By cody18 in October, 2011
By Pat Codispoti
This past August my husband and I added another off-road biking experience to our list of adventures. For 4 days we rode a trail in Southwest Ohio, part of a growing system of trails stretching across ten counties surrounding the Dayton area. We biked a linear section appropriately named the “Little Miami Scenic Trail” from Springfield to Newtown (just outside of Cincinnati) and back. The trail is 78 miles long, completely paved and extremely biker friendly! Our 156 mile journey took us through farmlands, past state parks and other historical sites, and through many interesting communities.
We began our ride at the Northern terminus. The trail abruptly begins under Route 70 just south of Springfield. We fortunately found a motel located only about a mile from the trail allowing us to leave our car at the Comfort Suites and ride to the trail head.
We could not have asked for better weather as we began our ride. The trail passed mostly through farm fields and is less shaded but ideal for a morning ride. The elevation from Springfield to the Newtown Golf Center drops over 450 feet making the trip south easier than the return trip. Our first stop was at Yellow Springs station, an old rail station that has been converted into an information and comfort station for trail users. I do wish we had stayed longer in Yellow Springs. It is a small yet interesting village, home to Antioch College (which itself has a very curious history). If we ever return to ride other trails in the Little Miami system, I would plan to stay overnight in Yellow Springs. But since we were only about 10 miles into our ride, we hurried on in anticipation of what we might find in Xenia.
The trail from Springfield to Xenia is well maintained but is not particularly interesting or scenic especially compared to other rides we have taken in the past. We passed field after field of corn or soybean. However, as we entered the City of Xenia, we saw signs of commercial America….. We stopped for coffee at Mc Donald’s (right on the trail)!
Xenia is the Hub of the Little Miami River Valley trail system. At Xenia Station the Ohio to Erie Trail extends East to London and the Creekside Trail runs West toward Dayton and beyond. Xenia is a city and does not share the quaintness of the village of Yellow Springs. However, the trail through Xenia is unusual. Trail users ride city sidewalks that are especially marked for bikers! And at one point the trail is in the middle of the rode with one-way traffic on either side!
Since we had made arrangements to stay at a bed and breakfast in Xenia on our return trip, we did take time to find Victoria’s Bed and Breakfast. The B & B in Xenia is an old Victorian home that we thought would make a perfect setting for a ghost story…. For the next couple of days we joked about what apparitions we might discover while staying at Victoria’s.
We left Xenia at about 11:30 AM. The trail is again not very interesting but we still enjoyed the ride as it passed through Ohio farmlands. After another hour or so on our bikes we arrived in Spring Valley. We immediately spotted “Two Scoops” and stopped for a short rest. We naturally had to experience the ice cream at “Two Scoops”, talk to the few inhabitants of Spring Valley that we met and explore what little the small settlement had to offer. There is a restaurant just down the block from “Two Scoops” and above the ice cream parlor, a very inexpensive yet acceptable lodging catering especially to bikers.
From Spring Valley south, the Little Miami Scenic trail becomes (as its name suggests) much more scenic. The trail hugs the Little Miami River although the trees and brush along the trail allow only brief glimpses of the meandering Little Miami. Even on a Thursday, we passed more bikers than ever before on previous trips.
As we left Spring Valley we had tallied almost 27 miles and still had about 16 miles to go before we would end the first day of our ride. The trail became very rural as we followed the Little Miami. This portion reminded me more of last summer’s ride on the Pine Valley Trail in Pennsylvania.
Corwin was the next stop and by then we really needed a rest. It was hot and we had been on our bikes for 3 ½ hours. The Corwin Peddler is about the only thing in Corwin but it was a great little restaurant conveniently located along the trail serving fantastic sandwiches and much welcomed cold drinks! We ate outside on the porch and took our time (about an hour) before getting back on the bike for the last stretch of our journey.
