph this .70 mile Spur
connecting West Side Park in Xenia to the Creekside Trail where Towler Road
crosses it in Xenia. The Spur is not completely paved but does connect the
neighborhood around West Side Park to the Creekside
Trail.
Xenia Station Page Updated
- I took new photos of Xenia Station specifically to show you the new trail
signs that should help you navigate on the four trails that currently
converge there.
Revised
webpages in Miami County - In my August
newsletter I told you that I was going to revise the trail pages in
Miami County so that they would all read South to North. I have
accomplished some of that as follows:
Trail in City of Hamilton Page
Updated - A sharp eyed reader noticed that I had information
on this page on the trail alongside the Great Miami River in Hamilton. I had
said that the trail from Hamilton was being extended Northeast to the Rentschler Forest Preserve
this year. He said that he had been in the area recently, and had seen no
construction in the area. I called several sources in the Hamilton area and
they confirmed that there would be no construction this year. They said that
construction on this 5 mile section of trail is planned to start
in 2011
The August 2009
Newsletter is Available - This month's newsletter has some background information on all of the I-75 Road Construction in downtown Dayton as well as all the bridge replacements. I am attempting to get information to update all of my webpages that have "Construction Alerts" on them so you will know the status of each construction site.
In downtown Springfield a bridge is being replaced over the Little Miami Scenic Trail and will affect trail users in that area. [One of "My Spies" sent me the information.]
For all of the rest of you, if you hear (or read in your local paper) about construction (new trails) or construction that will affect trail use; don't assume that I know about it. Please send me an email as a "heads up", OK?
Next I discuss webpage orientations on the website which at present vary considerably. I explain in the newsletter what I am trying to accomplish in order to make the pages for useful to you.
In the Did You Know section I tell you about DaytonMostMetro.com
and a good article titled "Drive Less, Bike More" that you should read. Finally in my Webpage of the Month I tell you about the Tecumseh Trail in New Carlisle which is being built this year and should be completed next Summer.
14 July 2009
The July 2009
Newsletter is Available - This month we have construction
news from Clark, Darke, Miami, Madison, Montgomery and Warren Counties. I
added a new webpage for the trail from Lock 9 Park in Piqua to Peterson
Road, as well as updating my Union City Gateway page with the new pictures
taken at the dedication. I updated my Statistics Page and spent some time
updating my alphabetical list of all trails in Ohio. They are also listed by
county using maps from my friends at ODOT. Several parks districts and
cities are doing trail counts on the 26th. and 29th. of July and they need
your help. The Waterways & Pathways (printed) guide is now available as
an Adobe file for your use. Five Rivers MetroParks will have a levy on the
November 2009 ballot. Miami Valley RailTrails encourages you to support this
levy. There will be a "Bicycle Camp" on 27 July at Old Towne
Reserve in Greene County. Finally the webpage of the month is the Great
Miami River Recreation Trail in Miami, Montgomery, Warren and Butler
counties.
24 June 2009
Union City Gateway
dedicated - On Friday 19 June this new one mile trail was dedicated in Union
City Ohio. The trail spans the state line between Ohio and Indiana. It is
only the beginning of connectivity from the trail in Ohio, which I am
calling the Ohio-Indiana Trail to the Cardinal Greenway in
Indiana.
New Prairie Grass Trail
Construction in Madison and Franklin County - As you know the
Prairie Grass Trail (AKA Ohio To Erie Trail) starts at the Xenia Station,
runs through Cedarville, South Charleston, London and currently ends 6.5
miles East of London at Wilson Road. The Franklin County Parks Department
and the Columbus and Franklin County MetroParks are working together to
extend the trail 11 more miles into Columbus. Called the Camp Chase
RailTrail (since it goes past Camp Chase a Civil War POW Camp in
Columbus). The sections are as follows:
Section 1 Wilson Road to Kropp Road (6 miles)
- The first section has started construction. This 6 mile section starts
at Wilson Road (the current end of trail), runs through the town of Lily
Chapel, crosses into Franklin County and goes through the town of
Georgesville to end at Kropp Road. The builders are hoping to have this
six mile section completed this year; 2009.
Section 2 - Kropp Road to Galloway Road (2.4
miles)- This section starts at Kropp Road and runs 2.4 miles through
the town of Galloway to end at Galloway Road. I do not have a timetable
for Section 2 yet.
Section 3 - Galloway Road to Columbus and
Sullivant Road (3 miles) - The final section of the Camp Chase
RailTrail will run 3 miles from Galloway Road crossing into Columbus. It
will go under I-270 and end at Sullivant Avenue. At 2900 Sullivant
Avenue is the
Camp Chase Cemetery.
15 June 2009
June 2009
Newsletter is Available - We had a trail dedication at Piqua and some
more news about the trail from Kyle Park to Taylorsville MetroPark. The Miami
County Trails Task Force is planning for lateral trails from the main North to
South trail that we will begin telling you more about. I provide
some construction plans by Five Rivers MetroParks for the Stillwater River
Recreation Trail. There is news from Cincinnati about the Ohio River Trail. I
have had a Ohio River Trail page for several years and I updated it (and other
pages) this month. There is also new construction going on East of London on the
Prairie Grass Trail. The Little River Cafe in Oregonia is being rebuilt. The
Southwest Ohio Waterways & Pathways is available at your bike shop or park's
office. There are
some new cycling events going on in the Valley. This month's featured webpage is
the Trail Etiquette and Safety Page as well as the Law Page (bicycling law).
15 May 2009
May 2009 Newsletter
is Available - This month we have property acquisition news from
Clinton County, Trail Construction in Miami County (4 sections will be in
work this year) and several webpages updated including Events, About Trail
Names, Trail Usage Statistics and Approved Projects. I have also completely revised the Trails
in Miami County page. In our Did You Know? section the Cities of
Columbus and Riverside got some recognition for working towards Bike
Friendly status recently. The Drive Less Live More Campaign for 2009 has
started. There are several new events including two trail dedications; the
Iron Horse Trail in Centerville and the Towpath Trail in St. Mary's. Finally
I have more information about the Interactive Trails Maps as my Webpage of
the Month for May.
05 May 2009
About
Multi-Use Trail Names and Route Numbers (Updated) - I have had a webpage
for some time that explains that many trails have more than one name. This
makes it a bit confusing when talking about them. On the same page I have
information about a trail numbering system that five counties in Southwest
Ohio are now using to mark your trails.
02 May 2009
Events Page Updated - I
have added a number of new events to this page. And I have deleted events
that have already occurred.
30 April 2009
Trail Usage
Statistics
and
Economic Benefits of Trails - page updated - I received trail usage
statistics from Greene County for 2007 and 2008 and added them to the
webpage. This page documents all of the data I have from every county or
city in the area that is collecting data usage statistics using
counters.
27 April 2009
Updates to trails in the Fairborn Area- I
recently updated several pages to show new links to the National Parks
Service (NPS) Wright Brothers parks area. They are:
Mad River Recreation Trail
(Extension)- As you know this trail will be extended about 3
miles Northeast of it's current end point in Eastwood MetroPark to
Huffman MetroPark. This construction will occur in 2010.
Wright Brothers Bikeway -
I updated it as well to show better links to the National Parks Service
website that features sites about the Wright Brothers in the vicinity of
the Air Force Museum including the Wright Brothers Interpretive Center
at the Wright Brothers Memorial
Three
Counties Trail - As above I updated my links to NPS and made
other changes to make your reading easier. As many of you know this
trail that would have run from Eastwood MetroPark Park to Huffman
MetroPark and then followed the Wright Brothers Bikeway into Fairborn
would have been extended though Fairborn (Greene County) to Enon Park in
Clark County but may not be built because of the current interest in
passenger rail service in Ohio.
available for download and printing. If
you order a Map from MVRPC
they will include the three brochures for your use.
17 April 2009
Interactive Trails
Maps Added to Website - I was able to secure rights to an
Interactive set of Trails Maps for the Miami Valley. They have amazing
information about the trails in the area including pictures and videos of
the trails. Check It Out!
15 April 2009
April 2009
Newsletter is Available - There is new construction planned for
RiverScape in downtown Dayton as well as the City of Xenia's construction plans
for this year. Most importantly, I have added a New Interactive Maps page to the
website. I updated a lot of pages and added several. I give you detailed
information (Section by Section) about the trail construction in Miami County. I
provide economic benefits of trails and give your more information about
Courteous Mass, a new bicycle group in Dayton.
Trail Etiquette
& Safety - A sharp eyed reader noticed that I had not
discussed handicapped trail users on my Trail Etiquette & Safety page. I
have updated the page.
29 March 2009
Greenville
Creek Trail - I visited Greenville recently and had a chance to see
(and photograph) this lovely short trail. Darke County Parks District will be using
this trail in Alice Bish Park as the beginning of their trail across the
entire county to connect with Piqua in Miami County (eventually) and to the Union
City Gateway (into Indiana) to connect (eventually with Indiana's Cardinal
Greenway.)
Economic (and other) Benefits of Trails, Greenways and Open Space
- I attended a Seminar at the Five Rivers MetroParks "Outdoor
Summit" in February. Mr. Rory Robinson of the National Parks Service
was the speaker and I was very impressed with his statistics on the economic
benefits of trails. I asked him for electronic copies of his handouts. The
new webpage is the result.
15 March 2009
March 2009
Newsletter Is Available - This month I profile the
winners of the Federal Stimulus money, as well as information about the Mad
River Recreation Trail extension in Riverside. Next I give you descriptions
and links to five Dayton Daily News stories about bicycle trail planning in
the area. I talk about what changes I have made to the website (removing
dead links, for example) more useful for you. And then I describe what other
changes I have made to the website this pas month. I tell you about a new
OKI bicycle map of the region as well as a new events calendar on the new Go
4 The Outdoors website. Then I tell you more about the Outdoor Summit and
the Economic Benefits of Bicycle Trails seminar I attended. Finally I tell
you about new Events on my calendar including rides in Greene County with
Trail Sentinels, a new street biking event called Courteous Mass and tell
you that this month's webpage is the Mad River Recreational Trail.
Updated
Trail Maps Page - I am always on the outlook for tools that will
help you plan your trail rides. The Ohio, Kentucky
& Indiana Regional Council of Governments (known as OKI) funds all
of the trails in Southern Ohio as well as Northern Kentucky and Eastern
Indiana. They have established an online map resource that shows every built
trail as well as every planned trail in the area. The URL is : http://maps.oki.org/Bike/
Or go to my Trail Maps Page and read the
description there.
14 February
2009
February 2009
Newsletter Is Available - This month I give you detour
information about the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Connector in downtown Dayton
where the Wolf Creek enters the Great Miami River. Mike Monett has been
adding updates to his Google Maps of the Miami Valley. I am abandoning the
Multiply product which was the successor to MSNBC website that I used to
communicate with you. There was a devastating fire at the Little River Cafe
in Oregonia on the morning of February 13, 2009.
I am asking you to provide letters and emails of support to Mr. Mark Burris,
the owner of the Cafe. In Upcoming Events the Adventure Summit is at
Wright State University 20-21 February and I have the new National Parks
Service "Bike With A Ranger" schedule for 2009. And lastly this
month's Webpage Of The Month is my Miami Valley Trails page where I keep
track of every trail and every connected trail in the area.
9 February
2009
Detour
on the Wolf Creek Recreation Trail - The City of Dayton
Engineering Department provided me with a MAP
that shows you the detour you can use on the Wolf Creek Trail (see Below).
National Parks Service'sBike
With A Ranger Brochure Available - I was recently given the 2009
brochure that gives all of the details of the very successful Bike With a
Ranger program
6 February 2009
Edwin Moses Bridge over Wolf
Creek Recreation Trail being replaced - I've placed
information on the Lawrence C. Dunbar portion of the Wolf Creek Recreation
Trail warning cyclists that the bridge at the mouth of Wolf Creek is being
replaced starting February 2008 and will be finished December 2010. I'll be
putting information about a detour on the page soon.
22 January
2009
Trail Usage Statistics Page
Updated - I am in the process of updating this page. At the end of
each year I ask all of the parks departments that collect data to provide it
to me. I have not only been updating the page, but asking those
organizations who do not collect trail data, to buy counters and start. At
the January Regional Trails Committee meeting held by MVRPC, it was agreed
in principle that the parks departments would start planning to perform
periodic trail counts (using people to actually count trail use). Planning
will start in February 2009.
