Great Miami River Recreation Trail

Dye Mill Road North to Water Plant South of Troy 2.5 miles
(Opened 21 July 2005)
Opened to Tipp City 30 October 2008

This is Section 2 of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail in Miami County. It connects at its South end to the current Great Miami River Recreation Trail Section 1. Section 1 runs South from Dye Mill Road to Concord Township Line and was opened in 2003. This trail section; "Section 2" connects North to the City of Troy Section near the Miami Shores Golf Course in Troy. Click Here for a map of Section 1 & 2 (Miami County Parks District) The trail was dedicated Thursday 30 October, 2008 at the Tipp City Nature Center. The trail is now open from Kyle Park South of Tipp City to Section 3, Section 2 and Troy Trails.

Directions: Take I - 75 North from Dayton. You'll come to State Route 571. Your exit is the next one. Exit off I -75 at County Route 25A. Turn right at the top of the ramp. Follow 25A for about 3 miles until you come to the Waco Museum and Airfield on the right. There is a sign. Dye Mill Road will be about 100 yards ahead on the right. Continue up Dye Mill Road. You'll see the trail on your right. You'll see the staging area next to the Con Agra plant in about 1/2 mile.

Photos on this page are shown South to North

Click on photo for larger image	Section 2 of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Miami County) was dedicated of 21 July 2005. Here is a photo of the Northern end of Section 1 of the trail which ends at Dye Mill Road. The car is making a left turn onto Dye Mill Road in order to return to County Route 25A at the Waco Museum and Airfield. Section 2 starts here and goes to the left of the picture (East) down Dye Mill Road.

Here we can see the new trail headed off to the left (East) paralleling Dye Mill Road.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Here we have turned left from the end of Section 1 and are riding down Dye Mill Road East towards the curve. These towers are 70 or so feet tall so this is a landmark that you can see from the first mile or so of trail. This is Valley Asphalt Corp. and there is a sign just at the right of this photo.

This is a photo of the sign mentioned above. We are looking back to the beginning of trail Section 2. We are looking West towards the end of Section 1. We are sitting in the driveway of the plant and from here you can see (not in photo) the road sign in the distance at the right of the road that says "Trail to left."	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In this photo we are still at the driveway for Valley Asphalt and we are looking East towards the curve in Dye Mill Road. We can see a cyclist riding East towards the curve in the road.

Now we are at the curve of Dye Mill Road looking back toward the trail's beginning. We are about 1/4 mile from the start. As we ride around the curve in the road we will see a driveway and sign on our left that says: "City of Troy - Dye Mill Rd. Facility". This is the city dump. Watch out for cars and trucks turning into the dump.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	We have turned the corner and now are traveling North on Dye Mill Road towards the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Con Agra plant is in the distance.

Now we are further up the trail looking back at the curve. We are sitting next to an entrance to American Aggregates, a gravel company that has several pits in the area. From this location we can see one that is now full of water on our left. Across the street is another small lake that once was a gravel pit. We are looking South.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	The trail continues North towards the Troy Wastewater Treatment Plant across the street from the trail. The Con Agra Plant in on the same side of the road as the trail. We are at a dip in the road and you can see the Con Agra water tower in the distance. We are about 1/2 mile from the beginning of the trail

We are at the point where the trail turns off Dye Mill Road. We are looking South back to the beginning of the trail. We will turn onto what was called the "Big 4" which was a shared railbed. The company is the long defunct; Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway. A landmark in this section is an old white farmhouse on Dye Mill Road.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Now we have turned onto the "Big 4" railbed . The Con Agra plant is on our left as we travel towards the railroad bridge over the Great Miami River. From this photo you can see the trail and to left a little bit of the parking lot.

Here we have another photo of the new staging area on Dye Mill Road. You can see the Con Agra water tower in the background and the trail going East to right of the photo. There are about 8 parking spaces in this staging area.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	We are looking back (West) toward Dye Mill Road and the Con Agra plant in this photo. You can see their water tower on the right. At this point we are one mile into our trip.

