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Print Friendly MapThe Ohio-to-Indiana Trail 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 330-mile Miami Valley trail system, one of the nation's largest networks of paved, off-street trails.
Beginning on the east end of the trail, a staging area is located off Troy-Sidney Road. From the staging area, the first mile is a corridor lined with railroad ballast and trees on both sides.
At the end of the first mile, the trail crosses Looney Road and runs parallel to Patrizio Place. A rest area is located just to the west of Patrizio Place. Trail users can also park at the mall near Comfort Inn and access the trail just west of the railroad tracks.
From the railroad tracks heading west, the bridge going over the Great Miami River is less than a mile away. This is a highlight of the trail, offering a unique view of the city. A rest area is located just east of the bridge. A set of steps equipped with a bike groove in the center awaits users at the west end of the bridge. Another staging area, Lock 9 Park, is just northeast of the steps and has a water fountain and off-street parking. The Linear Park can also be accessed from Lock 9 Park.
From the steps, users can continue heading west through the downtown area. Street crossings at Main, Wayne, Downing and Roosevelt can easily be negotiated. The recent completion of the new City Municipal Government Complex provides another parking and access point to the trail. From Roosevelt, users will head up a hill to the College Street Bridge. The bridge goes over US 36 and heads into the French Park area, where trail users have the option to travel north on the Hydraulic Canal Run. Several rest areas can be found on the stretch between French Park and the municipal complex.
French Park, a former junkyard, has been developed into an attractive green space with a plateau for picnickers as well as trail users. The park is located at the corner of Water and Steele Streets and offers off-street parking and ramped access heading both east and west to the trail. Two more rest areas can be found at the highest point of French Park.
From French Park heading west, it's less than a mile to the Sunset tunnel. The area is a mixture of grass berms and railroad ballast and offers mature trees on both sides of the trail. Another rest area can be found midway between French Park and the tunnel.
From the tunnel, it's less than a mile to a street crossing at Robert M. Davis Parkway. The first half of this section offers mature trees and shade the majority of the day. Grass berms border the trail on both sides.
From the street crossing at Davis Parkway, it's one mile to the trail's other end at Spiker Road. The majority of this section offers railroad ballast on both sides, agricultural areas to the north and another rest area. The end of the trail at Spiker Road offers another staging area and parking area.
The trail was funded in part both from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Department of Transportation. Signage on the trail often uses the acronym P.A.T.H. for rules and directions. The Piqua Activity Trail for Health has proven to be a great asset to the city.
Parking is available at 6665 Spiker Rd, French Park (219 W Water St), P.A.T.H parking (112 N Main St), and at the eastern endpoint at Troy-Sidney Rd.
See TrailLink Map for detailed directions.
Trail needs a little work (roots and sticks) but nice short trail well marked. Bridge is closed with no indication as to why or how long it will be closed. We rode across adjacent car bridge and then confined on trail.
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.
Went biking on this trail today - Never been to Piqua before. Could not find the parking lot for the trail head in Piqua as indicated on Google Maps and/or TrailLink. Parked in the city lot -- hopefully not illegally, as there were no signs indicating public or private parking.
Hopped on the trail and saw only one sign indicating the name of the trail, but NO indication as to what direction we were headed in, or how far away the next stopping point or town was. Thought we were headed toward Troy (as we had enjoyed some sections of this trail between Piqua and Troy in the past) only to find out that we just made a loop around the city. Got back to our starting point and asked a Police Officer where to find the trail head to get to Troy -- NO SIGNAGE WHAT SO EVER letting riders know what trails are what. Also, while on the loop, had to ask people which direction was back to the downtown parking area as there was, again, NO SIGNAGE indicating direction at a fork in the road.
This was incredibly frustrating and we decided that next time we will begin further south on the trail where we started last time because obviously the people inside of Piqua don't care to give information to riders passing through, so we will try to avoid it.
In addition, trying to find out how many miles the "loop" is... can't find it anywhere in town or on line. Segments of trail, but not the loop itself.
Disappointed because once you get frustrated out on a hot day not knowing exactly which way the trail leads can spoil your ride. This is a shame because the trail inside of Piqua has some beautiful parts to it and ought to be quite enjoyable. The pavement is in great condition.
Getting onto the Great Miami River Trail from inside Piqua -- unless you already know exactly where you are going.... again, NO signage. But, the Great Miami Trail itself is very nice and in great condition. The lack of signage informing riders of distances and locations really made what should have been a GREAT RIDE, well, meh....
