Mad River Recreation Trail

Mad River Recreation Trail

Trail Looking West into Eastwood MetroPark

In Montgomery County, Ohio
Ohio State Route 8 (1)

East from Great Miami River to Eastwood MetroPark

2.8 Miles (OPEN)

Route	Surface
Park & Ride Locations	Map
Impressions	Restrooms
Construction Progress (and plans)	Trail Review
Mad River Recreation Trail (North Bank)	Hotels, Motels, B&Bs and Campgrounds

Surface: Asphalt 10' wide. Excellent condition.

Route: (complete 2.8 miles) This bikeway links the Great Miami River Recreation Trail East 2.8 miles to Eastwood MetroPark. It is the link from the Dayton Metropolitan bikeways to those centered on Xenia Ohio at the Xenia Station. The Creekside Recreation Trail continues from the park to the Montgomery/Greene County line. At that point it becomes the Creekside Trail that continues on to the Xenia Station. From there users can continue North or South on the Little Miami Scenic Trail for 76 some miles. You can also use the Prairie Grass Trail Northeast from Xenia Station to Cedarville, South Charleston and London. This trail eventually will reach Columbus Ohio. There is also a trail being built from the Xenia Station to Jamestown; the Xenia-Jamestown Connector. It will eventually run as far as Washington Courthouse.

Map: I have a Map of the Mad River Recreation Trail (155Kb) that will help you orient yourself to the location. East of the trail's current terminus is the Creekside Trail to Xenia. Click on the picture at right to see the trail. Click Here or above to get a printable map.

Click on Thumbnail for larger image

The trail connects to the Great Miami River Recreation Trail at Deeds Point downtown where Webster Drive crosses the Mad River and the Mad River and Great Miami rivers meet. The trail follows the Mad River East to Eastwood MetroPark. Eventually the Mad River Recreation Trail will be extended east past the Dayton well field near the CSX tracks, under State Route 444 and into Huffman MetroPark.

Park and Ride Locations: In the Eastwood MetroPark.

Rest Rooms: In the Eastwood MetroPark.

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 have ridden the Mad River Recreation Trail on several occasions. The trail is on the South bank of the Mad River and is a sunny ride from Eastwood MetroPark to downtown Dayton. There are fine views of the city of Dayton as you approach the connection with the Great Miami River Recreation Trail in downtown Dayton at Deeds Point. There is also a new bridge across the river to the new Deeds Point Park.

Trail Review:

On the right is the entrance to Eastwood MetroPark from Springfield Street. From here you can take the Creekside Recreation Trail east to Xenia. If you continue on the trail in the foreground you'll connect to the Mad River Recreation Trail in the park to downtown Dayton
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	At the left is the garden and park bench that you go by when you get onto the Mad River Recreation Trail in Eastwood MetroPark on your way downtown.
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This is the trail looking east towards Eastwood MetroPark. As you can see the Mad River is alongside the trail and in the background left there are old foundations for a railroad bridge across the river. That right of way goes under State Route 4 and Valley Street to Webster Street. Perhaps in the future a trail can be built to old North Dayton
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Click on thumbnail to see larger image	In 2005 the bridge over the trail at Findlay Street that was built in 1926 was demolished and for the next 18 months there was a detour here. On May 5 2006, the new bridge which cost $4.8 Million was dedicated. Of importance to the trail users, the trail below the bridge was also re-opened. Here you see the trail from the East side coming from Eastwood MetroPark

In this image we see downtown Dayton from the underside of the new bridge. We are facing West.	Click on thumbnail to see larger image

Click on thumbnail to see larger image	I thought I'd throw in a few pictures taken from the bridge for your viewing pleasure. Here is one taken from the West side of the bridge showing you the new decorative lights on the bridge and downtown Dayton. If you look carefully in the right background you can see the Keowee Street bridge that the trail will go under next. Notice what appears to be a fault in the upper right corner of the picture. By luck, I got in this photo a Baltimore Oriole in flight!

I really liked this shot so I have also included it. You can see the new bridge railing, the sandbars below on the Mad River and downtown in the background several miles away.	Click on thumbnail to see larger image

	Here we are looking towards downtown on the trail. In the distance is the new Keowee Street bridge. And in the background to left are the buildings of downtown Dayton. The great blue herons were fishing in the river on the day we rode the trail; we also saw mallard ducks and Canadian geese in the wetlands along the river.
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This is the other side of the Keowee Street bridge. At this point we are almost downtown. The next bridge is the Webster Street Bridge. At that point the trail joins the Great Miami River Recreation Trail on the river.
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Click on photo for larger image	At left we have already gone under the Webster Street Bridge and are looking up the trail back towards Eastwood MetroPark. As you can see the trail is now down next to the River. At the confluence of the Mad River from the East and the Great Miami River from the North is Deeds Point on the North (left) side of the photo out of sight.