16 January
2009
January 2009
Newsletter Is Available - News this
month includes more about the Friends of the Little Miami Scenic Park,
information about the new bridge to be built in downtown Dayton on the Wolf
Creek as well as news from the quarterly MVRPC Regional
Trails Committee meeting. I repeated information about the new Google Maps
overlay that Mike Monett has built for our joint use. I mentioned that I
updated my end of year Web Statistics page and I tell all of you more about
my move from a website at MSNBC to its replacement; Multiply. I'm still
looking for pictures of the Sherman Avenue Bridge on the Buck Creek Trail
and the Webpage of the Month is the Simon Kenton Trail.
10 January 2009
Web Statistics Page Updated
- Several times a year, and always at the end of the year, I
update my webpage that shows the activity on the website. I updated the page
with data from Google Analytics and Quantcast.
13 December 2008
December
2008 Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter is Available- The news
this month includes Construction on the Xenia-Jamestown Connector in Greene
County, the Little Miami Scenic Trail reopens and I provide a Google
Maps overlay from Mike Monett for all of the trails in the Miami Valley.
Because of his efforts I found some new trail segments that I was unaware
of. Greene County Parks erected 16 new standard signs; 5 at Xenia Station. I
provide a new timetable for the Mad River Recreation Trail extension to
Huffman MetroPark. This month I updated my list of all trails in Ohio. This
includes the alphabetical list as well as the list by region and county.
Because of the newly discovered trail segments I had to update a number of
pages to acknowledge them as well as updating my Trail Maps page to show
Mike Monett's Google Earth maps. I recommend that all of you download and
view his work. This month I asked for photos of the Sherman Avenue bridge on
the Buck Creek Trail and told you about the Friends of the Little Miami
Scenic Park. I quote an article about bicycle from Parade Magazine
and finally tell all of you about the migration of my MSN website that I use
for a mailing list to a new MSN product called "Multiply".
08 December 2008
Trail Mileage Grows -
I have added 5 more miles to the list of all the trails in the Miami
Valley.
Main
Street - Pinnacle Road Bike Path - I found out about the
"main Street - Pinnacle Road Bike Path" (nominal name) in the
City of Moraine which is 2.3 miles long from the Great Miami River
Recreation Trail alongside Main Street and then Pinnacle Road to Deer
Meadow Park (formerly Pinnacle Park) in western Moraine.
Towler
Road Spur - I also found out about a .5 mile spur from the
Creekside Trail along Towler Road to West Side Park in Xenia
Xenia-
Jamestown Connector Grows - The Xenia-Jamestown Connector was
extended about .5 mile from Jasper Road to Hoop Road near Xenia.
03 December 2008
Google Earth maps of the entire Miami Valley Trails System
– A very helpful reader, Mr. Mike Monett, spent a lot of time building the entire trails system into Goggle Earth. Click Here to see his webpage about the trails system. You will need to download and installed the free Goggle Earth software to take advantage of these new maps with links to my website. Mike’s downloadable file will enable you to see all of the trails in the system including some “Bird’s Eye” views of certain areas. Because he has marked the trails in planning in red you can see where our trail system will expand in the future. On the maps those places marked with a “P” have more information, including some “Bird’s Eye” views and links to the webpage on my website that has the detailed information to go along with Mike’s efforts.
November
Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter is Available - The Great Miami River
Recreation Trail reopened this month and the Iron Horse Trail in Centerville was
finished. The trail is now complete in Miami County from Kyle Park (South of
Tipp City) to Lytle Road (North of Troy) a total of 10.6 miles. Miami
Conservancy District put up the first new signage that you'll be seeing on our
local trails. There are two sections of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
(Miami County) currently under construction. I have updated many of the trail
pages for Miami County to reflect new construction. There was a good article
about our trails in the Nashville Tennessean and I got a very nice email
from an out-of-town user of our trails. Because of all the trail construction in
Miami County the Trails in Miami County is this month's featured webpage.
30 October 2008
Tipp City Trail at Nature Center
Dedicated - The Section 3 Trail from Tipp City's Nature Center North
to the Southern end of Section 1 of the trail was dedicated Thursday 30
October 2008. This means that the trail is open from Kyle Park in Tipp City
to Lytle Road North of Troy a distance of over 10 miles. The trail
within Tipp City (Kyle Park to Section 1 is 3.58 miles long).
24 October 2008
New Iron Horse Trail
(Centerville) Is Completed - My "Spies" told
me recently that the Iron Horse Trail being built in Centerville on the
railbed of the old Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern RR (CL&N) was near
completion. I took new photos and have completely revised the webpage for
your viewing pleasure.
19 October 2008
October
Miami Valley RailTrails Newsletter is Available - Three
trails are completed in the Miami Valley. Two of them have announced
dedication ceremonies that you are invited to attend. I have updated the
Links Page, as well as the Trail Usage Page, Approved Multi-Use Trail
Projects page and Miami-2-Miami Trail page. The $700 Billion dollar bailout
plan has something in it for commuting cyclists. And this month's Webpage Of
The Month is the Miami-2-Miami Trail page.
Miami-2-Miami
Trail Page Updated- I added the fact that an
important meeting was held on 16 October in Liberty Township. I'll be
providing more information on this page as it is received.
04 October 2008
Links Page Updated - I
have added new links to local cycling clubs and blogs to help you learn
about cycling events in the Cincinnati area.
03 October 2008
Trail Usage Statistics Page
Updated - I have been keeping trail
usage statistics on this page for some years. It shows the year by year
growth in the use of our trails. Also on this page I have been attempting to
capture the Economic Impact of the trails on the local communities. That is,
as the trails are used more, then the trail users spend a higher total on
their trail outings. Recently a student studying Community Planning at the
University of Cincinnati wrote a Masters Thesis titled: " The
Impact of the Little Miami Scenic Trail on Single Family Residential
Property Values" (3.8 Mb Adobe File. In the Abstract the author
summarizes the study saying that the closer a house is to the trail, the
higher is its property value!
02 October 2008
Approved
Multi-Use Trail Projects Updated- I am engaged in updating fully the
webpage where I show all of the planned trails in the Miami Valley. I just
updated all of the Clark County projects with the latest information with
the help of the Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC) which is Clark
County's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO); which is the organization
that plans and funds for all transportation facilities in the county,
including trails. I'll be updating the MPO for Montgomery, Greene and Miami
counties as well as the Cincinnati MPO as soon as I can get the
information.
14 September 2008
Miami
Valley RailTrails Newsletter is Available - This
month I tell you about MVRPC's long range plan that has been approved, the
Little Miami Scenic Trail is broken in two pieces, and there is news on the
planned Bellbrook to Spring Valley Trail. I have new information about trail
construction in Miami County. I have updated my Approved Projects page with
the MVRPC data (above) as well as my Trails in Miami Valley, What's New?,
Trail Statistics and Miami-2-Miami Trail pages. There is a new bicycle club
in town and I republish a letter to "Dear Abby" from a Dayton
cyclist. I remind my readers that the Clean Ohio initiative will be on the
ballot in November and ask "What's you Neighborhood Walk Score? The
Webpage of the Month in September is the Prairie Grass Trail (AKA Ohio to
Erie Trail).
04 September 2008
Updated
Miami-2-Miami Trail Page - I have added new maps
to the page and a ink to a Cincinnati Enquirer article about new trails in
Deerfield Township and the City of Mason.
25 August 2008
MVRPC had their Long Range Transportation Plan (2030)
approved by the Federal Highway Administration. In Chapter VII of the
document are all the approved (funded) and approved (unfunded) multi-use
trail projects. I have updated the:
Approved
Multi-Use Trail Projects Page. I have added map references
to each project and added the new MVRPC map so you can see where each
trail will be.
16 August 2008
Miami
Valley RailTrails Newsletter is Available - The Wolf Creek Recreation Trail is open again, and
there is more construction on the Great Miami River Recreation Trail from West
Carrollton to Miamisburg. I explain about the "Complete Streets"
concept in our trail planning, and tell you about three new trail segments being
built in Miami County. This year Tipp City and Troy will be connected! The
Village of Versailles is starting to plan trails, and Sidney built a one mile
trail. The Little Miami Scenic Trail will grow in Anderson Township since they
got new funds. I've updated a LOT of webpages to reflect construction projects
and I show you examples of our new trail signs that we will be
erecting soon in Montgomery, Miami and Clark counties. This month's Webpage of
the Month is the Approved Multi-Use Trail Projects page.
12 August 2008
Construction on Great Miami
River Recreation Trail - Beginning 1 August the Miami
Conservancy District will be repaving the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
from West Carrollton South to Miamisburg. Construction will take about three
months (November 2008). Two webpages show construction information
Troy Trails Update
- I recently took new pictures of the trail in downtown
Troy. Last year the city of Troy added a new trail section downtown and took
the trail off of the sidewalk on the top of the Eastern levee. Now the trail is at
water level and goes under the Market Street and Adams Street bridges on its
way to Duke Park.
Tipp City Trail Update -
I've updated this page to reflect that it will be connected to the Troy
Trail (see above) in 2008.
Trails in Miami
County - I've updated this page to show construction to be
accomplished in 2008
25 July 2008
Great Miami River
Recreation Trail (Northern Segment) - Construction of
this 14.5 mile trail is now complete from Triangle MetroPark in downtown
Dayton along the Great Miami River to Taylorsville MetroPark in Huber
Heights. I have added a lot of new photos and descriptions of the
trail.
20 July 2008
Construction on the Great
Miami River Recreation Trail Finished - There has been a trail
washout on the Great Miami River Recreation Trail South of Miamisburg near
Crains Run Nature Park since Spring. Recently I was told today (Sunday 20
July 2008) by one of "MY Spies" that the construction was
completed. So now instead of six breaks in the trails near downtown Dayton
we have only five. To read more about the trail breaks see my July
Newsletter.
16 July 2008
Xenia-Jamestown Connector page
Updated - I was able to get out to Jamestown recently to take
new pictures of the additional 4.3 miles of trail built this Summer (2008)
from Jamestown East to the Fayette County line. The railbed is owned by
Fayette County from there to Washington Court House (County Seat). It is
hoped that this connection can be made in the future.
July 2008
Newsletter Now Available - I go to considerable lengths
this month to describe "the mess" on downtown Dayton's trails. And
to think that this could be avoided by some planning. Then I show you all of
the webpages that I have updated to show "Construction Alerts". I
rode the Xenia-Jamestown Connector (again) this week to photograph and
report to you the new 4.3 mile section from Jamestown East to the Fayette
County line. I have also updated this website's Statistics page as well as
the Ohio Bicycle Law page. I was contacted by the folks in Pisgah to help
them find documentation about the Miami-2-Miami Trail. I was happy to
provide it. And I repeated my information about the Little Miami Scenic
Park's looking for trail volunteers to patrol their 50 mile portion of the
Little Miami Scenic Trail.
05 July 2007
Website Statistics Page
Updated - I have been updating the
Web Statistics page on a quarterly basis. Through the end of 2007 I was
using hits as a measure of web activity. However since I have found that raw
hits are not a good measure of activity. So now I am using reports from
Goggle Analytics. You'll find the first half of 2008 report on the
page. I show the top ten pages for views in the January - June 2008
time period for the first time.
03 July 2008
Corwin
Peddler is now open 7 days a week until Labor Day 2008.
They have gone to their Summer Hours. Please click on the link to go to
additional information.
Ohio Bicycle Laws Updated
- I have received the new changes for the bicycle law in Ohio and have
highlighted the changes on the page. The Ohio Bicycle Law is connected to
the Trail Etiquette
& Safety page where I tell you the "Rules of the Road" as
regards to cyclists. You can download a MS Word copy of the Ohio
Bicycle Laws on that page or Click Here.
16 June 2008
June 2008
Newsletter Now Available - The
Xenia-Jamestown Connecter was extended, the Trail from Triangle MetroPark to
Taylorsville MetroPark was finished, and I have news for you about Sections 3
and 5 of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail in Miami County. I have an
article about trails that are planned to be built in the next couple of years,
some of which have a webpage on my site but you need to go to the Site Map to
find them. Since we are building new trails I had to update a number of maps to
show completed trails. Finally If you'd like to be a Trail Volunteer on the
Little Miami Scenic Trail in the Little Miami Scenic Park that runs from
Southern Greene County to Milford, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (who
run the trail there) are looking for volunteers.
05 June 2008
Updated Maps in Navigate
By Maps Pages - Since we have had
(and will have) some trail construction this year, I have updated the maps
and their links to my trails pages.
01 June 2008
Updated Trail Maps
Page - I have added information about an effort to map in
Google Maps the entire trail system. I am collaborating with the original
creator of the work Mr. JD Mackieiwcz.
