Find the top rated bike trails in Dayton, whether you're looking for an easy short bike trail or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a bike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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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 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 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 growing Mill Creek Greenway Trail follows one of Cincinnati’s most important urban waterways and will one day stretch 14 miles through the city's northern neighborhoods. Groundwork Cincinnati is a...
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 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 Tecumseh Trail Multi-use Pathway offers a pleasant route, partially on the former Pennsylvania Railroad's Columbus-to-Saint Louis freight mainline. The rail route was also once used for Lincoln's...
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 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 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....
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...
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The Buck Creek Trail runs between Buck Creek State Park and Plum Street by Wittenberg University. At its eastern end in Buck Creek State Park, the trail makes a loop and heads into 2 different...
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 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 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 Steve Whalen Boulevard Bikeway is a short neighborhood trail in East Dayton. The trail parallels the boulevard of the same name, starting at its intersection with Hamilton Avenue, and then heading...
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 Dayton Kettering Connector combines a historic rail-trail and bike lanes, and shared road riding for 7 miles between the two municipalities. The off-road portion is 1.9 miles long and sits in the...
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...
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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 Buck Creek Trail runs between Buck Creek State Park and Plum Street by Wittenberg University. At its eastern end in Buck Creek State Park, the trail makes a loop and heads into 2 different...
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 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 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 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 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...
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 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 Dayton Kettering Connector combines a historic rail-trail and bike lanes, and shared road riding for 7 miles between the two municipalities. The off-road portion is 1.9 miles long and sits in the...
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 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 growing Mill Creek Greenway Trail follows one of Cincinnati’s most important urban waterways and will one day stretch 14 miles through the city's northern neighborhoods. Groundwork Cincinnati is a...
The 15-mile Creekside Trail is part of a network of more than 340 miles of trails that travel throughout Ohio’s scenic Miami Valley. The route follows a nature-filled corridor offering many...
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 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 Tecumseh Trail Multi-use Pathway offers a pleasant route, partially on the former Pennsylvania Railroad's Columbus-to-Saint Louis freight mainline. The rail route was also once used for Lincoln's...
The Williamsburg to Batavia Hike/Bike Trail connects its two namesake communities on a paved route that winds through East Fork Wildlife Area and along scenic William Harsha Lake. The experience is...
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...
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 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 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 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...
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...
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 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...
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 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 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 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 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 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 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...
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 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 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 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 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...
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 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 Tecumseh Trail Multi-use Pathway offers a pleasant route, partially on the former Pennsylvania Railroad's Columbus-to-Saint Louis freight mainline. The rail route was also once used for Lincoln's...
Nice trail surprised how easily it floods but I think that makes it an even better wildlife refuge. Lots of birds and not much honey suckel. The connection to lunken is awesome and I can't wait till it ties into more trails. A bridge over the little Miami would connect to the bike trail to Loveland and beyond. A tie into Wason way would allow real commuting.
The trail is about a half hour from my home. Made for a nice Sunday afternoon ride. It would be nice to see the trail extended but I rode it several times. Easy access from the CMH parking lot. Scenic. Look forward to coming here again.
I’ve ridden the two bottom sections of this trail, Fairfield/Hamilton and Trenton/Middletown. The trail is well paved and good for easy riding. It will be nice once or if they connect the two bottom sections to the main section in Franklin, Oh. So you can ride the whole trail without getting on the road.
I rode both the Northern and Southern Sections of this trail. It is an interesting trail from the stand point that it combines pieces of rail-trail, widened sidewalk "trail," on-street bike lane, and on-street riding. The route is inconsistently identified on the trail as 1) the Iron Horse Trail, 2) the Iron Horse Recreational Trail, 3) Bike Route K, 4) Bike Route 9 and possibly 5) Bike Route K2. If you attempt to ride the route of either section of this trail, as shown here in TrailLink, you will come to the end of each particular section and find that a bike route continues from where TrailLink says the Iron Horse Trail ends. However, it is not entirely clear at these points whether you are still riding on the Iron Horse Trail or some other connecting route. While the on-street riding occurs on what appear to be relatively lightly traveled streets, the widened sidewalks tend to cross some heavily trafficked roads. Dayton has recently announced a new trail called the Flight Line which appears that it will parallel parts of the current Northern Section of the Iron Horse Trail. Whether this new trail will run parallel just a number of feet from the Iron Horse or will incorporate part of what is currently the Iron Horse is yet to be seen. It also appears that both sections of the Iron Horse and the new Flight Line Trail could all come together near the old Tenneco Plant in Kettering, Ohio.
