Find the top rated birding trails in Fairborn, whether you're looking for an easy short birding trail or a long birding trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a birding trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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Rode a quick 26 miler out n back from Richmond. Well kept and well marked trail.
This is a nice railtrail mostly through farm lands in the country land of Indiana! Make sure to pack lots of water as someone else said. We took water and still didn’t have enough! Thankfully we came upon one of the trailheads that had water. My husband was not happy with the water quality though ¿¿
Very nice trail. Just the right amount of distance and a little challenging which was good since I am a bit out of shape.
On July 30 I rode from Richmond to Economy return. It was a glorious ride! Loved it! Safe and shady most of the way. However, beware the Oak Mites! The next morning I woke up with welts all over my forehead, neck and shoulders. I had even showered immediately after my ride but I had a severe allergic reaction. I am not from this region and had never heard of these critters that can flourish in July and August especially in years when locusts also flourish. But the trail is so great I would do it again but take more precautions.
We use this trail many times a year to get into downtown Dayton. It is scenic and well marked.
In recent years dirt has built up on parts of the trail. PLEASE be careful after rain when the dirt turns to mud. Piqua to Peterson Road and Taylorsville Park to Rip Rap Road Park are sections that can be very muddy.
We are in our 60's and prefer paved trails, like this one. We rode from a great b&b just south of Xenia, only a few tenths of a mile from the trail, approx. 40 miles to Loveland. Then hired the Ohio Trail Shuttle to bring us back. Trail is mostly shady, wonderful scenery, wildlife, downhill to Loveland. Not many services available near the trail on this segment, except Corwin, a convenience store right next to the trail. Well maintained right of way, through pretty country. And when we got to Loveland, some great restaurants right along the trail. Certainly more folks on trail as you get closer to Cincinnati. Highly recommend this trail and thanks to all who maintain it! We also rode a small segment of the trail north from Yellow Springs but rain was threatening. YS is a cute college town with lots of amenities just west of the trail downtown. Make sure you check out the brewery along the trail just north of YS, and Youngs Dairy about 1/2 mi east of the trail for some ice cream. We will likely come back to explore other trails that cross in Xenia.
As far as the Dayton-Kettering Connector goes it is a pretty easy trail to ride. Trail may be an exaggeration, it is more like a route. Most of the this trail is an on-road route using sharrows or bike lanes with a 2 mile rail trail in the middle. The rail trail portion heads south from the University of Dayton's RecPlex and ends at Wiltshire Blvd. in Kettering. The route continues further south on residential streets and connects with other bike routes but most specifically with the Iron Horse Trail.
The Miami Valley Trails organization says that the Dayton-Kettering Connector (DKC) is an ideal commuting route for individuals working in downtown Dayton while the rail trail portion provides a gentle climb into the south suburbs, not found on any of the roadways heading the same way. I found the 1.9 mile rail trail section is a climb but not a strain. There was one additional sustained climb up Ackerman Blvd. beside climbing the rail trail when heading south. The trail is well signed with frequent bike route signs with direction arrows at turns and every other sign seemed to have the bike route number at the top of them. In this case the Dayton-Kettering Connector is Bike Route 19.
When I reached the Iron Horse Trail in Kettering I turned around and rode the back the same way I came but continued through the University of Dayton campus and followed the bike lanes on Brown and Jefferson Streets to RiverScape Metropark along the Miami River in downtown Dayton. It seems that the Dayton public has a more enlightened attitude about sharing the road with cyclists. I felt safe in the bike lanes, although I was not riding in them during rush hour. Getting back to the UD campus from RiverScape MetroPark is a bit tricky because there is no southbound bike lane on the roads you just traveled on to reach RiverScape. I suggest returning to the UD campus by traveling on the Great Miami River Recreational Trail until it rises from the river at W. Stewart Street. From there you can take a bike lane that runs parallel to Stewart Street back to Brown Street and then into campus where you need to go.
The only reason I sought out this trail was because it was listed as one of Ohio’s trails listed on TrailLink.com and it is my goal to ride every Ohio trail listed there. This trail at this point can only be considered a commuter or local recreational trail. It is only 0.7 miles long and parallels Steve Whalen Boulevard between Wyoming Street and Hamilton Avenue. I started at Highland Park off of Wyoming Street. There is parking there but it doesn’t much look like a parking lot, so be warned. The asphalt trail surface was in good shape as this trail can't be very old. However, like many urban trails there were several areas where their was broken class on the trail which could have punctured my tires.
I don’t know if this is phase one of a much larger planned pathway or route (similar to others in the Dayton area), but at this point this is such a short trail I say leave it to the local residents.
This paved rail trail probably gets its name because it follows Shawnee Creek out of Xenia, crosses the Little Miami River around Trebein, parallels the Little Beaver Creek in Beavercreek and eventually meets up with the Mad River in Eastwood Metropark. There are quite a few areas of shade along this route but it is not a constant canopy of shade like many rail trails. In particular, you will find little shade when the trail parallels U.S. Rt. 35. This trail is fairly flat — typical of a rail trail. It is wide and well maintained with very few problems in the pavement like tree root uplifting or undermining erosion.
This trail connects to many other trails in the region. In Xenia, you can connect to the Little Miami Scenic Trail as well as the Prairie Grass Trail both part of the cross-state Ohio to Erie Trail Route. There is also the Xenia-Jamestown Connector that starts at Xenia Station. In addition, there are two lesser local spurs, the Towler Road Spur and the James Ranch Connection Spur, that connect to a local park and the Greene County Fairgrounds, respectfully. As you get closer to the Eastwood Metropark in Riverside, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio, you can connect to the Iron Horse Trail, a Dayton recreational trail. In the Eastwood MetroPark you run into the Mad River Trail which will take you into downtown Dayton (and to many other trail connections) or out to Wright Patterson Air Force Base and the United States Air Force Museum.
I have only two minor complaints about this trail. First, there are 4 road crossings in quick succession as you leave Xenia Station over roads where caution is required. Secondly, I would also suggest making sure that you have plenty to drink on hot summer days as there are few places to find or buy something to drink without going off the trail. There is water and Gatorade available through vending machines at Beavercreek Station (pretty much at the trail’s midpoint) but half the selections in the vending machines there were sold out when I was there early in the day. I’m not sure how often those machines are serviced, so be prepared on really hot days.
We rode 2 days 2 different sections. First day started at xenia station & rode to Corwin & then back. About 32-34 miles round trip.Ate lunch at a cute place in Waynsville right on trail.Pretty flat,nice scenery. Second day parked at Milford on hill. Little tight ,small parking lot. We rode to almost morrow. 40 miles round trip. VERY busy.Some parts are alittle narrow.Pretty flat mostly & some inclines. Loveland was a really cool town. Had a great lunch there.
Started at xenia station. Rode about 20 miles,10 one way & 10 back.Nice trail,paved.Have a few rode crossing,have to watch because cars have right of the way.Follows stream,but can't see a lot because of all the leaves.Was pretty fat most of it.
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