Find the top rated trails in Kettering, whether you're looking an easy walking path or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
_147574_st.jpg)
_17988_st.jpg)
The Greenville Creek Trail is a nice, albeit short, retreat through suburban Greenville. The paved path follows its namesake creek, passing under streets and linking neighborhood parks with downtown....
The paved Tecumseh Trail skirts the quaint city of New Carlisle. The trail takes users through some beautiful wooded areas along a former railroad corridor and connects to Smith Park. At the popular...
The Sharon Woods Loop Trail encircles a picturesque lake in popular Sharon Woods in Sharonville. The county park offers a visitor center, boathouse, golf course, picnic areas and athletic fields over...
Hydraulic Canal Run begins in picturesque French Park, where stands of mature trees provide the perfect shady spots to picnic. From here, you can also connect to Piqua City Linear Park, a rail-trail...
_147028_sc.jpg)
Ohio’s Miami River Valley, with 340 miles of off-road trails, is home to one of the nation’s largest paved trail networks. The trails connect cities and small towns; link to cultural, educational, and...
The Canal Feeder Trail begins at Graceland Cemetery on the south end of Sidney and continues southwest on a former historical canal towpath dating back to the 1840s. The paved trail parallels the...
Centerville’s Archway Trail runs adjacent to a new road on a former railroad corridor that connects downtown to a recently developed neighborhood. The wide, paved trail is one of several open...
The 4C Bicentennial Trail is one of several throughout Wilmington, OH, and runs between Southeast Neighborhood Park and Fife Avenue (CR 82), just across the road from the south end of Denver Williams...
_83283_sc.jpg)
When complete, the Ohio River Trail in eastern Cincinnati will be an important 23-mile connector between downtown, riverfront parks, the city's municipal airport and many neighborhoods. Currently,...
The Lowe's Connector Trail parallels Lowe's Drive in Wilmington, OH, and links Rombach Avenue with Prairie Road; however, this is no sidewalk once you reach Prairie Road. The trail is best used to...
The Little Miami Scenic Trail is a jewel in the crown of Ohio rail-trails, spanning just over 78 miles from the outskirts of Cincinnati to Springfield over historical bridges and through tranquil...
The short Union City Gateway Trail is significant in that it was the first trail to cross the Indiana–Ohio border. A highlight along the paved pathway is the beautifully landscaped park on both sides...
The James Ranch Connecting Spur provides an important link between two major trails spiraling out of the trail hub of Xenia. On its east end, the trail connects to the Little Miami Scenic Trail, which...
_156802_sc.jpg)
The Newport Southbank Bridge, commonly known as the Purple People Bridge due to its unique paint scheme, links the large Ohio city of Cincinnati with Newport, Kentucky, a medium-sized city rapidly...
Seamlessly spanning the 35.5-mile distance between the Ohio communities of Bellefontaine and Springfield, the Simon Kenton Trail presents visitors with ample opportunities for recreation and wildlife...
Opened in 2017, the Clinton-Fayette Friendship Trail, spanning 7.1 miles, is the longest rail-trail in central Ohio's Clinton County. Following a former railroad corridor, the rail-trail spans the...
The Shaker Trace Trail forms a loop around Miami Whitewater Forest, the largest county-run park in Hamilton County. The fully-accessible, paved trail runs for nearly 8 miles through the park’s...
The first section of the developing Wasson Way trail opened in 2018 in the eastern Cincinnati neighborhood of Hyde Park. Although less than a mile, the paved pathway runs along Withrow High School, as...
Mad River Trail offers a paved, 7-mile route along its namesake river in northeastern Dayton and is part of one of the nation's largest network of paved, off-street trails. Its western end begins...
The Roberts Pass Trail runs from downtown London, Ohio, to rural Fairfield Township. The trail passes through farmland for 6.5 miles, although dense tree cover shades the route at all...
The Luther Warren Peace Path is shady 1.2-mile journey along a level paved surface, delightfully cool in summer. The trail includes two old railroad bridges, one covered and built as a local Boy Scout...