Where the two rivers meet there is a point called "Deeds Point". The area was renovated in 2003 for the 100 Anniversary of Flight. This bridge is a part of Five Rivers MetroPark "RiverScape" development. It runs from the South bank of the Great Miami River across the river to Deeds Point. You can use it to ride on the bicycle trail on the East bank of the Great Miami River riding past Kettering Park North to Triangle Park and Island Park.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	The picture at left was taken from the bicycle and pedestrian bridge pictured above. We are now downtown and you see the skyline of Dayton beyond the Riverside Bridge over the Great Miami River. You can see two of the Five Rivers Fountains of Light on either side of the bridge. You can see the bicycle trail on the South side of the river below and left in the picture. At this point the trail is on both sides of the river and is easily accessible

At your right is one of the wonderful things about RiverScape It's the Five Rivers Fountains Of Light! There are five towers on both banks that shoot water 200' to 400' in the air. There is also a central fountain in the middle of the River. At night the lights and lasers in the towers illuminate the fountains. These fountains run every hour on the hour for about 5 minutes so if you are downtown at that time prepare to get a bit damp! This photo is looking due North up the Great Miami River. In the background you can see the !-75 bridges over the river.	Click on photo for larger image

Mad River Recreation Trail (North Bank) - I have added pictures and descriptions of the new .5 mile trail spur (see December 2004) below for details.

Across the street from Point Park is the: Whitewater Warehouse. (937) 222-7020 They sell and rent kayaks. You can launch them on the Mad River Recreation Trail (North Bank) across the street	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	The new trail starts at Point Park which is just North of the Keowee Street Bridge over the Mad River at Valley Street. The trail goes down the bank to the river level on the North bank of the river and travels about .5 mile to Webster Street. This is the entrance to the park on Valley Street.

Here we are looking across Valley Street from the parking lot. More parking is being added in this area to the Park. The park proper is to the left of this photo.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	At left we are looking West down the Mad River towards downtown which you can see in the far background. The ramp goes down to the river from Point Park. You can see "friend wife" waving goodbye as I ride down the ramp. You can see the Keowee Street Bridge that the trail is about to go under.

In this photo we have just ridden under the Keowee Street Bridge and are at river level. We are about to go under the B&O railroad bridge that goes over the Mad River West of the Keowee Street Bridge..	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	We have passed under the railroad bridge and have ridden up the ramp traveling West to Webster Street. Just past the building ahead of us we can see the Webster Street Bridge.

We have reached the end of the trail. We are on the East side of Webster Street getting ready to cross into Deeds Park. Ahead of us is Deeds Park Drive. We can ride either the street or get onto the trail that takes us into the park. From here we can cross the Deeds Park bridge to the East bank trail of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail or turn North and continue towards Island Park.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In this photo we are looking through the trees at the park and can see the bicycle bridge over the Mad River mentioned above.

We have arrived at Deeds Point Park with a jogger on the trail and the green bicycle bridge ahead of us If you click on the photo to see the larger image you can see the Mad River Recreation Trail on the South bank of the Mad River which will soon connect to the Great Miami River Recreation Trail in downtown Dayton	Click on photo for larger image

Construction Progress

January 2006 - Five Rivers MetroParks has been planning for some time to extend this trail which connects in Eastwood MetroPark to the Creekside Recreation Trail . MetroParks has been negotiating with the Norfolk Southern Railway to buy the right of way from Eastwood MetroPark Northeast to Huffman MetroPark and the Wright Brothers Bikeway via the T- Connector and then into Greene County and Clark County ending 15.1 miles later in Enon. Five Rivers MetroParks received a "letter of intent to sell" from Norfolk Southern late in 2005 and is working to purchase the corridor, which may happen sometime in the future.

December 2004 - A new .5 mile trail spur was built by the City of Dayton with the assistance of the Miami Conservancy District and partial funding by NatureWorks. The new trail starts at Point Park which is just North of the Keowee Street Bridge over the Mad River at Valley Street. The trail goes down the bank to the river level on the North bank of the river and travels about .5 mile to Webster Street. At its end it is on the top of the levee so that it connects to Deeds Park at Deeds Point. All that remains to be done in Spring 2005 is some final grading and seeding. I am informed that this trail segment is intended to connect the North Dayton neighborhood to the overall trail system.

Continue on to the Great Miami River Recreation Trail in Dayton

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