This is the old "Big 4" railroad bridge; (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway.) over the Great Miami River. The trail comes to the bridge at the left of this photo. I took the photo from below the bridge. As you can see it was built from two older sections of bridge so the bridge sections are not identical. Look under the last section on the right (click on photo) and you might see the State Route 41 bridge over the river in the far distance. After you have crossed the bridge the trail splits into two parts. The first continues on straight East on until it gets to State Route 202. The second part turns left after crossing the bridge (right of photo) and continues Northwest into Troy.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	If you continue straight on from the bridge the trail continues down the old railbed for another 3/4 mile or so until it gets to State Route 202 where there is a trailhead. Here you can park and get your bikes off the car. In season, there is a portable toilet at the parking lot. Here we see a curve in the trail on our way to SR-202.

This is the reason for the curve in the trail at this point. When this was the "Big 4" railbed there was a bridge over a wet spot here. You can see the four sections of concrete that are all that is left of the old railway bridge. If you look closely at the abutment closest to the Great Miami River (far right in photo) you'll see when it was built "1929." We are looking back towards the Great Miami River here.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	We have come to the SR-202 Trailhead for Section 2. There is space for about a dozen cars here. There is a portable toilet stationed here in season. We are looking back towards the "Big 4" bridge, with SR-202 behind us.

Now we have ridden back to the "Big 4" bridge. The bridge is directly ahead of us looking West. You can see a ramp down from the bridge to right. It takes you to the waters edge to continue the trail towards the SR-41 bridge and then under it.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	The trail curves through a small wood for about 100 yards. Be careful coming through here after a rain because the trail becomes muddy and slippery. Here we have continued North towards SR-41. We have come upon another form of trail user that I don't normally think of. These folks are four fisherman who have walked from the staging area at the SR-41 bridge and are planning to fish under the "Big 4" bridge.

Here we are at SR-41 bridge over the Great Miami River. To right or North you continue to Miami Shores Golf Course. To left or South the trail continues to the "Big 4" bridge and the fisherman above. This will become a staging area that trail users on SR-41 can use.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	View from State Route 41 bridge over the Great Miami River looking South towards the "Big 4" railroad bridge that you can just see (click on picture) in the distance. The trail has been on the bank to the left of the picture (East) and continues under this bridge. We are about 1/2 mile North of the "Big 4" bridge.

Looking North towards downtown Troy from the SR-41 bridge. The trail is on the right side of the picture. Just ahead on the right is a new low water bridge to cross the stream just ahead. To the right North of that is the Miami Shores Golf Club. The trail has been built on the East bank of the river.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In this photo we have ridden North beyond the tree line we can see in the previous photo and have come to the low water bridge. This bridge has been built so high water will run under it and over it without damaging it in high water situations. You will notice that these trail photos have straw on both sides of the trail. The trail (when these pictures were taken) was brand new and the grass hadn't grown on the trail edge.

We are at Miami Shores Golf Club, looking South towards the SR-41 bridge which you can see in the distance. We are about 1/2 mile North of that bridge and just next to the Clubhouse of the Golf Club. As you can see the trail follows the East bank of the Great Miami River.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	We have turned around in this picture from where we were and we are facing North towards Troy. The trail follows the entrance road to the Golf Club almost to its gate at State Route 55. At that point the turns left to follow the river and goes by the Water Plant that you can see in the distance. If you need food or drink at this point follow the Miami Shores Road up to State Route 55. There is a United Dairy Farmer's store just across the road.

We are facing West towards downtown Troy, Ohio. You can see the Troy County Courthouse in the distance at the left of the photo. We have joined the existing trail in Troy. The Water Plant is on our right and the black B&O Railway bridge is in the middle distance. We have reached the end of Section 2 of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Miami County). The next section of this countywide trail is the City of Troy Trail which you can see on the next webpage.	Click on photo for larger image

Continue on to City of Troy Trail