There is a foot bridge inside of the Piqua section of the GMT that only gives you warning once you are practically on it that you need to get off and walk the bike, if a biker is going at speed, this could end badly. Once on the footbridge you realize it's narrow, but unsteady or worn. It really could be ridden on (except for the width) until you reach the other side and discover the STEPS leading down it with a a metal rail for walking your bike up and down. Again ---- SIGNS SIGNS EVERYWHERE THERE ARE NO SIGNS. I'm not all about destroying the scenery, but it would be really nice to be forewarned in advance of such things, and to know the distances and directions.
(let me say that the start of the loop had some mile markers but they ended at some point. We had no idea what section of trail we were on, or that it was the loop. We didn't know which direction we should have gone in to get to Troy).
my rant ends here. LOL. It really is a lovely, well cared for trail with great scenery and I'm happy to have biked it, and I probably will go back to it at some point, but I will probably start at a different Trail Head later that I'm more familiar with. :D
So, if anyone can please tell me: What is the complete distance of ONLY the LOOP in Piqua? TIA! :)
My boyfriend and I do this trail quite a bit and absolutely love it. There are so many choices of which way to go that it mixes it up every time! Great scenery and a lot of places to stop and enjoy nature or you can take a detour in the city of Piqua and have a bite to eat. One of our favorites and there are really none that compare if your just wanting to do a loop around or extend your ride.
The trails in and around the city of Piqua, OH include the 5.5-mile Piqua Linear Bike Path, the 3.5-mile River's Edge path, and the 2.3-mile Hydraulic Canal Run. The combination of the three trails makes for an enjoyable ride and form a loop around the city. This review is for only the Piqua Linear Bike Path.
To ride this long, straight path, park either on the west trailhead parking lot on Spiker Road, which is found at 40-08.155N and 084-17.894W or at the east trailhead parking lot on Troy-Sidney Road, which is found at 40-08.555N and 084-11.841W. Both lots are limited to about six parking spaces, are paved, and are easy to find. From either trailhead it is a ~3 mile straight and nearly level ride toward the downtown area, but the trail begins to descend more as it approaches the Great Miami river. On the eastern leg, there is a bridge over the river, however, the bridge is currently off limits with police tape across it due to some structural damage. It is for this reason alone that I recommend riding from the western trailhead, across the Martin Luther King Jr bicycle bridge, and down through the downtown area. Just before this bridge there is an off ramp to take the Hydraulic Canal Run trail north.
The trail through the few blocks of the downtown area has been well-designed to allow for safe and convenient road crossings and the trail passes right in front of the police station so navigating straight through the downtown area is worthwhile and is easy to do. Once through the downtown you will reach Lock 9 park, which is right beside and under the bridge. At this point, if the bridge is open, you can take your bike up and across the bridge to travel east or turn north to follow the River's Edge path. If not, you can ride north along the Great Miami River for 2.3 miles up to Roadside Park, cross over to Swift Run Lake and pick up the 2.3-mile Canal Run path south along the particularly scenic canal and meet up again with the Piqua Linear Bike Path in the vicinity of the Martin Luther King Jr bridge.
Due to the long, straight trail alone and the bridge currently being barricaded I would rate the Piqua Linear Bike Path as only two stars. However, add in the Canal Run and the River's Edge to increase the ride to 11.3 miles and this rating to at least 4 stars. I'll post some pictures of just this trail. See a similar review of the Hydraulic Canal Run.
~ Trail Jogger ~
I took up rollerblading a couple of years ago, so I am not a beginner, or super experienced either. This trail was probably the most enjoyable path my kids and I have come across in our travels. If a person desires to do a "loop" on rollerblades using the Canal Path and Rivers Edge path, I would recommend going clockwise. There are some slight hills that end at roads on the Canal Path, but they will be after crossing the road and going up if one is heading north. There will be a fairly good hill at the north end going down then, but it sort of ends in a parking lot. The pavement was smooth and the scenery good. I hope the people of Piqua realize the gem they have.
A wonderful design, full of historical spirit, and an obvious envy of surrounding communities. A beginners level challenge of inclines, straight-a-ways, and small hills. Last trip out, preschoolers were marching and yelling cadence on their side of the trail. They were having a blast. People are so much friendlier along the pathways. It's almost an entirely different community lacking the stress and hustle and bustle of competing with vehicular traffic. The ride along the Great Miami river is most relaxing as the city of Piqua disappears above it's banks. Recommend parking off ST RT 66, north of town, along Echo Lake spillway, take the tunnel east under 66 passing through the roadside park and travel south along the old Erie canal as it opens to run parallel to the Great Miami River. Once downtown, go west until the trail ends, turn around, and return to the French Mill area on your left and make your way north to Echo Lake and your trip will be complete.
All of us anxiously await the connection from Sidney to Piqua Ohio. Recent updates with local Parks Directors indicates perhaps 2010 or beyond.
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