We had made reservations at the Bed and Breakfast right along the side of the trail in Oregonia. Thinking that Oregonia was a small community with grocery stores and restaurants, we only split a sandwich in Corwin. About 2 miles before we reached Oregonia, we passed “The Little River Café” a highly publicized restaurant alongside the trail. However, since we had just eaten less than an hour ago, we passed up the opportunity for dinner. As it turned out this was the only opportunity for dinner! We mistakenly thought there would be more restaurants once we reached Oregonia. As we approached Oregonia, we saw a sign that pointed us to a little Mom and Pop store just off the trail, Hall’s Market. Well, as it turned out, this WAS Oregonia and dinner was a bag of potato chips!
The River Walker Bed and Breakfast was absolutely perfect. We sat out on a deck all evening overlooking the river and the trail …. Enjoying the scenery and our potato chips!
The next morning Paul, our host at the River Walker, served us breakfast. We benefited from our conversation with Paul learning more about the history of the Miami Valley and what we might expect to see along the trail. After a leisurely breakfast, we packed our bikes and set out for our second day on the Little Miami Scenic Trail.
Day 2 was undoubtedly my favorite except for the breakdown! We had only been on the trail for maybe 5-6 miles when Cody’s bike froze. The pedals would literally not turn. Since we were only a couple miles outside of Morrow, I rode ahead to find the Bike Shop. We had researched the locations of bike shops along the trail and had expected to find one in Morrow but, I really did not find a bike shop… I found a sign but, no shop!!! Morrow is a very small and not particularly thriving community. After explaining our plight to a couple of strangers who were very friendly but not really much help, I went back to deliver the bad to news to my husband. Just as I turned, I saw him riding into town. He had managed to get the pedals moving again but questioned for how long.
From Morrow to Loveland was a fantastic ride. However, we would have to enjoy it on the return trip since our thoughts were consumed with getting to the bike shop in Loveland before the pedals froze again.
It was almost 2 hours before we reached Loveland. We found Montgomery Cycles, a block off the trail, and had the bike checked. They found nothing wrong so after lunch at one of the many restaurants along the trail in Loveland, we got back on the bikes in search of the end of the Little Miami Scenic Trail.
The trail is heavily used from Loveland to Newtown. The rural scenery has been replaced by a much more suburban environment but the trail still hugged the river with more open views of the Little Miami. We passed Milford where we planned to stay over that night stopping only for a short break at the Milford access and comfort station.
The trail ended as abruptly as it began at the Little Miami Golf Center. We saw plans for continuing the trail into Cincinnati and beyond. The future of this trail seems to be limitless and we were both thinking that it may be worth a return trip to explore some of the other trails and those that are still in the planning stage.
After a few pictures, we began our short ride back to Milford. The trail is relatively flat. The elevation does increase, however, as you head north. Pedaling may have gotten a little more demanding but not significantly.
We arrived in Milford after 4:00 PM. The only place we could find to stay in Milford was across the river on the other side of town, a Holiday Inn. We passed through a charming downtown area with lots of shops and restaurants but by then we just wanted to get to the motel, shower, and find a place for dinner. We had to ride through fairly heavy traffic uphill for a few miles before reaching the Holiday Inn.
The next morning after a good night’s sleep, we rode easily downhill to the trail access. The 3rd day on the tail was going to be the longest …… we planned to ride for more than 50 miles BUT did not plan for another breakdown. Just as we got to Milford’s bike access area, Cody’s pedals froze. Once again, he finally got them to turn but once again, our trip to Loveland and Montgomery’s was consumed with speculation.
The bike held up! We reached Loveland a little after 10:00 AM and naturally headed straight for the bike shop. Amazingly just as we arrived, the pedals froze again! While Cody stayed to see to the repairs, I went in search of the little coffee house we passed by yesterday.
Xenia may be the hub of the Little Miami Valley Trail System, but Loveland is the heart! It was a Saturday morning and Loveland was bustling with bikers and others taking advantage of this amazing trail system. There are shops, restaurants and parking specifically designed for trail users. Loveland was our favorite stop. It is so refreshing to see people of all ages enjoying summertime on the trail!
As I was finishing my coffee, Cody returned. Unfortunately they did not have the necessary part but they were able to repair the bike for what they “thought” would last until we reached our destination.
