Wolf Creek Recreation Trail in downtown Dayton

Wolf Creek Recreation Trail
AKA Paul Laurence Dunbar Connector
In Montgomery County, Ohio
Ohio State Route 38 (1)

North-West from Downtown Dayton via
James. H. McGee Boulevard. (existing trail)
To Wesleyan MetroPark
3 miles (OPEN)

Surface: Asphalt 8' wide. The trail is built along the South bank of Wolf Creek. It starts in downtown Dayton where Wolf Creek empties into the Great Miami River.

Route: The trail runs West from downtown Dayton along and next to the Wolf Creek at the bottom of the levee. At the end of about one mile the trail which at this point is called the Paul Laurence Dunbar Connector, rises out of the Wolf Creek and connects with the pre-existing trail (wide sidewalk) on the North side of James. H. McGee Blvd. The trail continues another two miles to Wesleyan MetroPark and Adventure Central. From Wesleyan MetroPark here is still a gap of about four miles from the end of the trail until the Wolf Creek Recreation Trail starts again in Trotwood and runs another 13 miles to Brookville and Verona.

The Edwin C. Moses Bridge - that crosses the mouth of Wolf Creek and the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton, was replaced with a new $4.5M dollar bridge that was finished in May 2010. Please look at this Yahoo Maps photo that will show you the bridges over the Wolf Creek.

Click on photo for larger image	As you can see from the photo at left the trail starts in downtown Dayton. The Great Miami River Recreation Trail in downtown Dayton is on both banks of the Great Miami River. Here we see the West Bank looking North. The picture was taken from the 3rd. Street Bridge. On the left the trail is coming from the South At the top of the photo is the new Edwin C. Moses Blvd. and just below the bridge the trail runs across a small bridge on the river to continue the trail to the North

In this image we see a closer picture of the new Edwin C. Moses bridge over the Wolf Creek Recreation Trail where the Wolf Creek empties into the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton. The new bridge is a "center cable stay" bridge. Across the river (right of picture) is the new Sunshine Park that was refurbished with the trail construction. The Wolf Creek trail runs due West at this point.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Here we see the bikeway crossing over Wolf Creek just East (left) of the new bridge which is out of the picture here. We are looking North on the West bank of the Great Miami River. At this point in downtown Dayton the trail is on both banks of the river. You can see (if you enlarge the picture by clicking on it) two people at the right of the bike trail which will give "human scale" to the photo.

At right, we are looking West from the new bridge. You can see the Wolf Creek Recreation Trail on the South bank of Wolf Creek. In the background is the bridge over Wolf Creek at Williams Street.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Here we are looking back downtown from the bridge over Wolf Creek at Laurence Dunbar Street. You can see the trail in the right of the photo. Paul Laurence Dunbar attended Central High School in the 1890s with Orville and Wilbur Wright. Mr. Dunbar was a noted poet. In the background we can see beyond the Miami River and see the tower at Sinclair Community College

In this photo you see the bridge over Wolf Creek at Dunbar street. This picture was taken near the Broadway Street bridge over the creek. The trail is on the right or South side of the creek and you can see downtown Dayton in the background.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	At left we've shifted our focus to show the small waterfall (about 1') at the base of the Dunbar Street bridge. Since we are still looking downtown we can see the buildings of downtown Dayton in the distance.

In this photo we are looking West from the Dunbar Street bridge. There is a railroad bridge in the background with the trail on the left, or South, side of the Wolf Creek. Just beyond the railroad bridge the trail goes up and off the river level to meet with the existing trail on James H. McGee Blvd.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	After the trail comes back up to street level from the Wolf Creek it becomes a wide sidewalk along the North side of James H. McGee Blvd at shown at right. There is a trail and also a sidewalk. The trail follows James McGee Blvd for about 2 miles until it reaches Wesleyan MetroPark.

Construction Alert 2

Bridge Street Bridge - Construction has started 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.	Click on photo for larger image
	f you look at the Acme Mapper picture above you'll see the bridge from the air. The trail which is on James McGee Blvd. by this point, goes by the South end of the bridge. A detour is not yet determined. Click on the link above to see the bridge for yourself in Acme Mapper.

Click on photo for larger image	This is the old Bridge Street Bridge. I took the photo in late July 2010. I talked to a man at the bridge who told me that it was to be demolished the following week, so this may be one of the last photos of the Bridge Street Bridge.

This is a photo of the new bridge that will take Philadelphia Drive across the Wolf Creek for the first time. Neither bridge is a current impediment to the trail since it leaves the riverbed downstream from this area of Wolf Creek. However, the new bridge will connect to McGee Blvd. and the trail is next to the road across from the new bridge. Someday however, Five Rivers MetroParks may find a way to have the trail stay in the riverbed area all the way from the mouth of the river to Wesleyan MetroPark.	Click on photo for larger image


Wesleyan MetroPark

Click on photo for larger image	Here we have arrived at Wesleyan MetroPark and Adventure Central. This is one of Five Rivers MetroParks facilities in Dayton. The bridge and trail as shown below is to the left or South of the building and has a ramp from the trail next to the road.

In Summer 2004 Five Rivers MetroParks spent $500,000 to build this beautiful bicycle bridge and trails to connect the two parts of Wesleyan MetroPark together. The trail within Wesleyan will further the plans to connect this section of the Wolf Creek Recreation Trail with the section that starts at Trotwood and runs 13 miles to Verona, Ohio	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Here we have crossed the bridge and are now in the park. The trail turns right and runs down to the Wolf Creek to clear the active railroad bridge that you can see in the background.

n this picture we have come down the trail from the new bicycle bridge, gone under the railroad bridge and are now looking back around the corner to where we came from. We are at the Wolf Creek level and you can see the River.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	After a short walk through a nice woods we go back up from the River to the other half of Wesleyan MetroPark. This is the building in the other half of the park. The trail continues to the right through the park, following the park road and ends at Riverview Avenue and Wesleyan Road where the park road enters a residential area. Five Rivers MetroParks plans to build an 4 additional miles of trail to get the trail from Wesleyan MetroPark to Trotwood. The schedule is to complete it by 2012.