The Armleder Park Trail loops along a wide, paved route through the open meadows of the park, located east of Cincinnati. At the southeast end, you'll find an overlook of the Little Miami River....
The Paint Creek Recreational Trail is the flagship pathway of a planned trail network in the Ohio counties of Fayette, Ross and Highland. Nearly 35 miles of paved trail are currently open linking the...
The Stillwater River Bikeway winds through Dayton's northern suburbs, following the tree-lined eastern shore of its namesake waterway for much of the way. Two disconnected segments of trail are...
The first section of the developing Wasson Way trail opened in 2018 in the eastern Cincinnati neighborhood of Hyde Park. Although less than a mile, the paved pathway runs along Withrow High School, as...
The Lunken Airport Bike Path offers a 5-mile loop around Cincinnati's municipal Lunken Airport. Much of the trail sits atop the levee that protects the airport from flooding of the Little Miami River....
The 4C Bicentennial Trail is one of several throughout Wilmington, OH, and runs between Southeast Neighborhood Park and Fife Avenue (CR 82), just across the road from the south end of Denver Williams...
The Roberts Pass Trail runs from downtown London, Ohio, to rural Fairfield Township. The trail passes through farmland for 6.5 miles, although dense tree cover shades the route at all...
When complete, the Ohio River Trail in eastern Cincinnati will be an important 23-mile connector between downtown, riverfront parks, the city's municipal airport and many neighborhoods. Currently,...
The Camp Chase Trail plays a role in two of Ohio’s most exciting trail projects: it is a key piece of the cross-state Ohio to Erie Trail and an integral part of the Central Ohio Greenways network...
The Miami & Erie Canal was built between 1825 and 1845, an engineering marvel stretching from Cincinnati to Toledo. This canal was heavily used until competition from the railroad caused the decline...
The Newport Southbank Bridge, commonly known as the Purple People Bridge due to its unique paint scheme, links the large Ohio city of Cincinnati with Newport, Kentucky, a medium-sized city rapidly...
The Greenville Creek Trail is a nice, albeit short, retreat through suburban Greenville. The paved path follows its namesake creek, passing under streets and linking neighborhood parks with downtown....
Hydraulic Canal Run begins in picturesque French Park, where stands of mature trees provide the perfect shady spots to picnic. From here, you can also connect to Piqua City Linear Park, a rail-trail...
The Lebanon Countryside YMCA Trail offers 8 miles of paved pathway winding through Lebanon, from downtown to a connection to the 78-mile Little Miami Scenic Trail. The trail begins in the north near...
Piqua City Linear Park was constructed on an abandoned railroad bed from the city's easternmost point to its westernmost point. Midway, it connects to the Great Miami River Trail and is part of the...
The Xenia–Jamestown Connector links these two eponymous communities and travels east beyond Jamestown to the Greene–Fayette County line at Rosemoor Road. It’s part of Ohio’s Miami River Valley trail...
The Great Miami River Trail is the backbone of one of the nation’s largest paved trail networks, spanning 340 miles throughout Ohio’s Miami Valley. The route connects beautiful natural areas, small...
The Cardinal Greenway, the longest rail-trail in Indiana, stretches just over 61 miles from Marion to Richmond along a former CSX railroad corridor. In 2018, the trail became an inductee into the...
The Wright Brothers Huffman Prairie Bikeway runs from South Street in downtown Fairborn, along the north side of Kauffman Avenue adjacent to an active rail line, to National Road. At that point, the...
The Lebanon Countryside YMCA Trail offers 8 miles of paved pathway winding through Lebanon, from downtown to a connection to the 78-mile Little Miami Scenic Trail. The trail begins in the north near...
The Camp Chase Trail plays a role in two of Ohio’s most exciting trail projects: it is a key piece of the cross-state Ohio to Erie Trail and an integral part of the Central Ohio Greenways network...
