Louisville Riverwalk Reviews    

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Large Section Closed...

By dtleighton in November, 2012

On 11/25/12 my daughter and I took our tandem out for a spin to break up the long drive home from Thanksgiving. We started from the Shawnee Park end, heading in toward downtown, and found that a large section of the trail through the park was closed due to the flooding damage (much) earlier in the year. We diverted onto the golf course paths (not many golfers that time of the year!) and accessed the trail again further upstream. A mountain bike could probably handle the trail in this closed section, but with a tandem it was a no-go, even with wide tires. The asphalt trail was covered by several inches of river silt, and even deeper in spots (in addition to the logs, leaves, and litter one would expect). Alas, the good folk of Louisville have a lot of work to do to bring this trail back to life. The posted detour is apparently onto city streets, and was difficult to determine or follow (why we wound up on the golf course). Hopefully someone will post an updated review when the path is reopened, as I think it would make a nice stop.

Louisville Riverwalk

By gjj41 in April, 2012

On March 30, 2012 my wife and I road our bikes from Lannan Park to Eva Bandam Park and are pleased to say that the trail was free of debris. Based on previous reviews good clean up job Louisville!

Circumstance

By wa_dok in November, 2011

This ride has its beauty and its lesser moments. The river is always an eye catcher, and especially at certain times of the day, but there are places on this trail that one might not want to have a flat tire or be a stranded target. When we went over this trail, we encountered a lot of glass (beer bottle type glass), and we were very glad we had purchased a very high grade of tire that was less susceptible to puncture than regular tires. In the past we have ridden some high end bikes along this trail before it was finished, and racing tires are not a good idea along this trail. Even with the greatest care and slowest of speeds, it is hard to keep from getting something bad punturing your tire. We carry little brooms and try to contribute to the safe pathway that we all desire, but it really does seem to be a losing battle. That said, and knowing the city budget is what it is, we should pitch in order to keep all of our inner city trails passable and less hazardous. Our most wonderful ride was in Bethpage Park on Long Island. Don't know how they keep this thing so beautiful and well lit and swept, but it was a real wonderful experience we ought to try and mimic NYC here in Louisville.
Wa Dok

improvement

By galesof in September, 2010

We believe in giving everything a second chance so tried this trail again. Started at the riverfront near Joe's Crab Shack and rode west. Much of the graffiti we had seen in the spring had been cleaned up. Less trash along path but could be better. Please, Louisvillians, stop throwing your garbage down where ever you happen to be, this makes our city look terrible. The tent camp of homeless people had moved elsewhere. Vegetation had grown up alot and covered up some of the areas of abandoned and run down buildings. In all, some improvement was noted. I believe our mayor gets this cleaned up right about the time of the Kentucky Derby. The trail itself was in mostly acceptable condition with only a few areas of pavement fractures and holes. The views of the river and the bridges was very nice. Also there are a few areas of tree canopy providing some shady relief from the sun.

ugly

By galesof in March, 2010

We did this trail on a quiet Saturday morning. The surrounding area was full of trash, debris, graffiti etc. One person had sprayed "ugly" on the concrete posts under the interstate overpass. This area was often dark, and went by many abandoned and run down buildings. I kept thinking we had to be in the wrong place but was assured by other riders that this was the right place. The whole area had a very unpleasant smell as well as garbage and trash everywhere. We turned around after about 3 miles when we came upon tents and a "camp" of homeless people. We rode in the other direction from Joe's Crab Shack and to the east around the park, river, and ballfield area. This area was much cleaner and out in the open. While there is no defined trail, there is plenty of room to ride here.

Louisville Riverwalk

By Mark and Brenda in October, 2007

A beautiful ride through the tree canopy. For a extravagant time follow up with dinner in old Louisville.

Louisville Riverwalk

By donrain in September, 2006

"This is a wonderful trail along the river. As an out-of-towner, I found no signage pointing to the trail, but it’s easy to follow once you find it. To get to Shawnee or Chickasaw Parks, take exit 3 off I-264, and head west on Hale Avenue. I started at Shawnee Park. Signage on the trail shows the trail starts further south in Chickasaw Park. Find any paved trail in one of the parks heading toward the river, and you’ll (probably) easily find the trail. I found it very, very lightly used, except within a mile or so of the city center. From the Crab Shack east to Litterle Rd it’s a collection of sidewalks and paths without markings. Check out the “Flock of Finns”, 32 colorful sculptures of birds, in the park southwest of the Crab Shack."

Riverwalk

By in January, 2006

Nice ride along the Ohio River and Park.

Not really a skating trail

By in August, 2005

"We stayed at the Gault House in downtown Louisville on our way south in order to skate the riverwalk trail.
The hotel was great.
We should have brought our bikes.
We have thousands of miles on our skates and found this trail to be difficult.
The trail is narrow with railroad crossings, ramps, rocks, long stretches of slippery mud, speed bumps, hills and rough pavement.
We only found about one half mile stretch where we could get going on our skates watching carefully for rocks from parallel railroad tracks.
It was wonderful to be on the trail early on Sunday with the river boats following along close to the shore.
Inline skating should be removed from the trail description. Unload your bikes for an interesting ride."

Extended on River Road walkway

By leoebecker in June, 2005

"We started in Shawnee park, with no directions to get there, and biked almost 11 miles until we dead ended at Letterle Ave. Floodwall/Butchertown Greenway. When you reach the crab shack, go uphill about 50 yds and get on walkway/sidewalk/kids parkway and go down river road about 3 miles then into a park area to trail under the highway. Paved all the way."

Trail terminus

By in October, 2004

"This trail, however nice, does not run all the way to Chickasaw Park. It ends in Shawnee Park. The last section, which is approximately 0.6 miles, has yet to be opened. I ran the first last 3.2 miles of this trail and found it to be a good run. "

Riverwalk

By todd7741 in April, 2004

"The Louisville Riverwalk is an interesting, scenic path. It starts downtown at the Ohio River and then heads west along the river through the Portland, Shawnee and Chickasaw neighborhoods and parks. Parts of trail will flood if the river is high."

Great ride

By larry h in November, 2003

There is some beautiful scenery along the trail. We rode to the park and back -- a 14 mile ride that was fun for whole family. We'll be glad when the trail is done the other way too.

Louisville Riverwalk

By in August, 2002

"The trail is fairly lightly used, in my experience, but weekends bring out a lot of walkers and bikers. The Ohio River is usually fairly busy, with barge and recreational traffic. The trail passes along the side of the Portland Canal, which takes river traffic away from the Ohio River falls. The trail goes along the edge of the river in several places, and Shawnee and Chickasaw Parks provide additional recreational activities. The eastern end of the trail is in downtown Louisville, and one can ride from there to Cherokee Park, about 3 miles away."