The Tucumseh Trail

Trail Route - The trail is planned in sections. Section 1 of the trail is a 2 mile link from New Carlisle Elementary School in the North of the City, through Brubaker Park and Smith Park. The trail will end at the Wot-A-Dog restaurant on State Route 235 just South of New Carlisle.

Trail Funding - The developers will receive $100K in FY 06 which means 1 July 2005 to plan the trail. This will end in a fully engineering trail plan that can be let for bid by construction contractors. The City will receive $626K in FY07 (1 July 2006) for construction of the first two miles of trail. Planned construction is for the year 2009.

Park & Ride Locations - The plan is to have parking at the former location of Elementary School on Bayberry Drive in the North of New Carlisle. There will be parking at Smith Park as well as Wot-A-Dog at 603 S. Main Street 845-3663 in New Carlisle.

Restrooms - Restrooms are planned to be located at the greens area that was the Elementary School on Bayberry Drive as well as in Smith Park. Wot-A-Dog will allow trail users access to their restrooms.

Map - Unavailable as present. I'll get a map for this trail as soon as possible. This trail is in its planning stage and the route could change somewhat.

Nominal Route with Pictures - I've taken pictures of where the trail is supposed to go, however by the time the trail is actually built the route could change a few feet. The pictures and descriptions below are of a planned but not yet built trail.

Click on Thumbnail for larger image	The The Tecumseh Trail starts at the New Carlisle Elementary School on Kennison Avenue in the North of the city. Here we see the school looking West. The trail may be built along the sidewalk in front on the school

In this photo we are looking West away from the school which is behind us. The trail will follow this sidewalk around to the left until it reaches Bayberry Drive (in about 100 yards) where it will turn right onto Bayberry Drive.	Click on Thumbnail for larger image

Click on Thumbnail for larger image	At left we have turned left from Bayberry Drive into a school on Pepperwood Drive which is planned to be demolished to make a green's area or park in this area. The trail will come up the parking lot and go across the current school's lawn.

Here we see the school's lawn. The school is to our left. The trail will go across this lawn and start going between houses and across streets in this neighborhood following an existing set of easements.	Click on Thumbnail for larger image

Click on Thumbnail for larger image	The trail first crosses Spinning Road. In this photo the easement to the school is behind us and we can see the trail cross the road and then it goes between two houses across the street. One of our loyal The Tecumseh Trail planners is showing me the trail's route as it crosses Spinning Road. The trail continues in this fashion crossing Willowick Drive ahead of us as well as White Pine Street.

Here is the crossing at White Pine Street. The school is behind us and we are looking West. The trail is planned to turn left here and follow White Pine Street South	Click on Thumbnail for larger image

Click on Thumbnail for larger image	The trail now cuts across the back parking lot of the Lake Avenue Christian Church and then the trail will cross Lake Avenue towards the South. We are 1/2 miles South of the New Carlisle Elementary School.

At right we are looking South across Lake Avenue. The church is behind us to the left. This is a existing trail in the field that the trail will cross to the South on its way to Brubaker Park. The trail will zigzag along several property borders to get to the park	Click on Thumbnail for larger image

Click on Thumbnail for larger image	Here we are at a North entrance to Brubaker Park. We are at the end of a dead end on Hillside Drive for this entrance to the park. We are looking West and the field above is West and North of our location. The trail will come through here, go behind this photo and turn right or South to continue the route South. We are about 1 mile South of where the trail started.

In this photo we have gone around Brubaker Park to another dead end entrance. We are now looking North towards where the previous photo was taken. Just behind us to right is where we parked the car. on West Washington Street. which dead ends into where Brubaker Park becomes Smith Park.	Click on Thumbnail for larger image

Click on Thumbnail for larger image	I turned around in this photo. Behind us is the Northern entrance to Brubaker Park and ahead of us is the connection between Brubaker Park and Smith Park. The figures in the distance were my guides for this tour of the proposed route of the new trail.

We are looking West and are in Smith Park. The trail comes into the park from the left (North) where it connects with Brubaker Park. We can see the new Log Cabin in the park. At the left of the building are the new restrooms that will serve the trail.	Click on Thumbnail for larger image

Click on Thumbnail for larger image	The trail will go through Smith Park and cross Jefferson Avenue which is SR-571. After crossing Jefferson Ave. the trail will skirt around the large grain elevator on SR-571 and come down Garfield Street. In this photo we are looking North on Garfield Street towards Smith Park. The grain elevator is at the left of the photo. We are now about 1.5 miles from the trail's start.

The trail runs East and goes between and behind several derelict industrial buildings in the area. Here we are looking West. The trail will come around the blue building and go behind us to connect to the right-of-way of the old interurban railroad line (Springfield, Troy and Piqua - abandoned 1923) that once served this part of Ohio. but the railroad was used by New York Central and its predecessors until March 1976 when it was totally abandoned . The trail will continue East until it gets to SR-235 where it ends.	Click on Thumbnail for larger image

Click on Thumbnail for larger image	We have crossed behind the building above and gone South about 100 yards to meet the right-of-way of the old Interurban railroad. Ahead of us (South) is the New Carlisle Water Treatment Plant. The trail will go to the left of this picture (East) and continue towards SR-235/

A familiar landmark as you leave New Carlisle on SR-235 is the old railroad bridge across Honey Creek . Here we are looking South from SR-235. The right-of-way crossed the road at a diagonal and continued to the East towards Tecumseh High School, where the trail is planned to run sometime in the future.	Click on Thumbnail for larger image

Click on Thumbnail for larger image	At our left is the popular hot dog stand, Wot-A-Dog on SR-235 in the South of New Carlisle. We parked here to take the picture of the railroad bridge above. The bridge is just South of the restaurant. We are at the end of the proposed Trail Section 1 and are two miles from the start of the trail. I understand that the parking lot here will be extended somewhat to allow trail users to park here. I understand that the Wot-A-Dog owners will allow trail users

I crossed SR-235 where the old interurban line went across the road. This final picture is looking East from the bridge that allows the Honey Creek to go under it.	Click on Thumbnail for larger image

Trail South from New Carlisle to Park Layne Manor - Plans have been made by the Clark County trails group for a trail South from where the The Tecumseh Trail will end at the Wat-A-Dog restaurant on SR-235 just South of New Carlisle. This 3.7 mile trail will follow SR-235 on its East side to end at Raynor Park in Park Layne Manor. Plans call for the submission of two requests for funds this year. $250K will be requested from the Ohio Department of Natural Resource�s (ODNR) Clear Ohio Trails Fund. The remaining $1.0 M will be requested from Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ) which is sponsored by the Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC). If funding is awarded during December 2006 trail design can occur in 2007 with trail construction in 2009. The trail could be open as soon as the year 2010.

As you can see from the map at right the trail follows the general route of SR-235 South from New Carlisle to Park Layne Manor.	Click on photo for larger image Photo Courtesy Clark County - Springfield Transportation Coordinating Committee

Trail Funding	Surface
Trail Route	Map
Park & Ride Locations	Restrooms
Nominal Route with Pictures	Construction News
Plans for New Carlisle to Park Layne Manor Trail (3.7 miles when built)