Keeping our fingers crossed, we left Loveland and continued north. We passed the remains of Peter’s Cartridge Factory, famous for supplying ammunition for World War 1. The Peters Factory gained national attention due to an explosion on July 15, 1890. The blast, due to a train car colliding with two load cars packed with 800 kegs of gun powder, could be heard for 6 miles around the Kings Mills/Mason area.
We hit the 100 mile mark in S. Lebanon at approximately 1:00 PM and continued pedaling until about 2:00 when we stopped for lunch at the Little River Café just North of Oregonia. The restaurant was crowded with bikers, of all kinds, along with those who were canoeing, kayaking, or tubing on the river.
The third day was tough. We had already been on our bikes for two days. Our legs were tired and our seats were sore! Once again we passed hundreds of people on the trail and just as many on the river. At some points, the river was actually swarming with canoes. We still had over 20 miles until we would reach Xenia and Victoria’s Bed and Breakfast, our destination for the day.
We were looking forward to stopping at the “Corwin Peddler” but when we arrived, it was closed. We were not the only bikers who were disappointed. As were sat on the porch sipping warm water from our camelbacks, several others also stopped in anticipation of a cold drink.
Getting back on the bikes, we began the ride to Spring Valley, approximately 10 more miles. At this point in the trip, the scenery was insignificant. All we could think about was a cold drink or even another ice cream cone at “Two Scoops”. You cannot imagine how disillusioned we were to discover that “Two Scoops” was also closed!
We arrived at Victoria’s at 5:30, tired, sore, and thirsty yet in high spirits. Day 3 was over! We quickly unloaded our bikes, showered, and set off on foot (it felt so good to walk) looking for a restaurant in Xenia where we could get that cold drink!
The last day was really enjoyable – perhaps because it was the last day! We only had a short 20 miles to cover before we would reach our car (hopefully waiting for us at the Comfort Suites). We left Xenia fairly early at about 8:00 AM. As we rode out of Xenia, it began to rain. We stopped at McDonald’s to get out our rain gear, the same McDonald’s we had stopped at on the first day of our ride. Almost as soon as we pulled our rain gear out of the panniers, the rain stopped and the sun came out.
We got off the bikes for a few minutes in front of Antioch College. We met another couple, enjoying a day ride on the trail, who kindly offered to take our picture. They were from Dayton and often spent the day in the quaint village of Yellow Springs. They also gave us some information on the North Bend Rail Trail in West Virginia, which just might be next year’s adventure!
We made it to the Northern most terminus of the Little Miami Scenic Trail by 10:45 Sunday morning, took a picture by the trail marker with the Alfred Sun, and hurried back to the car. The odometer on Cody’s bike showed that we had ridden over 154 miles, averaged 10.4 miles an hour and were on our bikes just under 15 hours. Both of us were eager to get off the bikes, proud to have added another multi-day bike trip to our list, but also sad to be ending our 4-day journey on the Little Miami Scenic Trail.
By clarence43232 in August, 2011
I am not likely to ever get to ride this entire trail in segments even, but the part I've been on twice offers an awesome section as it snakes under I-71 bridge to the valley there. I guess you could even stop and ride a canoe along here if you wanted to. I started at Caesar Creek which makes a 17 or 18 mile round trip.
By tandem42 in August, 2011
My wife and I , (combined age of 127 yrs. old) just finished five fantastic cycling days on our road tandem in the Xenia-Dayton area. We came to ride the Little Miami Scenic Trail from end to end using are usual practice of out and back riding. We were not disappointed. Great scenery, nice small towns, flat riding and friendly people. Averaging 55+ mile days on this and other surrounding trails we were able to cover over 275 total miles. Other local trails not to be missed are the Prairie Grass Trail, Creekside Trail, and the Great Miami River Trail. All trails are clean, glass free, and fast. Hard to imagine a better place to spend a week or more if you have the time. Where else can you stay at one motel and have all these mentioned trails, plus several more we didn't have time to explore. If you need a mid-week break from biking try the National Air-Force Museum in Dayton. Easy to spend the entire day there and its free. Roger and Marilyn