29 May 2008
Part of
Miami-2-Miami Trail Constructed - A portion of the
planned trail which when completed will run East from the Great Miami River
Recreation Trail at Hamilton to the Little Miami Scenic Trail at South
Lebanon was dedicated on 30 April 2008. The 2.93 mile trail segment runs
West from Route 747 in Port Union to State Route 4 along the old Miami-Erie
Canal. Click
Hereto see the article in the Hamilton Journal-News that
describes it. The trail is planned to be built West to the Gilmore Ponds
Interpretive Preserve in Fairfield.
27 May 2008
Xenia Jamestown Connector
Extended - The additional 4.3 miles of trail from Jamestown East to the Fayette County line has been finished. The trail is now 12 miles long
West from the Fayette County line to Jasper Road. This trail is not completed to Xenia Station. The trail will be finished to Xenia Station in 2010 or 2011.
Great Miami River Recreation Trail (GMRRT) Triangle MetroPark to Taylorsville MetroPark –
This trail can be ridden now but will not be completed for a couple of weeks. Final landscaping and signage need to be installed. The trail is now 14.5 miles long from Triangle MetroPark in downtown Dayton to the Northern end of Taylorsville MetroPark at Old Springfield Road (Miami County border). Eventually, this trail will connect with the trail being built North into Miami County to connect to Tipp City, Troy, Piqua and Sidney in Shelby County.
23 May 2008
Updated Sponsors Page
- On this page are the organizations that provide
me information to help keep this website up to date. Today I revised
information for the Warren County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB). I
update this page when requested by these organizations.
Little Miami Scenic Park Map -
I have added to the Little Miami Scenic Trail home page a map from the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources, the agency that manages 50 miles of the
trail within the park for your use.
16 May 2008
Trail Maps Page
Updated - I have added an Adobe file copy of the Miami
Valley Trails Map for your viewing pleasure. I also added a mileage chart so
you can determine how far it is from one location on a trail to another.
Website Statistics Page
Updated - I added new statistics for the first three months of 2008
from Google Analytics to the page.
15 May 2008
May 2008
Newsletter Now Available - Trail closures and delays;
Stewart Street Bridge closing, construction at I-70 near Taylorsville MetroPark,
Trail washout near Rice Field in Miamisburg and a trail closure of the Little
Miami Scenic Trail between Morrow and the Lebanon Countryside Trail for tree
root removal. MVRPC has kicked off its annual "Drive Less - Live More"
campaign which includes Bike On A Bus. RideShare and Pedal
Pals. MVRPC has taken the lead to make the Miami Valley a Bike Friendly
Community. I have updated the site again this month, provided more events
for your bicycling pleasure. The Webpage of the Month is the Creekside
Trail and Creekside Recreation Trail.
13 April 2008
Who Do You Call For Help
While On A Trail? - I have added a page to my website with the
information you need to have in Greene, Montgomery, Clark, Champaign and
Warren Counties, while you are on a trail. You can print it and carry it
with you on your bike when you are riding our wonderful trails system.
03 April 2008
Updated Events Page
- I've updated the Bicycling Events page for you with
more events including bicycle rides in Yellow
Springs ; the Young's Ice Cream Charity
Bike Tour and the Greene County Cycling Classic as
well as the Troy Classic Bicycle Races and the Calvin's Challenge. Check Them Out!
25 March 2008
Approved
Multi-Use Trail Projects - I updated the page with
the latest round of trail funds from the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission.
This means that several more trail projects more closer to be
accomplished.
Construction on Great Miami
River Recreation Trail (Downtown Dayton) - There is more bridge
construction on the trail in downtown Dayton. The Monument Avenue Bridge is
being replaced starting March 2008. There will be posted detours. There is
also construction where I-75 crosses the Great Miami River in downtown
Dayton. Both construction projects affect the trail on both sides of the
river.
15 March 2008
March
2008 Newsletter Now Available -
Monument Street
Bridge and Stewart Street Bridge (Dayton) to be replaced, more on Austin Pike relocation project (and
trail), Centerville-Washington Parks District gets additional funding for Iron
Horse Trail (to be built in 2008), Telephone numbers you can call for
emergencies, Upcoming cycling events and this month's featured webpages are
the over 20 pages dedicated to the Great Miami River Recreation Trail.
15 February 2008
February
2008 Newsletter Now Available - New signs to be placed on local
trails, Austin Pike Meeting 8 March 2008, I-675 Bridge Closer to Funding,
Trail Usage Statistics page updated, More on Trail Etiquette,
Navigation Menus at bottom of every page for your use, This month's featured
webpage is the free Miami Valley RailTrails Screen-Saver which you can
download.
15 January 2008
January
2008 Newsletter Now Available - Information on trail
detours caused by road construction; The Tipp City trail is now on
contract; you can visit my Trail History webpage and new data on
the Statistics Page. I see that other communities have trouble building
trails and I provide information on Five Rivers MetroParks "Adventure
Summit to be held in February at Wright State University. Finally, this
month's featured webpage is the Little Miami Scenic Trail webpages.
13 December 2007
December
2007 Newsletter Now Available - Prairie Grass Trail East of London was Dedicated,
Washington Street Bridge (Dayton) now open, and the Xenia-Jamestown Connector
construction has been slowed. News from Miami County Trail Construction. I have added a new History Page [Unfinished] to
the website. The new bicycle trail map will be printed in about three weeks. I appeal to my readers for help keeping the website current and the
Rails To Trails Consortium is collecting GPS data for the trails. The webpage of
the month is my Navigate By Menu or Navigate By Maps webpages.
06 December 2007
Washington Street Bridge
Opens - The new bridge in downtown Dayton opened with a
dedication. This new three lane bridge with sidewalks on each side had been
closed for over a year for replacement. For 2008, it will serve as part of
the detour when the Stewart Street Bridge
(downstream) closes for replacement in June 2008.
01 December 2007
Prairie Grass Trail Paved
to Wilson Road- The Prairie Grass Trail was extended by
6.5 miles of paved trail, from Maple Road in downtown London East to Wilson
Road, which is only 2 miles from Franklin County.
12 November 2007
November
2007 Newsletter Now Available - Construction on the
Prairie Grass Trail East of London, Stewart Street Bridge to be replaced in
2008, Huber Heights plans trail through new Carriage Trails Development,
Preble County Starts Trail Planning, Union City Gateway Continues
Development, New Trail Open In Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Corwin Peddler Has
Re-Opened, New Pictures of Xenia-Jamestown Connector, This website is 10
Years Old!, See My What's New Page?
23 October 2007
Construction Accelerates on
Xenia-Jamestown Connector - I am informed that the
paving of the Xenia-Jamestown Connector has accelerated and that it should
be finished before the end of the 2007 construction season. This effort will
add 4.3 miles to the trail taking it from it's current Eastern end of
Jamestown to the Fayette County line. Since the trail does not terminate at
Jamestown the name; The Xenia-Jamestown Connector, may have to be
changed and is presently being considered by Greene County Parks. It is
hoped that the Fayette County trail developers especially the Tri-County
Trail folks work towards connecting this trail to its county seat;
Washington Court House in the near future.
11 October 2007
October
2007 Newsletter Now Available
- Miami Conservancy District is working on the Stillwater
River Recreation Trail. There is also a new trail being built from Triangle
MetroPark to Taylorsville MetroPark. Downtown Cincinnati may be getting a
trail to the Purple People Bridge sooner than expected. Two construction
projects in Clark County on the Buck Creek Trail and Prairie Grass Trail.
Greene County Parks is seal-coating the Creekside Trail in the county. I've
added a lot of new pictures to the new trail connecting Triangle MetroPark
in downtown Dayton to Taylorsville MetroPark in Huber Heights. Information
about the Miami Valley Trails Page as well as Page of the Month about my
list of every trail in Ohio.
06 October 2007
New construction on Great
Miami River Recreation Trail (Northern Segment) - Five Rivers
MetroParks began construction of the trail to connect Triangle MetroPark, in
downtown Dayton, to the existing trail that starts South of Taylorsville
MetroPark and runs North to the end of the park on Old Springfield Street. I
took 96 pictures on 29 September 2007 that you can see on the page for the
trail. The trail is planned to be finished in early 2008, when I will
replace these construction pictures with those of a finished trail.
17 September 2007
September 2007 Newsletter Now Available -
Mountain Biking comes
to Dayton, Trail Construction has started in Dayton, London, Jamestown, Union
City and Troy and will start Spring 2008 in Brookville. I have added a new Union City Gateway page to the website, and
soon (2008) you'll be able to get a brand new map of the trails in the Miami
Valley. Read all about my Table of Contents Page in my Webpage Of The
Month.
17 August 2007
New Union City Gateway Page
- I have added a new page for the planned "Union City Gateway
Trail" that is to be built between Union City, Ohio and Union City,
Indiana. This may be the beginning of what I am calling "The Ohio
Indiana Trail."
14 August 2007
August 2007
Newsletter Now Available - I have added the newsletter to the
website. It contains information about: The new "T-Connector
now brings cyclists to the Wright Brothers Flying Field on WPAFB, the City of
Huber Heights and Bethel Township team up to plan new trail, New trail
development in Western Ohio. The New Carlisle city fathers finally name their
trail, Approved Projects Page Update, Page Updated for trail in Hamilton, Ohio,
and the Website breaks one million hits a month (again),
12 August 2007
Wright Brothers Flying Field
Open To Cyclists - In June 2007 the
T-Connector opened, allowing cyclists to cross State Route 444 from the Wright
Brothers Bikeway to Huffman MetroPark. The National
Park Service that manages the Wright Brothers Interpretative Center at the
Wright Brothers Memorial, was able to get Gate 18C from Huffman MetroPark to
the Wright Brothers Flying Field opened so you can ride onto the base.
02 August 2007
Funded
Project Page Revised - I revised
this page after reading the 185 page document from MVRPC called the
Transportation Improvement Project (TIP). I have tried to give you
information on all of our trail projects including the status, the estimated
date of completion, the current funding, a description of what work is to be
done and finally who is going to do it. I provide links to the trail pages
for your continued reading pleasure. I have also added date from the
Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Council of Governments (OKI) who fund projects in
Warren, Hamilton & Clermont counties.
22 July 2007
New Page - Great Miami River
Recreation Trail (Hamilton) - I have added
a new page for the Great Miami River Recreation Trail. As many of you know,
it is being extended in stages for 28 miles from Crains Run Nature Park
(Dayton), South through Franklin, Middletown to end at Fairfield. This trail
is being built by the he cities in the area and with the management of the
Miami Conservancy District.
July 2007
Newsletter Now Available - More information on the Xenia
- Jamestown connector construction and the Great Miami River Recreation
Trail (Northern Segment) construction. Trail plans for the Bellbrook to
Spring Valley spur that used to be an "Interurban Railroad: in 1900.
The I-675 Crossing page has been improved with new photos and I have added a
BikeRadar.com map to my Little Miami Scenic Trail home page. I ask my
readers again to read my "Three Counties Trail Must Be Completed"
page and to write their representatives. And finally I am asking for someone
to photograph the trail in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.
12 July 2007
I-675 Crossing Page
Improved - I recently took pictures of the vicinity of the
planned bridge over I-675 in the vicinity of the Fairfield Commons Mall to
be able to explain the planned construction to you.
23 June 2007
Revised Iron Horse Trail 1
Page - I took new pictures of the
planned trail in Kettering and Centerville. I have updated the page to show
where the trail will connect to the existing trail in Kettering at State
Farm Park. There is another possible trail Northeast from Kettering into
Oakwood and ending near the University of Dayton campus.
21 June 2007
I-675 Crossing - I have
added a new page to my website for the "I-675 Crossing." This is
the proposed bridge over I-675 in Beavercreek to connect the City of
Beavercreek to Wright State University. Please see the webpage for complete
details on this great idea!
16 June 2007
T-Connector Page Updated
- I recently took new
pictures of the almost finished "T-Connector" (see above for
more). I replaced the old construction pictures I had on the page with a
finished tunnel under SR-444 and tunnel over the NS tracks to connect to the
Wright Brothers Bikeway . I also added the
new photos to the Three Counties Trail
(Nominal Name) page since the tunnel and bridge are an integral part
of the Three Counties Trail.
15 June 2007
June 2007 Newsletter Now Available
- "T-Connector"
dedication 25 June, New trail construction
in Troy and Tipp City, Xenia-James Connector to grow this Summer, new spurs
to connect to the Creekside Trail in Beavercreek, Trail Names change in
Piqua, I ask for help to get the Three Counties Trail built, Changes
(soon) to Iron Horse Trail pages, Bike With A Ranger, My article on
"T-Connector" is in Fairborn Schools paper.
