Great Miami River Recreation Trail Island MetroPark to Stewart Street Bridge

The Great Miami River Recreation Trail ( AKA Horace M. Huffman, Jr. Bikeway & River Corridor Bikeway) , runs along both sides of the Great Miami River in downtown Dayton, Ohio. North of Island MetroPark and South of the Stewart Street Bridge the trail is only on the East Bank of the Great Miami River.

This webpage highlights the 4.0 miles from Island MetroPark South to the Stewart Street Bridge on the East Bank of the River and a return to Island MetroPark on the trail on the West bank of the River for a total of 8.0 miles.

Parents Please Note: Part of this trail segment is on the levees on both banks of the Great Miami River. In some parts of the trail is 30' above a drop off on one or both sides of the trail which has no fences. This trail segment may not be appropriate for small children.

How to get there: Island MetroPark is in downtown Dayton You can get there by taking Riverside Drive North from Downtown or take Leo Street West into downtown . Riverside Ohio, a suburb of Dayton near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. You can enter the park off Harshman Road near Valley Street; follow the park road to the last parking lot and ride your bicycle over the bridge, which is closed to cars. Or you can enter from Springfield Street, parking near the trailhead.

Click on photo for larger image	The trail starts at Island MetroPark. At left is a picture of the park about a quarter mile North of the parking lot off Helena Street. We are looking East from the red suspension bridge that takes you to Triangle Park. The white building to left is the Diehl Band Shell which is used for Summer concerts in the park.

The trail runs South through the park, passes by the restrooms and water and follows Helena Street for a few yards until you cross the street and continue South next to North Bend Blvd. On our left going South is the Kettering Field Park which are playfields. The photo shows that the road is a divided highway with the Great Miami River to right. In the background you may be able to see the I-75 bridges over the road and river.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	At left we are looking back to Island MetroPark. What we see here is the low dam on the Great Miami River in the foreground. On the other side of the river is the Dayton Canoe Club and in the background is the Helena Street Bridge over the river at Island MetroPark.
Construction Alert 1
The I-75 reconstruction in downtown Dayton will close the Great Miami River Recreation Trail on both banks until Summer 2008. The construction is on the I-75 bridges over the Great Miami River. For more information see the ODOT Web Site which has current status on the construction.
I am told that there should be detour signs on the trail for your use. In this Yahoo Maps photo you can see the I-75 bridges crossing the Great Miami River. The detours should be both North and South of the two bridges you see in the photo.

We are looking at the Interstate 75 bridges over North Bend Blvd and the Great Miami River. We are .65 miles from Island MetroPark. "Friend wife" is standing by her bicycle on the trail waiting "patiently" for her husband to finish taking the picture.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	The Great Miami River turns to the West at the beginning of downtown Dayton. To the left (East) the Mad River joins the River at Deeds Point. We are looking at the curve in the river and three of the fountains of RiverScape MetroPark which is a amusement area in downtown Dayton which is in the background of the photo.

Here we are looking West on Deeds Park Drive in Deeds Park. We are looking at the Mad River where it merges with the Great Miami River. The Mad River Recreation Trail connects with the Great Miami River Recreation Trail here. If we were to continue riding East from Deeds Point on Deeds Park Drive and cross Webster Street at the end of the park we would come to the Mad River Recreation Trail (North Bank) trail that after .5 mile ends at City Point Park on Valley Street at the Keowee Street Bridge. This trail stub connects North Dayton to the trail system. The green bridge takes the trail over the Mad River so that we can ride the trail on the East bank of the Great Miami River. You can see three of the fountains in this picture (two to left and one just at the right of the green bridge)	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	RiverScape MetroPark has a set of 5 fountains called the Fountain of Lights that operate every 15 minutes seven days a week. There are warnings on the trails that you are entering a "Spray Zone Ahead". Pay attention and you won't get wet. At left here is what the fountains look like when they are running. They are beautiful and many times you can see rainbows in the water spray as you can see in this picture. During the Summer on some evenings the central fountains are turned on are used as the backdrop for a laser light show. See their website (above) for more details. We are looking North and you can see the I-75 bridges over the river in the background.