The Miami & Erie Canal was built between 1825 and 1845, an engineering marvel stretching from Cincinnati to Toledo. This canal was heavily used until competition from the railroad caused the decline...
The Shaker Trace Trail forms a loop around Miami Whitewater Forest, the largest county-run park in Hamilton County. The fully-accessible, paved trail runs for nearly 8 miles through the park’s...
Centerville’s Archway Trail runs adjacent to a new road on a former railroad corridor that connects downtown to a recently developed neighborhood. The wide, paved trail is one of several open...
The Greenville Creek Trail is a nice, albeit short, retreat through suburban Greenville. The paved path follows its namesake creek, passing under streets and linking neighborhood parks with downtown....
Piqua City Linear Park was constructed on an abandoned railroad bed from the city's easternmost point to its westernmost point. Midway, it connects to the Great Miami River Trail and is part of the...
The Great Miami River Trail is the backbone of one of the nation’s largest paved trail networks, spanning 340 miles throughout Ohio’s Miami Valley. The route connects beautiful natural areas, small...
The Towler Road Spur is a short but pleasant route in the trail hub of Xenia, Ohio. Although the paved pathway parallels the roadway, it's separated from traffic by a wide grassy median dotted with...
The Little Miami Scenic Trail is a jewel in the crown of Ohio rail-trails, spanning just over 78 miles from the outskirts of Cincinnati to Springfield over historical bridges and through tranquil...
The Stillwater River Bikeway winds through Dayton's northern suburbs, following the tree-lined eastern shore of its namesake waterway for much of the way. Two disconnected segments of trail are...
The Armleder Park Trail loops along a wide, paved route through the open meadows of the park, located east of Cincinnati. At the southeast end, you'll find an overlook of the Little Miami River....
The short Union City Gateway Trail is significant in that it was the first trail to cross the Indiana–Ohio border. A highlight along the paved pathway is the beautifully landscaped park on both sides...
The Fairfax Trail is 1.5 miles long and parallels the north side of Murray Ave, between Settle Street and Red Bank Road. The Murray Road portion overlaps with the Murray Road Hike/ Bike Trail. There...
The Paint Creek Recreational Trail is the flagship pathway of a planned trail network in the Ohio counties of Fayette, Ross and Highland. Nearly 35 miles of paved trail are currently open linking the...
D Street Trailhead Park is nestled along Richmond’s waterfront on the East Fork of the Whitewater River. From the park, travelers can go north on the Cardinal Greenway (which, at 62 miles, is...
The Sharon Woods Loop Trail encircles a picturesque lake in popular Sharon Woods in Sharonville. The county park offers a visitor center, boathouse, golf course, picnic areas and athletic fields over...
The paved Tecumseh Trail skirts the quaint city of New Carlisle. The trail takes users through some beautiful wooded areas along a former railroad corridor and connects to Smith Park. At the popular...
_17988_sc.jpg)
The 7-mile Iron Horse Trail (open in two disconnected segments) utilizes approximately 2 miles of former Penn Central right-of-way, providing users a pleasant route through neighborhoods, as well as a...
Mad River Trail offers a paved, 7-mile route along its namesake river in northeastern Dayton and is part of one of the nation's largest network of paved, off-street trails. Its western end begins...
This is a visually interesting trail. I started at the Huffman Dam, with a dramatic view of downtown Dayton. I then followed the Mad River past the U.S. Air Force Museum, then through wooded Eastwood Metropark and finally into downtown Dayton on the treeless river flood plain between the levees on either side of the river. Once you reach downtown Dayton you can connect to other Dayton-area trails such as Great Miami River Recreational Trail (86.2 miles), the Stillwater River Recreation Trail (7.1 miles), and the Wolf Creek Trail (16.2 miles). From Eastwood MetroPark you can also connect to the Wright Brothers-Huffman Prairie Bikeway to Fairborn, OH (4.6 miles), the Creekside Trail to Xenia, OH (15.2 miles) and the Iron Horse Trail to Kettering, OH (7.6 miles off of the Creekside Trail). I saw quite a few fellow cyclists utilizing this trail during my ride, but for a Saturday afternoon, I didn't feel that the trail was busy. However, you will have to be aware of the many pedestrians and picnickers while riding through the MetroPark section of the trail.