19 May 2007
Xenia-Jamestown
Connector Grows – Greene County
Recreation & Parks has announced that the 4.3 miles of trail East from
Limestone Street (US-72) in Jamestown, the current trail's end, to the
Fayette County Line will be completed this Summer (2007). The $536K
construction is being funded by grants. When complete the trail will be 12
miles long from Jasper Road to the Fayette County Line. It is hoped that the
City of Washington Courthouse can pave the railbed from the county line to
the City of Washington Courthouse to join the Tri-County
Triangle Trail that is planned in Fayette, Ross and Highland counties.
16 May 2007
May 2007 Newsletter
Now Available - Regional/Local Bikeway Plan started in Miami
Valley, Data Collection activity for Bikeway Plan starts in Miami Valley, New
Iron Horse Trail Page on website and Miami Conservancy Districts new map on the
Drive Less Live More website is a Winner! Also new bicycling events in Miami
Valley and elsewhere.
09 May 2007
New Iron Horse Trail Page
- With the help of Ms. Carol Kennard, Director of the Centerville
- Washington Twp. Park District, I have added a new webpage to show where the
Iron Horse Trail extension will appear in the City of Centerville. Plans call
for engineering in 2007 and construction in 2008.
15 April 2007
April 2007
Newsletter Now Available - When you read it you'll find out about:
Dayton One Way to Two Way Study continues in Dayton, Mountain Biking Trail
in Huffman MetroPark still under construction. The comprehensive bikeways
plan being performed by Alta Planning is underway. News of the
"T-Connector" bridge and tunnel at Huffman MetroPark and SR-444.
I've updated my Trail Usage Statistics page and Website Statistics page.
Miami County Parks District is looking for trail volunteers and a restaurant
in London changes ownership
10 April 2007
Web Statistics Page Updated
- Every month I update this page which tells me (and you) how many people
are looking at this website. I take a great deal of pride in showing that in
2006, for example, this website exceeded 1 million hits a month in July
2006. This data is one indication of usage that the public is making of my
website. Any if I didn't have anyone reading this website I would not be
keeping it up to date, to say nothing of expanding. it.
24 March 2007
Trail Usage Statistics Page
Updated - On this page I provide
statistics provided to me by the local Parks Departments. The data shows the
number of users on each trail. I am also attempting to collect the economic
impact of the trails on our communities.
16 March 2006
March
Newsletter Now Available - As
many of you know I write a newsletter every month and post it on this
website. In it I try to provide information about what new plans for trails
or construction is going on in the Miami Valley. I also relate any changes
to the website and provide information about cycling events going on soon in
the area. If you are not a subscriber just send me an email to tom_ mvrt [at]
yahoo [dot] com If you read my January 2007 newsletter you'd
find about: A new bikeway bridge is in planning to connect Wright
State University to the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Greene County. There is
planned bike trail construction in Miami County and new planned spurs in Clark
County. MVRPC have signed a contract for a trail inventory. Plans have been made to replace two bridges over the trail in downtown
Dayton. Also parts of the Little Miami Scenic Trail and Prairie Grass Trails
have been designated as a part of the Underground Railway Bicycle Route. Finally
the Corwin Peddler in Corwin is re-opening. And there are new cycling
events for your reading pleasure.
14 February 2007
February
Newsletter Now Available - Trail development in
Eastern Indiana may connect with Darke and Preble Counties in Ohio. The Friends of Madison
County's Parks and Trail receive additional funding to pave the trail East of
town. Cincinnati is working on plans for the Ohio River Trail from Lunken
Airport to downtown Cincinnati. I have updated my maps in the list of all trails
in Ohio and their is a walk to raise funds for our children's hospital coming up
soon.
06 February 2007
Trails in Ohio List
Updated - As many of you know I keep an alphabetical list
of every trail (that I know of) in Ohio on one webpage. For ease in finding
these trails I also have the same list broken down by region of Ohio and
County. Please See Counties and Regions in
Ohio to see the map of Ohio. From there you'll choose a region
of Ohio and from that page a county that you are interested in. Recently
I updated the maps that I use. The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)
was kind enough to provide me with new pictures of the various parts of
Ohio.
19 January 2007
City
of Cincinnati Plans Meeting to Discuss Ohio River Trail:On
25 January 2007 a meeting was held with the Director of Transportation
and Engineering and other interested parties to discuss the potential routes
for the Ohio River Trail.
This is the planned trail to start at the Village of New Richmond 16 miles
East of Cincinnati and run past Lunken Airport to connect with the terminus
of the Little Miami Scenic
Trail and will end in downtown Cincinnati to connect with the
Purple People Bridge to Newport Kentucky. The City of Cincinnati is working
only on the Lunken Airport to downtown portion of this trail. OKI is working
to get the rest of the trail built. You might also want to look at the
email I posted on my other website inviting all my readers to attend this
important meeting. It's titled Invitation
to Discuss Planned Ohio River Trail in Cincinnati 25 January 2007
11 January 2007
January
Newsletter Now Available - New photos of the construction of the T-Connector
on that page and the Three Counties Trail page. I've added new pictures and a
map provided by Mr. Chad Schroeder, of the Miami Conservancy District, to
my Crains Run to Franklin page and ground was first broken for the new Section
5 of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail in Miami County. I've even
included some information about the new trails being planned for your use in
the area.
09 January 2007
Great Miami River
Recreation Trail Section 5 (Miami County) Construction Started
- Construction started on Section 5 of the trail in Miami County, that
when completed in 2009, will run from Duke Park in Troy North, past Twin
Arches Reserve on County Road at Eldean Road and end at West Peterson Road.
There the trail will connect with
Section 6 of the trail coming South from Piqua. See the
groundbreaking photos as well as photos of the area of Twin Arches.
T-Connector Page and Three
Counties Trail Pages Updated: I took new photos of the
construction going on at the "T-Connector" 24 December, 2006 and
added them and new links to Yahoo Maps to both pages.
02 January 2007
New Pictures Added to
Crain's Run Nature Park to Franklin page - In January I added some pictures that I received from Mr. Chad Schroeder
a Miami Conservancy District engineer who managed the development of this
new 3.7 mile trail. I'll be getting a good topographic map from him soon
and will add it to the page as well.
T-Connector Update -
I have updated both pages with the new construction of the T-Connector at
Huffman MetroPark. Construction started October 2006 with a planned
completion of July 2007.
Iron Horse Trail
Extended - This Summer the City of Kettering extended this
trail by 1.7 miles to make the trail 5.4 miles long. They added a sidewalk
alongside Research Blvd. in Beavercreek and connected it to an existing
sidewalk alongside Countyline Road. It connects to a new trail section
within State Farm Park in Kettering.
26 October 2006
Great Miami River
Recreation Trail Reaches Franklin - The
trail was extended another 3.7 miles from Crains Run Nature Park to the City
of Franklin. The dedication will be on Saturday 28 October at the Old Post
Office in Franklin.
05 October 2006
Clean
Ohio Trail Grants Are Announced - I have had for some
time a webpage titled: "Approved Multi-Use Trail Projects" on the
website. I had only federal funding that MVRPC provided to Montgomery,
Greene and Miami counties. I have added the State of Ohio Grants to every
county in the area and the details of each grant for your use.
20 September 2006
204
Miles of Connected Trail in the Miami Valley - In my September
2006 newsletter I revealed that of the 266 some miles of multi-use trail in
the Miami Valley 204 miles are connected. I added a table to my list of all
of the 266 miles of trail showing the connected trails and their mileage
starting in Urbana in the Northernmost part of the Miami Valley. I'll be
updating it as necessary to have another good statistic on trail development
in the area.
06 September 2006
Links Page Updated -
I've completely updated the Link Page on the website. There you can find
links to railtrail organizations in other states as well as find local
bicycling clubs. I also have links there to things of interest in the Dayton
and Xenia area as well as near the Little Miami Scenic Trail.
Washington
Street Bridge Closed for Demolition - The Washington Street
Bridge in downtown Dayton that passes over the Great Miami River Recreation
Trail closed 28 August for demolition and replacement. The work is expected
to be complete by December 2007. There is a planned detour for cyclists. See
the link above for instructions.
22 August 2006
Wright Brothers Bikeway
webpage updated - I rode the Wright Brothers
Bikeway from the Wright Brothers Memorial on Kauffman Avenue to downtown
Fairborn recently in order to photograph it and update the page. This trail
currently is a 4.6 mile stub and so goes nowhere. However Five Rivers
MetroParks is purchasing a right of way from Norfolk Southern Railroad. The
route will be from Eastwood MetroPark to Huffman MetroPark and from the end
of the current trail alongside the railway in Fairborn to the Black Lane
area of Fairborn and then on to Enon Park. At that point Fairborn becomes
connected to the Miami Valley Trails System.
11 August 2006
Updated Navigation List
(At Bottom of Every Page) - I updated what is
known as a "Footer Page" which is a navigational aid that appears
at the bottom of every page of this website. I added all of the
"Resources" links that appear in the drop down menu on the Home
Page. They join the "Other Links" material that was previously on
the "footer." I hope that this will help you get around the
website. I will add information about "The Footer Page" to the
"How To Navigate this Website"
page for your use.
07 August 2006
Site Map Page (Table of
Contents) Updated - On occasion I find it necessary to update
the Table of Contents page also known as the Site Map. For example I put the
information about the new Trail Usage Statistics page on it when I released
the new page. This time I added links to all of the sections of the Simon
Kenton Trail. By looking at it you can easily see
that there are 10 webpages devoted to the Little Miami Scenic Trail. And
when finished the Great Miami River Recreation Trail (GMRRT) in Miami
County will have the same. In another box just below the GMRRT in Miami
County, is the explanation of the trail sections in Montgomery County. This
trail is being extended, in sections through Butler and Warren Counties to
Hamilton, Ohio 28 miles South of Crains Run Nature Park, the most Southern
part of Montgomery County and "Trail's End" until recently.
26 July 2006
New Trail Usage Statistics
Page - For some time I have been
gathering trail use statistics in order to add a page to the website. I
mentioned it in my July 2006 Newsletter; Trail
Use Statistics Webpage In Work . This new webpage will
capture the actual use of our trails in the Miami Valley and the economic
impact of those trails on our communities.
25 July 2006
Xenia Station Webpage
Updated - Recently I took new pictures of the Xenia Station
and updated the page. I even added a link to the new Yahoo Maps so that you
can see (and manipulate) a satellite photo of the Station.
Xenia to
Yellow Springs (LMST) Page Updated - I photographed
parts of this trail again. I wanted to show you the alternate route from
James Ranch (access via the Creekside Trail ) to Yellow Springs. This way you avoid riding on sidewalks in downtown
Xenia from the Station North to Shawnee Park where the multi-use trail
actually begins. I also photographed again the
Ellis Park Spur North of Yellow Springs. This .4 mile spur takes you
North from the trail to a portable restroom, water and parking.
03 July 2006
Miami Valley RailTrails
Website Exceeds 1 Million Hits - For the first time in
June 2006, this website exceeded one million hits a month!
I want to thank my loyal readers for making this website so popular. Click
on the link to be taken to my Statistics
Page where you can see the growth in popularity of the
website over time.
01 July 2006
Great Miami River Recreation
Trail Construction Completed - The Miami Conservancy
District reported in the Dayton Daily News that the construction on the
trail at Marina Drive in West Carrollton can be completed two weeks ahead of
schedule. I reported the detour in my June
2006 Newsletter. I had also added a "Construction
Delay" on the webpage but have removed it today.
30 June 2006
Little
Miami Scenic Trail (Milford to Little Miami Golf Center) Revised -
Due to the help of Mr. Mike Mueller and Mr. Dave Dumbacher I have new
pictures of this 4.4 mile extension South of the Little Miami Scenic Trail.
I have updated the webpage and replaced all the pictures with new ones of
the trail .
26 June 2006
Trail Etiquette and Safety
Page Updated - Governor Taft signed HB389 recently which
revised the Ohio Code with respect to bicycles. It made all of Ohio's laws
more uniform. See the page for the new rules.
20 June 2006
Creekside Trail Webpage Updated
- I recently revised this webpage by
adding new photos, new links to local restaurants and new text to keep the
content current and up to date. I think you'll like the new material. I
decided to make the Creekside Recreation Trail (Montgomery County) and the
Creekside Trail (Greene County) work better together by revising the order
that the trails are reviewed. Now the trail review starts at the beginning
of the Creekside Recreation Trail in Eastwood MetroPark and continues East
to the Creekside Trail at the 5th/3rd Park and Ride. From there the
Creekside Trail is reviewed running East to the terminus; Xenia Station. I
think it makes the copy easier to read and understand.