We have crossed over the green bridge from Deeds Point Park (above in photo). Then we turned left (East) rode about 100 yards and rode down the ramp you see here to the trail on the East bank of the river going South. The white bridge in the background is the Webster Street Bridge over the Mad River Recreation Trail. We are 1.3 miles South of Island MetroPark. See the MapQuest Map of Dayton for details.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	At right we are passing by the double staircase that flanks RiverScape MetroPark in downtown Dayton. Above us on the levee is the majority of the park. If you are riding the trail you might want to cross the Deeds Point bridge (green) and turn right to visit the park. There is food, water and restrooms there and a lot of interesting history about Dayton.

At RiverScape there are ramps up to the park area from both ends of RiverScape. Here you can see the ramp leading up from the South end of the park. The photo was taken from the top of the staircase you see in the photo above.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In RiverScape MetroPark proper there are restrooms, water and the "Flying Dog" restaurant where you can get sandwiches and ice cream.

We are continuing West on the East bank of the River. We have just passed under the Main Street Bridge over the river and see the Dayton Art Institute building just beyond the 2nd set of I-75 bridges over the Great Miami River. We are 2.0 miles from Island MetroPark	Click on photo for larger image
Construction Alert 2
As of March 2008 and lasting approximately 18 months (September 2009) the Monument Street Bridge across the Great Miami River just downstream from the I-75 bridges (above) will be replaced. The detour is as follows as will be marked:
West Side of River Bikeway will be closed in the vicinity of Riverview & Forest. Bicyclists will use the stairs at this location to access Riverview Avenue. They will travel along Riverview/Edwin C. Moses to the Edwin C Moses Bridge over Wolf Creek and use the stairs to access the bike path again. East Side of River Bikeway will not be accessible off of Veterans Parkway. Bicyclists will proceed on Veterans Parkway, across the Washington Street Bridge, northwardly along Edwin C Moses Boulevard/Riverview Avenue to the stairs at Riverview & Forest. Bicyclists will then use the stairs to access the bike path.
Construction Alert 2

Click on photo for larger image	The trail goes under several more bridges then turns left to the South. In this photo we can see the Edwin C. Moses Blvd. bridge over the Wolf. Creek which meets the Great Miami River at this point. The Wolf Creek Recreation Trail starts here. We are 2.65 miles South of Island MetroPark and just South of us the yellow colored West 3rd. Street bridge crosses the River.

We cross under several more bridges including the Washington Street Bridge and the double span US-35 bridges and come up from the river via a ramp that we see here. The picture was taken looking back (North) so as to show the ramp and the US-35 bridges behind it. At the top of the ramp we join Miami Blvd. East for about one half mile. This is a shared path so there are cars on this section.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	At the same place I took the above picture I turned South and took this picture of the Stewart Street Bridge at our turn around point at 4.0 miles from Island MetroPark.

At right we are crossing the Stewart Street Bridge. You can see the bridge railing, the river and downtown Dayton in the background. The photo is taken looking North.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	We have turned right from the bridge onto the trail on the East bank of the River. The trail parallels Edwin C. Moses Blvd which you see in the left of the picture at street level for several hundred yards.

At right we are passing by the place where the Wolf Creek empties into the Great Miami River. The bridge above carries Edwin C. Moses Blvd. over the river. The Wolf Creek Recreation Trail starts here. In downtown Dayton it's called the Paul Laurence Dunbar Connector in honor of our local poet who was a friend of the Wright Brothers.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Where the trail crosses over the Wolf Creek there is a low dam that allows for the river to flow under and it times of flood to flow over the trail. The trail is at the top of this low dam as you can see at left. We are 5.7 miles along the trail.

The river and trail have turned to the right towards downtown and we are at the Grafton Hill neighborhood. This photo was taken looking across the river at downtown Dayton.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	We have gone under the I-75 bridges and the Main Street bridge and we are looking across the river at the RiverScape MetroPark. Notice the fountain that we went by earlier on our ride. We are 6.7 miles on the trail. The trail will turn to the left just beyond this point and after following at river level will go up a ramp to the levee

At right we are coming up the ramp to continue the trail on the levee along Riverside Drive. You can see the low dam and in the background about 1/2 mile ahead we can see the Helena Street bridge that we will cross to get back to Island MetroPark. We are almost back where we started. If we had continued South on the trail at the Stewart Street bridge we would have been heading down the 11 additional miles of trail to Crains Run Nature Park	Click on photo for larger image