Canal Run

North from French Park to Frantz Pond, Fountain Park and Echo Lake. Ends at Swift Run Lake off State Route 66 near the water plant.

Route: The trail starts at French Park where it connects to the Piqua Linear Park . The new trail is 2.2 miles and runs North to Franz Pond and Fountain Park. It then passes the imposing Forest Hill Cemetery. Then it passes Echo Lake and ends at Swift Run Lake off State Route 66 just past the water plant where it connects with the new The River's Edge of the Piqua Linear Park

Park and Ride Locations: You can park at French Park the Southern terminus of the Hydraulic Path and at the staging area next to the Water Plant off State Route 66. You can also go into the Northern end of Fountain Park where the boat ramp is park there and cross the small bridge to the Path. Turn right just beyond the water plant to get to the staging area for the trail. The trail now goes from there under State Route 66 to the City of Piqua Roadside Park. where the River's Edge Trail follows the Great Miami River South to Canal 9 Park in downtown Piqua to join the Piqua Linear Park.

Rest Rooms: At this writing there are no restrooms available on this trail except in Fountain Park. You'll have to walk down the staircase from the trail to get there. The restrooms are in the building at the foot of the stairs. I expect that the Piqua City Parks Department will add a restroom at French Park, Swift Run Lake and at Roadside Park.

Hotels, Motels, B&Bs & Campgrounds near the Trail - Each trail has it's own accommodations near the trail. Click on the link to be taken to the Accommodations in the Miami Valley RailTrails Area

Impressions: We walked the trail and took pictures. We found this new "Path" to be a beautiful, scenic trail through spectacular vistas. One thing to note. The trail is about 8' wide, with the Hydraulic Canal on one side and about a 30' drop on the other. For most of the trail, neither side is fenced so when riding the "Path" we recommend caution. Excess speed could be detrimental to your health. So watch the speed. The trail is set next to lakes and parks as well as a large cemetery and the views are beautiful. See our pictures below.

Click on thumbnail for larger image	At left is the beginning of the Canal Run. The sign says "Begin Canal Run." Just behind us is the connection to the Piqua Activities Trail For Health and if you turned right, you'd see the parking lot and our car. The trail continues through the trees for several hundred yards until it comes to the first cross street; High Street.

At right is our first street crossing; High Street. Directly across the street the large white factory is the Hartzell Propeller Company. We will cross the street in the crosswalk and go behind the building to the left of the photo.	Click on thumbnail for larger image

Click on thumbnail for larger image	At left we are just about to go behind the Hartzell building and go up a ramp as the trail climbs to its normal elevation on our way from French Park to Franz Pond.

At right we have crossed High Street and we are going through a several hundred yard straight section in the trail on our way to Franz Pond. This section has nice park benches on either side to "people watch."	Click on thumbnail for larger image

Click on thumbnail for larger image	At left we have arrived at Franz Pond. As I mentioned above the trail is not extremely wide and there are "drop-offs" on both sides. Use caution when riding this trail.

At right we have passed Franz Pond and are on our way to the Park Avenue Crossing. This is only one of two portions of the "Path" that have a fence. Notice the new rail fence at right (We are traveling North).	Click on thumbnail for larger image

Click on thumbnail for larger image	At left we are crossing Park Avenue. Ahead the trail curves to the left for several hundred yards and them comes out at Echo Lake and Echo Lake Drive

Here we have gone around a curve to right and gone past a new house almost on Echo Lake. We are about to cross Echo Lake Drive. Across the street you can see a set of stairs that take you down to Fountain Park. The trail ahead has the Hydraulic Canal on the left and Fountain Park on the left for about a mile.	Click on thumbnail for larger image

Click on thumbnail for larger image	At left we have crossed Echo Lake Drive. Ahead you can see the small bridge that connects Fountain Park on the right (or South side) of the trail with the small Fountain Park to the North of the trail. There is parking there and a small boat ramp for anglers (12V electric motors only). You can park your car here and take your bicycle across the bridge to the Path.

At left we are in Forest Hill Cemetery. Forest Hill is on both sides of the trail for about a mile. There are two roads that cross the trail that do not have names. We are about to cross the first one. These are cemetery roads that provide access to the other half of the property. On the right side of the trail there is a rail fence all along the cemetery's property. Please do not leave the trail on either of these two cemetery roads. They are private property.	Click on thumbnail for larger image

Click on thumbnail for larger image	At left is the second Forest Hill Cemetery road. There is a large stone, mausoleum like structure at left which has the name "Forest Hill Cemetery" on it. After we cross this bridge the trail is less than a mile from it's current end.

At right is the last bridge will we cross before the end of the trail. This is the crossing at Ziegler Road. From here it is a straight trail of the end. The water flow through this area seems the slowest of the Hydraulic Canal. As you can see the water's surface is covered with duck week.	Click on thumbnail for larger image

Click on thumbnail for larger image	After a few hundred yards we are at the end of the trail at Swift Run Lake. Just before we got to this spot we had to cross over a water control dam. The sign said to "walk your bikes." I'd advise you do so as well. As you can see the trail can continue directly North while the current end takes you down off of the levy to the staging are to right. From the parking area the trail goes under Route 66 to Roadside Park where it joins with the new The River's Edge of the Piqua Activities Trail For Health which takes you back along the Great Miami River to downtown Piqua.