16 June 2006
Creekside Recreation Trail
Webpage Updated - I recently revised this webpage by
adding new photos, new links to local restaurants and new text to keep the
content current and up to date. I think you'll like the new material.
Iron
Horse Trail Webpage Updated - I
also updated the Iron Horse Trail webpage at the same time. I rode from
Eastwood MetroPark and continued South to the Iron Horse Trail. So I added
new pictures and copy to the Iron Horse as well.
6 June 2006
Washington
Street Bridge Replacement - The Great
Miami River Recreation Trail runs through downtown Dayton. From June
2006 and running to December 2007 construction will take place to remove and
replace the Washington Street Bridge that crosses the trail. Click on the
link above to be taken to that page for information about detours.
4 June 2006
Milford
to Avoca Trail segment to be Dedicated - On 10 June at the
Little Miami Golf Center the newest section of the Little
Miami Scenic Trail will be dedicated. That will make
this most beautiful trail in Southwest Ohio almost 79 miles from Springfield
in Clark County almost all of the way South to Cincinnati! Plans are to
continue to build South to the Lunken Airport East of Cincinnati. Then the Ohio
River Trail (in planning) will take riders to the Ohio River and
then to downtown Cincinnati to cross into Newport Kentucky via the Purple
People Bridge (the old L&N railroad bridge across the Ohio River).
265.5 miles of trail
in the Southwest Region of Ohio - I updated my RailTrails page on
the website again today. I added the new 3.8 miles for the trail South of
Middletown on the Great Miami River Recreation Trail ;
then I added .25 miles for the Ellis Park Spur near Yellow Springs off of
the Little Miami Scenic Trail and finally I added the additional 3.9 miles
of trail from Milford South to the Little Miami Golf Center on the Little
Miami Scenic Trail (see above for dedication information). At the top
of this page you can see the link to Trail List which is my list of trails by County and the
mileage for each. On that page I also keep the total of miles for trails in
this area. Isn't it wonderful - more new trails to ride!
25 May 2006
Middletown Trail
Webpage finished - I rode the new section of the trail
recently. The Great Miami River Recreation Trail in Middletown is now 6.06
miles long. I put up a modified page with a lot of new photos. This trail is
a part of the trail that will connect Dayton, Franklin, Middletown and
Hamilton in what is called the Great Miami River
Recreation Trail
22 May 2006
May 2006 Newsletter Published -
The May newsletter is in on the website with the following stories: Paul
Lawrence Dunbar Connector being repaired, Findlay Street Bridge opens,
Middletown Section of GMRRT opens, Ohio River Trail page updated,
Little Miami Scenic Trail pages rebuilt, Trail Use Statistics page in
planning, TABOR/TEL and you and Greene County Trails Classic (20 23 July
2006).
17 May 2006
Update to Ohio
River Trail Page - I have updated this page with new information and
new pictures of the Purple People Bridge. I found an good article on the Purple
People Bridge in Wikipedia which is the on line encyclopedia of
everything! That led me to a webpage of photos of the bridge taken by Mr.
Jake Mecklenborg, on a webpage titled Louisville
and Nashville Railroad Bridge. I have reproduced a picture by Jake on
the page for the planned Ohio River Trail and have added links. Jake's
website is Cincinnati Transit.
He has photos on it or every transportation bridge in Cincinnati and it's
well worth seeing.
05 May 2006
Mad River Recreation Trail Open -
In Jan 2005 the Findlay Street bridge over the Mad River was closed for
demolition and re-construction. On May 6 2006 the new $4.8 million dollar
bridge that replaced the 1926 vintage one opened. Of interest to trail
users, the trail below the bridge reopened. I have replaced the construction
pictures I had on the webpage with pictures of the new bridge and the views
from it.
30 April 2006
Little Miami Scenic Trail
(Updates to Pages) In order to make the Little Miami
Scenic Trail pages a bit easier to navigate I put a new navigation system on
each page. All of them have the same header information and have links to
every trail section. I hope that this helps.
22 April 2006
April
Newsletter on Website- I finished my newsletter and
posted it to the website on 22 April. In it I have information about Trail construction South of Crains Run Park to
Franklin, Construction in downtown Dayton on the Great Miami River
Recreation Trail, Clinton County Trails, Trail Opening in Aurora Indiana, New
Navigation Webpage, Website wins American Trails Award for "Best Virtual
Tour".
03 April 2006
Website Wins Award - The Miami Valley
RailTrails website was awarded an Honorable Mention Award in the category of
"Trail Tour or Virtual Visit by the American Trails
organization. I'll
explain further in my April newsletter.
Dearborn
Trail Open- The new 2 mile trail from Aurora Indiana East
to Lawrenceburg Indiana along the Ohio River has opened. Dedication will be
5 May. The developers are planning on extending the trail East to Greendale Indiana.
I have added a link to the City of Aurora, Indiana's website since this
trail is just West of downtown Cincinnati. Previously, I have only reported
trails in Ohio. But since this trail is very close to Cincinnati, I decided
to add it here and to my alphabetical list of all trails;
RailTrails, Towpaths and Other Trails in Ohio
20 March 2006
Newsletter March
2006 - (Is
Mailed to Mailing List Members) Construction
starts on the Little Miami Scenic Trail South of Milford. New webpage for
Approved Bicycle Projects, New webpage for Ohio River Trail, Milford to Lunken
Airport page updated. Multi-Use trail statistics; New land purchases by Five
Rivers MetroParks lead to more trails. Traffic flow study in downtown Dayton may
lead to lanes being converted to bicycle use (Repeat from Feb 2006.
(If you'd like to be added to this mailing list email me at tom_mvrt [at]
yahoo [dot] com
11 March 2006
Milford
to Lunken Airport (Page Updated) - I received new
pictures to update this page and I have reworked it. Construction started 1
March 2006 to build the 2.5 miles trail from Milford through Terrace Park to
Avoca. Trail North and South of the completed Avoca Trail Head will total
.75 miles will also be built in 2006.
06 March 2006
Ohio River
Trail - Plans are being made to built a 16 mile trail
West along the Ohio River from the Village of New Richmond to Lunken Airport
in Cincinnati.
Along the way a Northern spur from this new trail will connect to the Little
Miami Scenic Trailwhich is being built South from Milford to
Lunken Airport. Eventually the trail will be extended to downtown Cincinnati
and cross the Ohio River to Newport Kentucky via the Purple
People Bridge (the old L&N railroad bridge that has been
converted to pedestrian and cycling use).
1 March 2006
New
Approved Projects Webpage - I have
added a new webpage to the site that gives the status of all approved trail
building projects in the Miami Valley. I am trying to find out all of the
sources of funding and their status so that I can keep track of all of them
for you. I now have CY 2005 funding for projects in Montgomery, Greene and
Miami counties on the page.
18 February 2006
Newsletter
February 2006 (Is Mailed to Mailing List Members)- New construction planned on the Iron Horse Trail.
Washington Street Bridge replacement. Findlay Street Bridge nears completion.
New grant request in Miami County for trail construction. New Ellis Park Spur
under construction. New Plan to change traffic patterns on the streets of
downtown Dayton.
10 February 2006
New Iron Horse Trail
Construction Plans - The cities of Kettering and
Centerville are planning new construction of the existing Iron Horse Trail
that currently runs from the Creekside Recreation Trail South 3.7 miles.
Kettering will continue from the current trail South to its' border with
Centerville. The City of Centerville with the cooperation of Washington
Township will build the trail North from Iron Horse Park to the City of
Kettering. If a grant is
approved this year, construction of the Centerville section could take place in
2007.
04 February 2006
Events Page Updated-
As I receive information from those who wish to publicize a cycling event I
update the "Cycling Events" page. Recently I put information on
the page about "Moonlight Rides" being sponsored by the National
Trail Parks and Recreation (Clark County) and Young's
2006 Ice Cream Charity Bike Tour. When your on this site you might want to
check the events page.
18 January 2006
Ellis
Park Spur - Greene County Parks and Recreation
started building this .25 mile spur from the Little Miami Scenic Trail just
North of Yellow Springs West to Ellis Park on Polecat Road. When it is
finished in the Spring of 2006, it will provide another location for trail
users to park.
16 January 2006
Newsletter
Pages Revised - I have decided to change the Miami Valley RailTrails
Newsletters page
from a single page to one for each year of newsletters. So now you can find
a 2001 & 2002 Newsletters page,
a 2003 Newsletters page, a2004 Newsletters page, a 2005
Newsletters page and the original page where you may find the 2006
Newsletters. This makes the page faster to load and you can
find the newsletters categorized by year. The pages may not be of great use
to the majority of my readers but those interested in how far we have come
in the last few years will not the progress interesting. If anyone would
like to read the older newsletters from before 2001 and back to 1998, please
contact me.
The Tecumseh Trail
to Park Layne Manor - In a recent meeting a map of
the proposed 3.7 mile trail from the planned The Tecumseh Trail to Park
Layne Manor was provided. I have added a description of the planned trail to
The Tecumseh Trailas well as
the map for your reading pleasure.
15 January 2006
Newsletter
January 2006 - (Is Mailed to Mailing List
Members) New information on New Carlisle to Park Layne
trail. Funding requests for Xenia-Jamestown Connector. New Three Counties Trail
Page. New Sitemap page on website. Parking overnight at certain trail staging
areas. Is the Little Miami Scenic Trail the longest paved trail in the US?
14 January 2006
New Site Map Page for
Website - I have completely revised the Table of
Contents of the website. Hopefully I have made it easier for you to find
pages on the site.
06 January 2006
Overnight Parking at Staging Areas on Trails
- Recently I received information on which staging areas you can
park your car overnight in Clark County. I have made changes to the Simon
Kenton Trail staging areas at Villa
Road and at the Eagle
City Soccer Complex staging area to show that you can leave your car
overnight with permission. I have also made a change to the Little Miami
Scenic Trail from Yellow Springs to Springfield page for the Beatty
Station Staging Area for your use. I will check with the other
counties in the Miami Valley for their policy of overnight parking and amend
the specific pages with the information I find.
29 December 2005
Three
Counties Trail
Plans Advance (Nominal Name) - This trail is being developed by
Five Rivers MetroParks with the help of Greene County Recreation and Parks and
National Trails Parks and Recreation District
(Clark County). When finished it will run some 15.1 miles from Eastwood
MetroPark Northeast to Huffman MetroPark and then into Greene County and
Clark County. At Huffman MetroPark the trail will be connected to the
existing Wright Brothers Bikeway which runs along Kaufmann Avenue to
Fairborn via the T-Connector a bridge or tunnel to take the trail from
Huffman MetroPark across State Route 444 to the Wright Brothers Memorial
which is the terminus of the Wright Brothers Bikeway. Five Rivers MetroParks
is currently in negotiation with Norfolk Southern railway to buy the right
of way from Eastwood MetroPark to Enon. After the right of way is purchased
each of the partners will have to secure funding to build this trail that
will connect all three counties trails.
28 December 2005
Lebanon
Countryside Trail Is Complete - Below I told you that the trail
was finally finished. The bicycle bridge over Tuttle Creek alongside
Kingsview Drive and the final 1/3 mile South of there is now complete. Why
am I telling you this. Because Mr. Frank Allen of Lebanon was kind enough to
take new pictures on 26 December 2005 for me of the finished area. I
replaced the old pictures of an unfinished trail with Frank's new
ones.
05 December 2005
Lebanon
Countryside Trail Completed - Yes. I know. This
trail was dedicated on 1 October 2005. So what's the big deal? Answer. When
the trail was dedicated it was not yet complete. There was a bridge over
Tuttle Creek South of the YMCA and about one mile of trail South of the
unfinished bridge that was just a dirt track. I was informed recently that
the bridge and trail is now completely complete and now you can ride from
South Street in downtown Lebanon South 8.2 miles to connect to the Little
Miami Scenic Trail North of Loveland.
Great Miami River Recreation
Trail (Northern Segment) Closed - The Ohio
Department of Transportation closed the trail where it goes under Interstate
70 in Huber Heights at Taylorsville MetroPark on 28 November 2005. It will
be closed 540 days until the I-70 bridges are widened to three lanes in both
direction.
26 November 2005
Trail South of Middletown
Completed: That's right. The four mile segment of trail South of
Middletown from State Route 122 to Old State Route 73 was completed Fall
2005. Dedication is planned for Spring 2006. I have added a new page for
this trail segment and will have new pictures of it up on the website as
soon as we have a good day.