I rode from WCH to Hopewell Mounds and back (50 mi) and found the trail to be very enjoyable, scenic and worth doing. The trickiest part is navigating the portion where the trail winds through multiple industrial parks and then dumps you on Robinson Rd for a stretch. Had the map noted there is parking lot by Shaw Wetlands- the place where you turn off the street, it would have been the ideal starting point. Please add. I note that if you magnify that area significantly the parking is noted in blue. You wouldn’t know unless you are searching for it. Otherwise very enjoyable
I like this trail quite a bit. There were a number of interesting things to see along the route -- the Clarence J. Brown dam and reservoir, Old Reid Park, the Springfield Art Museum, Veterans Park Amphitheatre, and Wittenberg University. The trail surface is well maintained and I did not see any poor conditions or concerns that were expressed in a previous review. Getting across the dam on the Engineers Road was a challenge due to a very strong headwind. The trail seemed pretty quite for a Thursday afternoon, but that might have been because of the recent change in the weather that put a chill in the air. I saw a number of cyclists out by the reservoir but not a one on my way into, nor back from Springfield. There were a number of pedestrians I passed by in town. I think that this trail probably gets a lot of use in the summer.
Since this trail intersects with the Simon Kenton Trail I will be back in the area once again. I did see one sign that stated if you wanted to connect with the Little Miami River Trail follow the signs, but I did not see any signs suggesting an actual route. In fact, I would not have known that the one bridge over the Buck Creek trail actually carried the Simon Kenton Trail at all if not for the fact that there was one small spur off of the trail near this bridge that I decided to explore. There definitely needs to be better signage to and from all connecting trails in this town.
Biked from Xenia Station toward Dayton. Largely shaded, at least during our ride. Several busy traffic crossings - be careful! Seemed to be a bit of a gradual upward grade for a good chunk of the ride toward Dayton. You’ll see walkers, people with kids on bikes and strollers, rollerbladers, skateboarders, speedy bikers and more leisurely bikers (like me!). Several decent places to stop and rest or get water. Xenia Station is a great place to pick up several wonderful trails including this one. Only a few spots where the asphalt needed attention.
As a Saint Mary’s resident living a few blocks from a trailhead (High Street) I love being able to just take,off on my bike, no transporting said bike to the park required. Parts of the trail are smooth sailing, parts are very rough... but it’s flat and beautiful. If you have any trail riding/mountain biking experience, this will be an easy ride for you headed North from St Mary’s. South is harder, longer prairie grass can slow you down or make you walk your bike. Always hoping for more trail improvements to make riding even better.
This trail basically follows the perimeter of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from the Huffman Reservoir Dam on the Mad River to the city of Fairborn, Ohio.
The trail itself is pretty well maintained. You can pedal across the top of the old dam out to Route 4 and the entrance to Huffman MetroPark which sits on land that was once covered by the waters of the Huffman Reservoir. From the dam's spillway you climb up Wright Brothers Hill past the Huffman Prairie Flying Field where Orville and Wilbur conducted early test flights of their plane designs. The bikeway pretty much parallels both State Route 444 and Kauffman Road into the city of Fairborn. The bikeway does cross over one active rail line at South Central Avenue so be aware that trains do actually run on that line. TrailLink shows the trail ending at East Dayton Drive but to get to that point you'd have to ride the sidewalks to get there. I say it ends at Ohio Street and South Central Avenue where the Fairborn YMCA is located as well as an entrance into Fairborn's small Central Park. For air plane buffs you don't see much of the Air Force Base's operations. You will see the base medical center, administrative offices, the commissary and plenty of the perimeter fence, but I didn't see any active military planes flying in or out. If you are looking for a longer ride combine this bikeway with the Mad River Trail which will take you into downtown Dayton.
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.)
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