This former rail line is flat, straight and desolate. Outside of the few miles within Xenia and Jamestown, you are riding between fields of corn or soybeans. Considering that you are surrounded by farms, the trail is surprisingly tree covered for much of its length which I'm sure is a blessing during the summer. At this time of year, there were a lot of acorns and black walnuts on the trail where the trees were the thickest. I suppose that could pose an issue for the tires of some types of bikes.
While there were lots of cyclists out and about when I arrived in Xenia, this trail was lightly travelled. I saw only 3 people while traveling out and back throughout the entire length of the trail. I think that this trail could become much more popular if it was extended into Washington Courthouse, Ohio to connect to the Paint Creek Recreational Trail that extends all the way to Chillicothe, Ohio. (Google Earth shows the undeveloped route of this old rail line.)
This is a very short trail that links Xenia, Ohio's Creekside Trail to the town's West Side Park and the neighborhood beyond. I don't think this is a trail that anybody other than Xenia residents would be interested in. To top it off, the trail was closed due to some sort of excavation work.
This is a nice little path but make sure you stretch. We are new to riding and I struggled with a couple of the areas. We saw deer and tons of wildlife on the ride. It has some small benches for breaks and ends in a residential area. Overall very scenic and pleasant.
I rode this trail at the end of August 2018. The trail itself is very flat and straight. This 5.5 mile paved pathway runs east-west through the city. It is marked with mileage posts every tenth of a mile in both the east and west direction with the starting point being the west bank of the Great Miami River. What I found surprising is other than the half mile through the Piqua Central Business District, you don't really feel that you are biking along through a city. Most of the pathway is tree and shrub lined. The section through the business district is well-marked, and highly visible with good street crossings so this stretch is not hard to ride. I would categorize this trail as a community recreational trail, but when combined with the Great Miami River Trail, and the Hydraulic Canal Run Pathway a large loop is formed that travels through and around the city.
If you look for this trail on Google Earth or Google Maps you may find it labeled as the Ohio to Indiana Trail. That is also the name given to the Tecumseh Trail Multi-use Path that runs from Gettysburg, OH to Bradford, OH and the Greenville Creek Trail in Greenville, OH west of Piqua. Obviously, these trails have been created out of the same rail line. Hopefully, there are plans to connect them over time to make one much larger trail. This route was part of the route President Abe Lincoln's Funeral train took from Columbus, Ohio to Urbana, Ohio to Richmond, Indiana and then eventually on to his final resting place in Springfield, Illinois. It would be really cool if this entire route in Ohio could be converted into a trail commemorating this tragic historic event.
The Tecumseh Trail is pleasant enough and connects the Northwest portion of New Carlisle, Ohio to Smith Park, a wetlands area along Honey Creek, the New Carlisle Cemetery, and the New Carlisle Sport and Fitness Center. It is roughly a 2.5 mile long path that could make for a relaxed after work, or early evening ride or run. The only complaint I have about this trail is about the crossing over S. Main Street (Route 235). Despite a system of user-activated flashing lights at the crossing almost no driver stopped to allow me to cross the road. Be cautious when trying to cross this road!
From my observations on Google maps this rail line originally connected New Carlisle to the cities of Troy and Springfield, Ohio. I do not know if any group is looking to make a connection to either one of these cities using this old rail corridor.