29 October 2005
Beavercreek
Trail Connector Dedicated Today another milestone in the
Miami Valley. The Beavercreek Trail Connector, Trail 2A was dedicated at
Community Park in Beavercreek. This .75 mile bicycle spur connects the
Creekside Trail North from the park to Dayton-Xenia
Road. After crossing the road at a new signal light installed especially for
trail users, the trail continues East to Rotary Park. Phase II of the
construction will add trail from Rotary Park North to the Hunter's Ridge
development in Beavercreek. This trail spur connects the City of Beavercreek
and the Township to the Miami Valley Trails System.
Dedication of Beavercreek Trail Connector Phase 1 29
October 2005
21 October 2005
Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle
Laws - I have added a webpage that quotes the motor vehicle law
for Ohio with regard to cyclists. It is also connected to the newly revised Trail
Etiquette & Safety page. I am trying to help educate cyclists on
their rights and responsibilities as safe and courteous users of trails and
shared roads.
18 October 2005
Middletown
Trail Nears Completion - The 4 mile trail section from
Middletown South from State Route 123 along the Great Miami River to Old
State Route 73 is close to completion. It can be ridden now and all that
needs to be accomplished is the addition of some fence. I do not have a
dedication date nor do I have pictures of this new trail section. This is a
part of the Great
Miami River Recreation Tail in Warren and Butler Counties.
New Miami To
Miami Trail Page –
I have added a new page to the website accessible
from the leftmost drop down menu. It’s under “Trails in
Warren
County
” in the drop down menu. The new 84 mile trail, when completed, will run
East and West from the Little Miami Scenic Trail North
of Loveland to
Hamilton
on the Great Miami
River Recreation Trail currently being built in sections. I have
been attempted to contact the organizations that are building this trail but
have not been able to find the primary group to get updates for you.
From this page you can get copies of the 2002 study from the City of
Fairfield
homepage. The basic study is 88 pages (8Mb) and you can get the maps (128Mb)
as well as the other appendixes. I will be putting a smaller version of the
maps on this webpage.
Trail Etiquette and Safety
Page - I have added more safety information to my Trail Etiquette
and Safety Page. As you may know we’ve had several cyclist fatalities in
the
Miami
Valley
this cycling season. I’m adding tips for cyclists and I plan to add the
section on Bicycles from the “Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws” to the
page.
Milford
to
Lunken
Airport
Page – I have added material to this page which is the most
Southern Section of the Little Miami Scenic Trail. I have new pictures to
show construction work and have a new map from the Hamilton County Parks
District. It shows all of the sections of the 8.8 miles of trail that will
be built from
Milford
which is the current end of trail South to the existing trail around
Lunken
Airport
.
02 October 2005
Milford to Lunken Airport Page Updates- I have added new pictures and new descriptions to the 8.8 miles extension of the Little Miami Scenic Trail that will extend the trail from Milford to the Lunken Airport. Included in the update is a new map from the Hamilton County Park District that shows the status of every section of the trail that will be built. I
have added descriptions of all construction from the map on the page.
Lebanon Countryside Trail Nears Completion
– This trail is almost finished and was dedicated 1 October, 2005. We rode the trail on 9/28/05 and took lots of new pictures. The webpage has been revised with the new pictures and descriptions of the trail. Unfortunately a one mile section of the trail South of Tuttle Road and the bridge over Tuttle Creek is not finished as of this writing. I'll let you know when the trail can be ridden.
15 September 2005
The Great Connection changes name. I was informed recently by the Miami Conservancy District that “The Great Connection” as a title for the 28 miles of trail being developed South of Crains Run MetroPark
(since renamed to Crains Run Nature Park - Miami Township
Parks) has been changed to “The Great Miami River Trail in Warren and Butler Counties”. I have changed the title on all of the most important places on the website. However, you may see the old term in old newsletters, etc.
Lebanon Countryside Trail Nears Completion – We rode this new trail on
28 September 2005, hoping that we could get pictures of an almost finished and usable trail. We found after riding a short distance that they were still paving West of the Government Center near Harmon Park. I updated the web page with some new pictures and will ride this trail again for your benefit. What remains to be done for the trail completion include fencing, signage, and seeding. I am informed that the ribbon cutting/grand opening ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, October 1st from 3:00-6:00 p.m. at the Countryside YMCA (north parking lot).
14 August 2005
Tipp City Trail Construction
- Tipp City has completed a one mile trail extension from Canal Lock Park North to City Park on North 3rd Street. The trail joins the approximately 1 mile of trail that goes through City Park past the new Aquatic Center, past the baseball diamonds to the
Tipp City Parks Nature Center.
Trail Construction in Taylorsville MetroPark – Five Rivers MetroParks has finished paving the 1.4 mile extension from the town of
Tadmor in the Park North to Old Springfield Street. The trail now is 7.0 miles long from Old Springfield Street on the North boundary of the Park to Wagner Ford Road in Huber Heights.
Great
Miami River Recreation Trail Section 2 (Miami County) is
finished. The trail is complete and was dedicated 21 July 2005. I have
replaced all construction pictures with a completed trail.
05 July 2005
Great Miami River Recreation
Trail [Dayton] (Update) I have finished re-photographing and
re-writing these pages. The pages that describe the Great Miami River
Recreation Trail in downtown Dayton consist of four web pages as follows:
Website Statistics
- I have decided to provide for my users the numbers of hits and calls for
web pages by month that this site is experiencing. I must be doing something
right because the hits and page counts continue to climb. As of June 2005
this website exceeded 750,000 hits for the month.
29 June 2005
Accommodations, Hotels, Motels,
B&Bs & Campgrounds in the Miami Valley RailTrails Area
(Revised) - I have started a major renovation of this page. I am doing a lot
of research to find the accommodations near our trails for your use. The
accommodations I recommend will be close to the trails
27 June 2005
Simon Kenton Trail Phase IV -
Recently I put up a new webpage with photos of the new trail that extends
about 2 miles from the Buck Creek Trail South to downtown Springfield.
Unfortunately when I put up the new page I missed about 100 yards of the
trail. So I re-photographed it this last weekend, added six new photos and a
new map. It seems that the new trail connects with an existing stub that
will be improved so that there is a dedicated trail all the way South from
Springfield to the current end of the Little Miami
Scenic Trail at I-70 South of Springfield.
South West Trails
- Trails in the South Western part of the Miami Valley
22 June 2005
Great Miami River Recreation
Trail [Dayton] (Update) I am in the process of re-photographing and
re-writing these pages. I have updated on this date the Crains Run Nature
Park
to Miamisburg section of the trail.
13 June 2005
Buck Creek Trail(revised)
I have removed all of the construction pictures from 2004 and replaced them
with the finished 5.76 mile trail from the Springfield Museum of Art in
downtown Springfield East to Buck Creek State Park.
11 June 2005
Beavercreek
Trail Connector - I've ridden and taken the pictures of the new
spur from the Creekside Trail in Beavercreek North about 3/4 mile to Rotary
Park. This spur connects much of the City of Beavercreek to the entire trail
system by making it unnecessary to ride down Factory Road to get to the
trail at Beavercreek Community Park. The trail will be extended another 3/4
miles this Summer (2005) in order to connect the Hunter's Ridge neighborhood
of Beavercreek to the trail.
Great Miami River
Recreation Trail webpage (updated) I've updated this page by
adding newer photos and descriptions to the page. See 5 April below. I took
the basic page for the trail in downtown Dayton and broke it into three. Now
I have updated two completely with new pictures and descriptions and have
started updating Stewart Street to Crains Run Nature Park.
30 May 2005
Xenia - Jamestown Connector
Completed - The 7.7 miles of Phase I construction from
Jamestown (US-72) to Jasper Road near US-35 is completed. The webpage has
been completely revised with new pictures.
29 May 2005
Mad
River Recreation Trail North Bank - I have revised
the Mad River Recreation Trail page to include information about the new .5
mile trail spur on the North bank of the river that starts from Dayton's
Point Park at Valley and Keowee Streets. It follows the river and levee to
cross Webster Street at the bridge and enter Deed's Park at Deed's Park
Drive. This trail spur connects North Dayton to RiverScape MetroPark and the
trail system.
27 May 2005
Island MetroPark to
Stewart Street Bridgeon the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
Updated - I've completely updated the page with about 35 new pictures, new
descriptions and a map. I am re-doing all of the pages of the Great Miami
River Recreation Trail in downtown Dayton, Ohio
29 April 2005
Updated
Milford to Lunken Airport Page - The Hamilton County Park
District has updated their status of the completion of this trail segment
that is under construction. So I updated the page with new
links.
20 April 2005
Iron Horse Trail
revised - I have taken new photographs of the Iron
Horse Trail and rewritten the descriptions of the trail.
13 April 2005
New Carlisle Trail Funded - The
trail planned for downtown New Carlisle has been funded. I have added a new webpage that
shows the route of this new two mile trail. Construction of this trail will
start in July 2006.
Section
2 - Recently I took
pictures of Section 2 of the trail which is being built and will be open 1 July 2005. It
connects at its South end to Section
1 which was opened in 2003.
See the Miami
County Trail Map to understand all the trail construction in Miami
County
Troy Trails Revised - I
also took new pictures of the trails in Troy on the same trip. I've updated
the page with new photos and new descriptions of the trails completed in the
City of Troy and a description of the new work to be accomplished.
05 April 2005
Mad River Recreation Trail Construction.
Today I added photos to this page to show you the construction at where the
Findlay Street Bridge used to be. There are supposed to be detour signs but
I didn't see any. The photos will show you how to get around the
construction .
Great Miami River
Recreation Trail - This trail is in downtown Dayton on the
Stillwater and Great Miami Rivers. I've started to revise the original one
page into several. There are new pages for:
Stewart Street Bridge South to Crains Run Nature
Park (Not written yet) See Gmiami3.htm I'm working on this and it will take a while to get new descriptions
and pictures to update the page. Please bear with me.
Alphabetical List of
Trails in Ohio - This webpage is the alphabetical list of
every rail-trail, towpath trail and levee trail in Ohio. I try to have
the name of every trail listed and a little bit of information. Most
importantly, I try to have a link to the trail webpage itself or to the park
district that manages it. I have been updating it to give you more up to
date information on all of the trails in Ohio.
RailTrails, Towpaths and other
Trails in Ohio (Indexed by County) with maps. This is the same
information as in the list above but its provided in a different format to
make it easier to find a trail. There is a map of Ohio. You click on the
region of Ohio that you are interested in such as Northeast, Central,
Northwest, Southwest and Southeast. That takes you to a map of the region.
You then click on the County you're interested in and you'll be taken to a
list of trails in that County. I have been updating these as well as the
master alphabetical list.
06 March 2005
Pedalopolis
I added a link to this site on my Hot List of
Links page. . Pedalopolis is a free, member-driven online community for
those who enjoy cycling in Southwest Ohio. This site features Trail
Watch, a way to track condition of the cycling trails and report this to
other readers.
Mad River Recreation Trail -
I added a map that shows the North Findlay Street bridge crossing the trail
and the Mad River. I added the detour information that the bridge will be
out from January 2005 to June 2006 but that there is a detour.
15 February 2005
New Sponsors Page
- I used to have the sponsors of my website mentioned at the
bottom of the Home Page. But lately I've been adding to them so now they
have their own page.
09 February 2005
Iron Horse
Trail (New Page) The 3.7 mile trail from the Creekside
Recreation Trail (west end) to Kettering was completed late 2004. I have
build a new page with photos.
Prairie Grass Trail
pages Update - I've completely revised this area of the website. I have separated
the pages so that each section of the trail has its' own page with new
photos and descriptions as follows:
Xenia to Cedarville
Section This page is the basic page for the entire
trail so there is additional information at the top of this page about
the entire trail which is now open from Xenia Station to London, Ohio.
Updated Tables on certain pages.
For some time when I have updated a page, I have put all the information
about the location of parking, water and restrooms available on
that trail was all in one convenient table. Where possible have added links
to any restaurant or bicycle shop that had facilities you could use. I
updated the:
New look to Home Page. I've
revised the navigation on the website's Home Page with drop down menus.
There is also a link to the old Home Page for those who wish to use it for
site navigation.
17 November 2004
Xenia-Jamestown
Connector I've revised the page and added a lot of new
pictures! The trail will be finished from Jamestown to Jasper Road a
distance of 6.5 miles before Winter 2004
13 November 2004
Miami
County Trails - Page updated. I was able to travel to Miami
County and see the entire trail plan with Mr. Bob Shook the Chairman of the Miami
County BikeWay Task Force. I've added a description of all 10 sections of trail
to be built in Miami County and will be adding photos soon. I've already
added a printable map of the entire trail.
