Find the top rated dog walking trails in Wilmington, whether you're looking for an easy short dog walking trail or a long dog walking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a dog walking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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My wife and I took up cycling earlier this year and have logged over 100 miles on the area trails. The northern segment of the Stillwater River Trail is one of our favorites. The uphill grade by the Englewood Dam spillway can be tough (especially on a hot day) but the rewards can be worth it. We often see several American Bald Eagles, Blue Heron, Osprey, and a myriad of other birds fishing on the lake at the Englewood MetroPark until the lake dries up in late August. also, the downhill grade from the spillway to Bower’s Lake is the best and longest downhill coast in the area. It’s personally my favorite stretch of trail in the area.
My wife and I are residents of the Englewood community and just took up cycling this year. We have ridden many trails in Dayton and the northern segment of the Stillwater Trail is fortunately one of our favorites. The climb up the spillway at the dam (US Route 40) is one of the hardest uphill grades of the nearly 100 miles of local trails we’ve ridden, but very doable on a geared bike. The effort is well worth it as you may get to see several Enhlewood MetroPark until the lake dries up in August American Bald Eagles fishing on the lake at tEnglewood MetroPark
It's probably considered an extension of the Roberts Pass Trail, but is relevant for folk traveling N on this trail too: To pick up the Roberts Pass trail, you now turn left at Walnut instead of Maple rd. This is one block east of Main st (Only stop light if using express option.)
You can now go straight through S Springfield to downtown without getting off the trail. Then only 1.1 block N to the Simon Kenton trail that heads east from there. (Note the SKT is trail for 2 blocks, then has a 2 block on Washington St then finally stays trail as it turns northbound.)
The last person mentions signage. I can agree. I've run this trail twice, both times meaning to connect with the Simon Kenton trail. The first time around I totally missed it and ended up riding through downtown to get back on track. Second time, I knew exactly where to switch off, but there was no sign there.
Otherwise it's a pretty trail, and a great parking and start / stop point for many different routes. I used it as a start that ended up in Columbus a few months ago, and then a week ago used it for a large circuit of Springfield / Xenia / Dayton / Piqua / Urbana / Springfield trip. I recommend parking in the lot by the marshy ponds.
As to the southbound Simon Kenton to Little Miami trail, there's no obvious spot where one stops and the other starts, but there are two tricky spots, the second being trickier:
1) The trail ends on Washington st. Just go straight down the street, and at the end the trail picks back up for 2 blocks west.
2) At Center st, ride south for 1.1 blocks. It's not obvious, but the trail will be on your right. The good news is that after these 2 spots, the trail now goes all the way through the rest of town, connecting up to the LM trail and points south.
Traveling from Georgia to Michigan, decided to spend a day riding the trail. We chose to camp with our RV at John Bryant State Park, as it was near the trail. It turned out to be a good choice for us. About two miles via road to the the trail from the campground. Yellow Springs is a fun little town, and Sunrise Cafe is an great place to eat.
I rode from the campground to Morrow and back, which was right at 80 miles. Flat (compared to what I am used to in North Georgia), scenic, well maintained. Had a great time.
There are two separate segments to this trail. I started out riding the Dayton segment of the Wolf Creek Trail by parking and starting out at Adventure Central at Wesleyan Metropark. This portion of the Wolf Creek Trail parallels a good part of its length along James H. McGee Blvd. Closer to downtown Dayton the trail drops down below the levees on the banks of the creek and you ride east along the creek’s floodplain until you reach the Great Miami River and the Great Miami River Trail. This portion of the trail and the spur into Wesleyan Metropark are the most scenic parts of the ride. At the western end of the Dayton (southeastern) segment, the farther west you go the poorer the condition of the trail gets. There are lots of weeds and brush growing into the pathway. The overgrowth is so bad that it is virtually impossible to ride the trail to the its end at the intersection of James H. McGee Blvd. and Little Richmond Road. Like many urban trails there is lots of broken glass on the trail surface — in most cases probably thrown there from passing cars on McGee Blvd. If you choose to ride this section of the trail, start at Wesleyan Metropark and ride toward Dayton, there is not much to see west of Adventure Central and the condition of the trail in that direction is definitely substandard.
The Montgomery County segment of the Wolf Creek Trail, runs from the city of Trotwood, through Brookville, and ends at the town of Verona at the Preble County line. There is a short half mile portion of the trail that travels southeast from the Trotwood station/depot toward the Dayton segment of the trail but it ends and the 4 mile gap between these two sections still remains. If and when the two sections of the Wolf Creek Trail are finally connected then perhaps the poorly maintained section of the Dayton segment will be improved and something interesting to see or visit will be developed in this current gap between segments.
The Montgomery County segment of the Wolf Creek Trail is straight as an arrow from Trotwood to Brookville and then after crossing under I-70 it takes a very gentle curve more north toward Verona. The trail surface is asphalt which is in good shape. This trail is very much a green tunnel with trees and shrubs on both sides of the route. You get a chance to see outside of the tunnel mostly at road crossings and when you enter the towns of Trotwood and Brookville. Once west of Brookville there is less tree cover and you find yourself surrounded by corn and soybean fields. I’d love to see this trail extended through Verona and on up into Greenville, Ohio where it could connect with the Tucumseh Trail Multi-use Pathway and the Union City Gateway Trail. This actually may be the part of the route that Rails to Trails Conservancy may be proposing for the nationwide Great American Rail-Trail through Ohio to link up with the Cardinal Greenway in Richmond Indiana. Hopefully, the powers that be in Ohio will have both the vision and the will to complete our state's part of this ambitious recreational plan. This trail has great potential to be a significant link of this cross country trail but only time will tell if it will reach that potential.
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.
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