The this old railroad route through Ohio's Darke County is significant as this was the route that President Abraham Lincoln's Funeral Train took as passed through from Columbus, Ohio to Richmond, Indiana on its way to Lincoln's final resting spot in Springfield, Illinois. For this reason alone efforts should be made by Darke County and the State of Ohio to buy up the parts of the route that not part of the Darke County Park System and convert the rail bed into a proper trail. The current trail sections that are developed are pleasant but don't yet lead to any areas that are developed, such as the towns of Bradford, Gettysburg, and Greenville. the current on-road sections of this route are on lightly traveled paved farm country roads. They are very flat, but do not have any shoulders at all. The current mapped route shown here at TrailLink suggests riding the trail west of Gettysburg by riding east along US 36 to Gettysburg-Pitsburg Road and then left onto Hahn Road. US 36 is a very busy and fast roadway with lots of traffic. Although the shoulders along this roadway are wide you can avoid riding along it altogether if you follow the bike route along W. Main Street in Gettysburg and cross US 36 onto Mill Road and then on to Hahn. On the eastern end the current TrailLink map shows the trail route ending south of Bradford when you reach South Miami Street (Rte 721). I suggest going into Bradford to take a look at its Y-Yard Park, particularly if you are a railroad buff. I suggest using Harrison Avenue to take a less busy road into town and then left on School Street to reach the park. Google Earth and Google Maps currently label this trail the Ohio to Erie Trail which is what they also call the Piqua City Linear Park as well. Obviously there is a railroad connection between these two trails and work should be done to connect them.
I rode the Hydraulic Canal Run Path in August of 2018. What I found interesting about this trail, which follows the canal's original towpath, was that a good part of the canal along the trail was still preserved. It is obviously, used for recreation as I saw people fishing and kayaking in the canal and associated lakes. What was also interesting was how the canal was actually elevated above the nearby neighborhoods. There are also a cemetery (Forest Hill) and a park (Fountain Park) to the east of the trail route. I would categorize this trail as a community recreational trail, but when combined with the Piqua City Linear Park, and the Great Miami River Trail a large loop is formed that travels through and around the city. For those approaching Piqua from the south on the Great Miami River Trail it certainly would make for a more interesting ride rather than simply turning around when they reached the end of the GMRT.
Three of us rode from the west side of Chillicothe to Austin and found it to be a terrific trail. Nice and wide, sunny stretches, shady stretches, great scenery, a few hills that even we could handle, and the Dairy Cone in Frankfort was refreshing stop. There were a couple spots where roots had pushed the pavement up but they were minor and were similar to the spots on the Hockhocking Adena but not as bad as the ones on the Alum Creek Greenway. We look forward to riding this trail more.
The Union City Gateway Trail is a tribute to this Indiana-Ohio border town's railroad history. Union City has preserved it's old train station and celebrates it's unique status as a two state city on this trail. While the trail has some unique and interesting features it's short length make it nothing more than a local recreational trail. Only railroad buffs and perhaps trail completists are likely to travel any distance to check out this trail. Previous reviewer Rich Ballash thinks that the trail could be extended to nearby Greenville, but given the rural nature of the area I see that an unlikely proposition unless Darke County Commissioners get a healthy dose of Clean Ohio Fund Money from the state legislature. Besides, I think that the county government is more likely to look to extend the Ohio to Indiana Trail or Ohio Bike Route 36 before extending this small little trail.
I rode this trail as part of a plan to ride all Ohio trails listed at TrailLink.com. The northern-most trailhead is located at the back of Graceland Cemetery in Sydney, Ohio. When you enter the cemetery keep driving to the left and back of the cemetery to find the parking lot. I'm not sure how old this trail is but it is currently well maintained and well marked with distance and historical markers. At present this trail is best described as a local recreational trail. There is potential to expand this trail south to Lockington and on to Piqua, Ohio where it could connect to larger regional destination trail the Great Miami River Trail. I hope local and county leaders and trail partners see this as a goal!
Get Your 2018 RTC TrailNation Jersey!
Download the TrailLink mobile app and take TrailLink with you!
Donate and Get a FREE 2018 RTC Guidebook!
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Map Search
_156802_st.jpg)
_83283_st.jpg)
_147028_st.jpg)