Tipp City Trails
(part of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Miami County). I
revised the page.
Buck Creek Trail
I've updated the webpage for the Buck Creek Trail. I've added new pictures
of the additional 2.66 miles that are being added from Old Reid Park where
the trail ended to the parking lot for the Beach at the Buck Creek State
Park. The trail will be finished before Winter 2004
Lebanon
Countryside Trail I've updated this page as well. I've
rewritten the copy and have added some great pictures and maps for you use.
This trail is being built by the City of Lebanon and will run from Lebanon
8.2 miles to intersect with the Little Miami Scenic Trail just South of
South Lebanon.
Creekside Trail Update
I've told you before that the Beavercreek Township was building a trail spur
North from Beavercreek Community Park in Beavercreek to cross Dayton-Xenia Drive and end
in Veteran's Park. I am informed that this trail spur will be complete by
Winter 2004. I was also told that a traffic light will be installed where
the trail crosses Dayton-Xenia Drive so that trail users can get across the
street safely.
01 November 2004
New Buck Creek Trail
Construction Pictures Yes. I've been able to start
adding pictures to the Buck Creek Trail page that show the construction of
the additional 2.66 miles of trail to East that will take the trail into
Buck Creek State Park. The trail will be finished before Winter. You might
be able to ride it this year!
27 October 2004
New Miami
Valley RailTrails Newsletter - Do you remember back in April 2004
that I told you the trails building plans of all the local counties for this
year? Well in this month's newsletter I'll tell you how far they got this
year. I've added a FREE Miami Valley
RailTrails ScreenSaver to the site for your use. Please download it!
23 October 2004
NewBuck Creek Trail Construction.
I was given a guided tour yesterday 22 October 2004 by Mr. Jim Campbell the
Open Space Manager of Clark County of the new trail construction being built
to the East of the current trail's end in Old Reid Park. I'll be adding new
pictures to the Buck Creek Trail webpage.
13 October 2004
The Simon Kenton Trailis
to be dedicated on Sunday 17 October 2004 at Urbana Station. I have updated
the website by adding a Simon Kenton Trail Page 3
that adds photos and descriptions from State Route 55 to the Urbana YMCA the
trail's end.
24 September 2004
September
MVRT Newsletter is out. New information on the "GMRRT", new pictures
on the website of the new bridge at Wesleyan MetroPark in Dayton, more
updates to the master list of trails in Ohio. I got some nice publicity in Midwest
Bike Magazine and I finally got to meet my friend who writes
columns for me; Mr. Glenn Oster. See my September 2004 newsletter about what
is happening on the trails in Miami Valley. If you like what you see
subscribe to the newsletter and you'll get an email monthly.
10 September 2004
Ohio Trail's List -(Alphabetical List) I've updated the list again by adding the
Phoebe Snow Trail and the CD&M Trail (Columbus, Delaware and
Marion Interurban RR) both in Marion County. I update the master list of
trails (alphabetical) as well as Trails List By County
with Maps as often as I get new information. The two new trails are in
planning by the Marion County Parks District.
26 August 2004
Wesleyan
MetroPark Bridge- The new $500,000 bridge and trail that
connects the two parts of Wesleyan MetroPark opened in August. The
construction is a part of the continued development of the Wolf
Creek Recreation Trail that when finished in 2008 will run from downtown
Dayton and the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
via the Wolf Creek to Trotwood, Brookville and Verona.
23 August 2004
Middletown Trail(not
official name) I've finally gotten down to Middletown to get pictures of the
first section on The Great Connection. Eventually
the Great Connection will run 28 miles from Crains Run Nature Park in
Montgomery County to Hamilton in Butler County.
20 August 2004
Little
Miami Scenic Trail - I have updated the pictures of
construction South of Milford thanks to Dave Dumbacher. See his new photos
and the new press release from the Hamilton County Parks District.
New Bridge at
Wesleyan MetroParkFive
Rivers MetroParks added a $500,000 dollar bridge to connect the two parts of
Wesleyan MetroPark together and continue development of the Wolf Creek
Recreation Trail. See August 2004 MVRT Newsletter for more
information.
August 2004
MVRT Newsletteris on
the website! More information about website updates, new bridge at Wesleyan
MetroPark, new Lebanon Countryside Trail being built from the Little Miami
Scenic Trail near Loveland to Lebanon and information about a new website
that is about the history of the Little Miami Scenic Trail.
15 August 2004
Little Miami Scenic
Trail I've been making updates to these web pages.
I have completely re-done the trail sections of the following segments of the
Little Miami Scenic Trail. Lots of new pictures and descriptions of this
oldest and some think prettiest trail in the Miami Valley
The July 2004
MVRT Newsletter is on the website. New information about
the Simon Kenton Trail in Champaign County. Also the
Siebenthaler Bridge in Montgomery County is finally open and I talk about
the 2004 Tour de France which Lance Armstrong won for the sixth time! More
importantly I tell you about his Lance Armstrong Foundation.
More information on parking, restrooms and water. I
have been asked to provide more information about this important
services on our trails. I am rewriting each trail's description and I am
adding a table that shows all of the locations for services on that
trail.
Xenia
Station to Yellow Springs trail section - I have completely
revised this trail's descriptions and added many new pictures.
Creekside Trail - I
have added new pictures and restroom information to this trail and to
the trail it connects to
Trail Dedication! Saturday
24 June the Ohio To Erie Trail reaches London!
May 2004
Newsletter - Is on the website. More information about trail
happenings.
Contract to
be letto build trail from Crains Run MetroPark to South of
Franklin.
T-Connector
News - News about construction of the T-Connector in Greene
County.
21 April 2004 The Miami Valley received
funding to close gaps in some trails and to extend others as follows:
Montgomery County - Five Rivers MetroParks
received a total of $4.9 million in Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality (CMAQ)
funds to accomplish the following:
Wolf Creek Recreation Trail
- Fill the 2.5 mile gap between the trail in downtown Dayton where it
ends at Wesleyan MetroPark to Trotwood. When completed in 2008 the trail
will run from downtown Dayton to Trotwood, Brookville and Verona.
Great Miami River
Recreation Trail - Add 7.5 miles of trail to connect the
trail in downtown Dayton at Triangle Park with the Great Miami River
Recreation Trail (Northern Segment) which now ends at Rip Rap
Road.
Mad River Recreation Trail- Extend the trail 2.5 miles from its current end at Eastwood
MetroPark Northeast along a Norfolk Southern right of way to Huffman
MetroPark to connect with the T-Connector. The
T-Connector will connect the Mad River Recreation Trail to the existing
Wright Brothers Bikeway that extends into Fairborn along Kaufmann
Avenue.
Miami County - The Miami County Bikeway Task
Force received $2,2 million to add to the
Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Miami County). The trail will be
extended in Monroe Twp. North and South of Tipp City. Tipp City will build a
trail segment from Kyle Park to Canal Lock Park. Funds received last year
will connect Phase I of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail from it's
current end in Concord Twp South to Troy.
Clark County - Clark County is planned to extend
three trails this year as follows:
Buck Creek Scenic Trail- East about 2 miles from Pumphouse Road through Old Reid Park
across Croft Road to Robert Eastman Road then it follows the foot of the
dam to the Buck Creek State Park beach parking lot.
Simon Kenton Trail Phase IV
- The trail will be extended South 2 miles from the trail's current end
following the old railroad right of way at the Buck Creek Scenic
Trail to connect to the Little Miami Scenic Trail .
Prairie Grass Trail
(Part of the Ohio To Erie Trail) - The trail will be extended from South
Charleston to London . Four miles of the trail extension will be in
Clark County and 7 miles in Madison County. This will place the Ohio To
Erie Trail almost to the city of Columbus.
Champaign County
Simon Kenton Trail Phase III
- The trail will be extended North 5.2 miles from State Route 55
to end in the city of Urbana. The Simon Kenton Trail will be then be
complete.
Greene County
Ohio To Erie Trail (my name) The trail from South Charleston to London is being managed
by the Greene County Park District. The name of the 7 mile segment in
Madison County has not been decided.
Xenia-Jamestown Connector
- Construction of the bridges is going on now and the trail from
Frank
Seaman
Park
in
Jamestown
to at least
Jasper Road
will be built this summer. It should be open late autumn.
13 April 2004
Horseback riding on trails in
the Miami Valley I was asked recently
about using our trails in the Miami Valley for riding. I have added a page
to the site and I'll update it with more information as I get it for you.
Tell your "horsy" friends about the new web page!
Bicycling Events in the
Miami Valley - I've added a new page to the site. This page
will provide information on upcoming bicycling events in the Miami
Valley.
This website moved! Yes. I had to move the
website from the old server and the old URL which was "http://www.intellweb.com/trails"
to my own domain name and new URL which is: http://www.miamivalleytrails.orgI hope you find the new URL easy to find. Now I have to inform everyone
who has a link to the old address to change the links to the new one.
Revised navigation of site.
- I revised my "footer" page. That is the page you see at the
bottom of all the pages to make it easier to get around the website.
24 October 2003
New newsletter
for October 2003 - I've added a
newsletter for October 2003 that summarizes the new constructions to our
trail system this Fall as well as telling you about all the grants that the
local governments and parks organizations received this month that will go
into more new trails new year!
18 October 2003
New Pictures on Mad River
Recreation Trail - I added some new pictures of downtown
Dayton and Riverscape
to show how the Mad River and the trail connect to the Great Miami River
Recreation Trail in downtown Dayton.
Piqua Closes the Loop!With
the dedication of the The River's Edge of the Piqua Linear Park, Piqua
has accomplished their long held plan to build a trail around Piqua.
"The Loop" as they call it consists of:
Piqua Linear Park (5.5 mi)
Troy Sydney Road to Spiker Road, East to West.
Canal Run (2.2 mi) North from French Park on the Linear Park to Water
Plant on Route 66.
The River's Edge (3.6 mi) from Lock 9 Park downtown Piqua on the Linear Park
to connect with the Canal Run at Roadside Park and the Water
Plant.
I have put up a web-page for the last section the
Canal's Edge Section with pictures and description and have linked the three
pages together for your use. Thanks Piqua!
Great Miami
River Recreational Trail Section 1 -The 1.6 mile trail segment was
dedicated this Summer. I've just seen this beautiful trail along the Miami
& Erie Canal Towpath in Miami County and put pictures and trail
description on its' own webpage.
Simon Kenton Trail has
completed Phase II. This means the trail starts at Buck
Creek Trail in Springfield and runs to State Route 55 in Champaign
County near Urbana a total of 9.4 miles! I'm putting lots of new pictures
and trail description on my Simon Kenton Trail page.
Great Connection
construction I'm informed that a 2.3 mile section
of this trail planned to be built from Crain's Run Metro Park south to
Hamilton, is being finished in Middletown. See the page for more
information.
01 September 2003
Great Miami River
Trail Section 1 - I've
added a new page to the website for the Great Miami River Trail in Miami
County. The page has description and new photos of the Phase I Trail.
"1st Phase Of New Hike/Bike Trail Underway
- Summer in the Parks
The first component of a multi-phase project that will feature a new hike/bike trail has begun at U.S. Route 50 (Wooster Pike) and Newtown Road. Two bridges spanning over Dry Run Creek and the Little Miami River will be built, providing pedestrian access to a planned hike/bike trail. This new recreational paved trail will link the Hamilton County Park District’s Avoca Park property to Little Miami Golf Center.
This project involves the cooperative efforts of several agencies, including the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), the Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) and the City of Cincinnati Waterworks (CCW). Once the bridges have been constructed, MSD and CCW will proceed with sewer and water line replacements. The Hamilton County Park District will then commence with paving the new hike/bike trail.
In order to safely accommodate construction, the Bass Island area of Little Miami Golf Center, including its parking lot and canoe launch, will be closed through next summer. Bass Island will re-open in the summer of 2004 when the bridge project is scheduled to be complete."
New Newsletter for
August 2003. New trail being constructed between Simon Kenton Trail in
Clark County and the Simon Kenton Trail in Champaign County. They will join
at the Cedar Bog this Fall! I've added new pictures to the
website and I'm providing information about Ohio Senate Bill 80 that I'd like
all trail users support on.
Recently I completely reworked the Little
Miami Scenic Trail changing it from one very large page to a
series of trail segment pages. There is a table on the page that links
you to all of the other sections of the Little Miami Scenic Trail. This
weekend I added more pictures to the pages.
I revised the Xenia
Station page adding new pictures. I also added a table to the
page that has links and mileage to all of the trails that connect to the
Xenia Station.
Glenn Oster a cyclist
who rides some of America's most interesting trails has provided to me
another one of his excellent trail reviews. This time Glenn rode the
"Nifty Natchez Trace"
trail in Mississippi.
Piqua is extending the Linear Park north along the
Miami River levee and
Miami River trail (Miami County) starting to take
shape.
29 June 2003
New Newsletter for
June 2003 - Check the newsletter to see what is happening in the area. I
will summarize the news below.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources made a 2003
Nature Works grant to Madison County for the Prairie Path Preserve in
London. This trail segment is a part of the Ohio To Erie Trail that,
when completed, will run from Cincinnati 325 miles to Cleveland. The
money will fund a shelter, a picnic area, water fountain and bike spur
and to install utilities. The trail section from Xenia to Cedarville
and to South Charleston is finished and the link from South
Charleston to London may be complete this year.
Because the trail is growing more businesses are
interested in locating on or near the bicycle trails. In South
Charleston "Surfn' Cycle" opened at the trail bike
staging area in March. In the North of Springfield at Villa Road "Pedal
Power" had it's grant opening recently. It is at the end of the
Simon Kenton Trail in Clark County. The trail
currently ends at Villa Road but plans are in place to extend the trail
North to the Greene/Champaign County line to connect with the Simon
Kenton Trail in Champaign County.
In Montgomery County Five Rivers MetroParks opened
in June another segment of the Wolf Creek Recreation Trail. The
Wolf Creek Recreation Trail until recently ran from Englewood
Northeast through Brookville to its end at Verona. Five Rivers
MetroParks has had as a goal the extension of the trail Southeast to
downtown Dayton where the Mad River empties into the Great Miami River.
MetroParks opened "Sunrise Park" at the junction of the Mad
and Great Miami Rivers and a one mile trail that reaches from the River
to the Wright-Dunbar neighborhood, just West of downtown, where the
Wrights Brothers had their first bicycle shop. Hopefully Five Rivers
MetroParks will be able to connect this new trail segment to the trail
that now ends in downtown Englewood.
The RiverScape
Bridge from the bicycle trail to Deeds Point is open for pedestrians
and cyclists. Deeds Point will be the site of much of the festivities
celebrating the 100 years anniversary of the Wright Brother's first
flight.
In Miami County a dedication was held on the first
1 mile segment of the trail that when completed will run through the
entire Miami County North from Taylorsville MetroPark in Montgomery
County through Tipp City, Troy, Piqua and Sidney.
22 April 2003
New Newsletter for
April 2003 - Check my monthly newsletter to find out what's going on in
the Miami Valley. Please see my April 2003 Newsletter. If you like what you
see subscribe to my newsletters and I'll send you a copy monthly.
New Construction on the
Little Miami Scenic Trail South from Milford Yes! Finally
the trail will no longer end at Milford. The trail is expected to be open to Clear Creek Park in Anderson Township by 2005. The Hamilton County Park District has not acquired all of the land necessary to get from Clear Creek Park to Lunken Airport so a scheduled date cannot be forecast. After the trail reaches Lunken Airport the trail will have to be built South from there to the Ohio River and Cincinnati. Great
News! See my new photos of the construction.
"Purple
People Bridge" opens connecting Newport Kentucky to Sawyer's Point
in Cincinnati! Yes. The bridge is "really" purple and it will open
Saturday 26 April. A recent photo provided by Dave Dumbacher shows that
it is purple.
Photo by Dave Dumbacher
Click on photo for larger picture
Dedication of Miami County Recreational Trail Bikeway-
There will be a dedication of a portion of the Miami County Recreational Trail Bikeway at Dye Mill Road in Concord Township on Thursday 12 June 2003 at 11:00 AM. For more information call, 339-2637. The dedication is on the Towpath
at Lock 13. See more on Miami
Valley Trails.
06 April 2003
I've added links to three more trails in Ohio. They
are:
Both web pages have information about all the trails
in Ohio. I've added links to new websites that have been established for
some of these trails. The first list has maps and you can find trails by
County. The second list is an alphabetical list of every trail in Ohio (that
I know about).
27 March 2003
See my new MVRT
Newsletter for March 2003. There you'll find information about the new
bridge downtown to Deeds Point and that a part of Wright Patterson Air Force
Base is open to the public. Its the area that was the Wright Brother's
Flying Field from 1904. Construction on trails is starting from Xenia to
Jamestown and from South Charleston to London in Madison County on the Ohio
to Erie Trail. Read all about it.
Simon Kenton Trail in Clark
County I've added a new page (with great photos) for
the trail that starts at Buck Creek Trail and will continue North until it
reaches the Simon Kenton Trail in Champaign County. Eventually the two
trails will merge and continue to Urbana, Ohio.
17 November 2002
The Kauffman Avenue Bikeway
aka Huffman Prairie Overlook Trail has been renamed by the Fairborn Park and
Recreation Advisory Board to become the Wright
Brothers' Bikeway. This name change was approved by the Fairborn City
Council, Apparently this name change has to do with the upcoming (in 2003)
celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers First Flight in
1903. Remember the Wright Brothers were Dayton boys.
22 October 2002
Hydraulic
Canal Path competed! The City of Piqua has opened
its extension of the Piqua Linear Park north from French Park North 2.2
miles to Swift Run Lake. If you are looking for a little bit of paradise;
this is it! A beautiful addition by Piqua Parks & Recreation! Check it
out.
Creekside Recreation Trail
- I've added new pictures that show the new safer way to cross
the intersection of Springfield Street and Smithville Road on the trail just
outside Eastwood MetroPark.
Great Miami River Recreation
Trail (Northern Segment) - This trail has added about a mile of new
trail and connected the trail from the Huber Heights Soccer Fields south to
Rip Rap Road near Birch Drive. I've added a number of new pictures to this
web page.
About Bicycle Trail Names
- I've added a new page to try to end the confusion about changing trail
names. I am also in the process of changing trail names to the new, correct
trail name. If you see an old trail name on a page, it's because I haven't
updated that page.
13 August 2002
Creekside Recreation Trail Yes? The trail segment from the
County Line to Eastwood MetroPark has been renamed "The Mad River Recreation Trail"
New extension to
Piqua Linear Park Under Construction The City of Piqua
is adding a 2.2 mile extension North from French Park past Frantz Pond, Fountain Park, Echo
Lake and ending at Swift Run Lake off State Route 66. The new section of the
trail is planned to open 19 August 2002.
Wright Brothers Flying Field
to Open to the PublicThe National Park Service and Wright-Patterson
Air Force Base have reached agreement how a portion of the base including
the Wright Brothers Flying Field, the Wright Brothers Memorial and the newly
built Interpretive Center will all come under the management of the Parks
Service. Those portions of the base will become open to the public as of 17
December 2002.
Wright Brother Interpretive
Center to open As part of the agreement
above the Interpretive Center is complete and is on the grounds of the
Wright Brothers Memorial. When all the work is finished a major portion of
the base will be open to the public and many historic features of the base
that were not available to the public will now be.
27 July 2002
I've added more pictures and descriptions to the Great Miami River Recreation
Trail (Northern Segment) web page. Five Rivers MetroParks are continuing
construction of the trail South from the Huber Height Soccer Fields the
current Southern terminus of the trail.
I've decided to move the older information from the
bottom of this page from 2001 back to the beginning in 1998 to another
page; Older What's New . That
way I save the historical record of what happened when and if you're
interested in seeing the month by month, year by year development of trails
in the Miami Valley you can go take a look. All I can see is: "We've
come a Long Way Baby!"
26 June 2002
I've added my monthly newsletters to my Join
Our Mailing List web-page. I've had the page for some time but I've
been adding the newsletters as I send them out to my subscribers. Take a
look and see if you want to have the trail news and the changes to this
website sent to you on a monthly basis?
22 May 2002
Hoosier
Rails To Trails is a new website for Indiana's
efforts at being one of the United States most aware bicycle trail states.
Take a look at their trails and trail maps!
05 May 2002
Englewood
Bike Path (dedicated) This week the trail was
dedicated. I took pictures last week and have the new web-page on the
website. It's not finished but you'll get the idea.
01 May 2002
New Trail from South Charleston
to London,
OhioI was in London last weekend to see where the new trail from
South Charleston on the Ohio to Erie Trail will look like when it reaches
London. From what I have been told, funding is available and if the small
lawsuit is settled, then requests for construction bids can go out this
Summer. With luck construction will start either late this year or early in
2003. We might have a trail to London by Summer 2003. The new web-page is on
the site.
Englewood Bike Path I also walked
and took pictures of the new Englewood Bike Path. It starts at the Englewood
MetroPark and follows the Stillwater River south about 2.5 miles to Jake
Grossnickle Park in Englewood. I took pictures and will be adding a page to
the site soon to describe and show it to you.
14 April 2002
Trail
Construction Information- Provided by Miami Conservancy District
and Five Rivers MetroParks. New information for you so that you'll know the
way to get around construction on the Montgomery County trails.
09 March 2002
The Miami
Conservancy Districtwebsite has been completely revised. They have
added a lot of information about the multi-use trails they maintain and have
added a "sneak preview" of the bicycle trail map that they and
Five Rivers Metroparks are jointly developing. See their Bike
Trails web page The map should be
available this month but you can look at it now and download it. The trails
in Montgomery will be remarked with a state-wide system of route numbers.
For example "The Great Miami River Recreation Trail"
is to be marked "Route 25"
01 March 2002
The Huron
River Greenway trail project won a big one in court recently. It
seems that the court in Erie County ruled that the Erie
County MetroParks had a valid title to the right-of-way and could
begin trail construction! This is a huge boost for the people of Erie
County, Ohio. The Huron River Greenway folks wants friends of trails in the
Miami Valley to know that volunteer workdays on the Huron River
Greenway in Erie County are scheduled for Saturday March 23rd and
Saturday, April 20th (weather permitting, time and location TBD). You
can help the Huron River Greenway by volunteering on the Greenway
during these sessions, as the effort to open the next link in the trail to
the Mason Road trailhead moves forward. Erie MetroParks has struck a winning
blow FOR trails in Ohio; it is up to Rails To Trails members and trail
advocates throughout Ohio to thank them.
If you can't attend a work session you might want to
consider a contribution to: Erie MetroParks
3910 E. Perkins Ave.,
Huron, OH 44839
24 February 2002
The Miami Valley
Regional Planning Commissionis the organization that plans
transportation (including bicycle trails) is Montgomery, Greene and Miami
County. The updated their long range plan and have all of the plans for
bicycle trails in the document. The map below is a good copy that I
downsized for your use. You can also order a CD copy of the entire report
with all maps and attachments from the MVRPC.
I've secured a map from the Miami
Valley Regional Planning Commission. The map shows trail already in
use, under construction and in planning. Please note the planned trails in
Miami County . Please note that the map is (159Kb .jpg) file and will take
some time to download. This map is also available on their site as well as
the Long Range Plan
that accompanies it. It is called . Click on "Bikeways and Pedestrian
Projects"
Click on thumbnail for larger image
06 February 2002
Take a look at the Tour
de Cure Website. They are associated with the American Diabetes
Association. They run cycling events to support Diabetes and provide for an
enjoyable outing. For example, they will have a 22 June cycling event in the
Dayton area.
15 January 2002
Long Hiking Tours
in France If you'll be traveling to France you'll want to see this
site of trails in France. Just click on the English logo. His
International Hiking and Outdoors Websites (see
his drop down list at bottom of page) includes a link to this website among
many good US, England and other trails.
New Trail Construction in Madison County - I'm
told that new trail construction from the new South Charleston Station to
London an additional 10 miles of trail should be built next year; 2002.
Another 8.9 miles will be built from London to Wilson Road in 2002-2003. As
my Friends of Madison County Parks and Trails say;
Next Stop
London!
New Trail Construction in Clark County! A new 2
mile section of trail now called the "Northern Trail" connects the
Buck Creek Trail North to Villa Road in
Springfield. When complete the trail will continue North for 5 or more miles
to connect to the Simon Kenton
Trail which is partially constructed from the Cedar
Bog to State Route 55, The entire trail will go from the Buck Creek
Trail in Springfield to Urbana, Ohio.
New Photos on Stewart
Street Trail page. Yes. I have added several pictures and
descriptions to the Stewart Street Trail, the 0.5 mile spur that connects
the University of Dayton in downtown to the Great Miami River Recreation Trail
on the Great
Miami River. Check them out!
photos) The trail is now open for use. The dedication
was held 17 November near Chillicothe Pike at US Route 42. For more information
about this trail write Friends
of Madison County Parks and Trails .
