Middletown Trail Segment

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(Source: Miami Conservancy District)

Germantown Road South (State Route 4)
to State Route 73 (Oxford State Hwy.)

A portion of the Great Miami River Recreation Trail (Butler County) was built in Middletown, Ohio. A 2.3 mile section of the trail was finished in 2003. In 2005 another 3.5 miles was built and dedicated in 2006. See MapQuest for a map of Middletown. Also click on the map from MapQuest at right for more information. It shows Smith Park which connects via a bike spur to the trail along the Great Miami River. The trail along the River is from the Germantown Road (State Route 4) bridge South 6.56 miles to State Route 73, passing by Bicentennial Commons, which is just South of the Central Avenue bridge over the Great Miami River. The trail continues on Old SR-73 East for about .5 mile until it merges with the current SR-73 at the Middletown Sewer Plant. There is also a .8 mile trail spur from the trail just North of Columbia Road (aka Reinartz Blvd.) that runs from the trail to Smith Park.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	At left "friend wife" is standing at the current trail's end which is about 300 feet North of the Germantown Road (State Route 4) bridge over the Great Miami River. You can see the bridge in the background. Eventually the trail will be extended North beyond this point. At left in the photo is the ramp up from the river's edge to the levee and the staging area.

At right we have walked up the ramp you can see in the previous photograph, and now can see over the levee that the Miami Conservancy District manages. We see the small parking lot at the North end of the trail at Germantown Road. In the distance you may be able to see Hook Field, the local airport, and beyond it, Smith Park. More about Smith Park later.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	We see here a closer view of the Germantown Road bridge (State Route 4) over the Great Miami River. We are now looking North towards the trail's end (about 1/3 mile). If you were to look to the right of this picture (taken from the top of the levee) you'd see Carmody Blvd., the road that follows the River. Following Carmody Blvd. South 1.5 miles from the beginning of the trail we will see on the left Hook Road.
At 1.9 miles from the trail start, we cross Reinartz Road (aka Columbia Road). If we were to turn left (traveling South) at this point we'd see the signs for Smith Park. There is a trail spur built from Smith Park to the Middletown Trail. Go across the road at the sign and you'll see the stairs down the levee to the trail.
At approximately 2 miles from the trail's beginning, near Columbia Road, we see the trail spur to Smith Park. This is it at left. The trail crosses Carmody Blvd, (the road alongside the trail) goes down this flight of steps and continues .6 miles to Smith Park. See Smith Park Trail Spur for more details.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Return to Trail from Smith Park Trail Spur

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	Here we have returned from our visit to the Smith Park Trail Spur and are continuing South. We are 2.2 miles from where we started at Germantown Road. We are looking at the Central Avenue bridge (State Route 122) over the Great Miami River. As you can see, the trail goes below the bridge. To the left of the photo is a small parking area on Carmody Blvd. where we parked.

Here we are looking from the trail to the small staging area on Carmody Blvd. The parking area is gravel with room for about 6 cars. There are no services here. In a moment we will go under the SR-122 bridge you see in the previous photo and pass by the Bicentennial Commons just South of the bridge.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	At left we are looking North at Bicentennial Commons, 2.3 miles from the trail's beginning, just South of the Central Avenue bridge. This red brick sidewalk has historical markers all along its length. There is a ramp from the trail at the North end that takes you up to the Commons.

This is a better view of the pavilion (or band shell) built by AK Steel for the Commons. The trail continues alongside the river below the Commons.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	We are just South of Bicentennial Commons, looking North. You can see the Commons in the background. We are 2.5 miles from the trail's start and traveling South.

From here the trail descends to the flood plain alongside the Great Miami River, and runs for most of its length at about the same elevation as the river.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	We have gone down from the levee and now are looking back to the North. As you can see to the right of the photo is the Miami Conservancy District's levee. At the far end of the trees is where we were in the previous photo. We are at about the 3 mile mark.

Looking East from the same location as above we see another ramp leading up to the levee. This is the very small staging area at Maple Street and Ninth Avenue in Middletown.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	We are now at the top of the ramp in the previous picture. There is a small electrical substation to the left of the photo and some sort of building. As you can see this is more an access to the trail than a staging area.

The river here contains a low dam. In this photo you can see the dam and the water going over it. On the other side of the river you can see a freight train traveling North. You can often hear and sometimes see trains on the West bank. The railroad line appears to be on the West bank levee.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	South of the low dam are remains of what looks like an old railroad bridge across the river. The bridge's embankment lies right beside the trail. Actually there are four remaining foundation abutments that you can see and what looks like some of the old wood foundation in the water. We are about 4.2 miles down the trail.

Continuing South the trail continues along the river until it reaches a line of large trees on the left and a large perimeter fence. You can see here a camouflage painted building at the North end of the property. Signs on the fence say: "Police Firing Range Do Not Enter - Trespassers will be arrested." The range continues behind the levee for several hundred yards. The fence continues alongside the trail with the large trees behind it. As we get to the South end of the range the fence turns East. For several hundred yards more a gravel road parallels the trail. We are about 4.9 miles down the trail. If you look at the aerial photo (the first picture on this webpage) you can see this firing range with its berm on one side.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	After another mile or so the trail goes under some high voltage towers. After that there is a another staging area on the left side of the trail, accessed via SR-73 (Oxford State Road). The staging area is at 5.7 miles. The SR-73 bridge is the current end of trail.

Looking South from the staging area, we are looking towards the SR-73 bridge over the Great Miami River. When we rode the trail the river had recently flooded it, and there was a light coat of dried and damp silt on the trail. Be careful you don't slip.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	The trail continues beneath the SR-73 bridge and then runs up and left to the levee and the end of current trail. Here you can see a good shot of the South side of the bridge and the trail in the foreground. We are 6.06 miles from the beginning of the trail. To the West is the City of Trenton.

The end of the current trail is on Oxford Street, a short dead end street off SR-73 (Oxford State Road). We are looking at the turn-around at the end of the road. This is not a trail parking area; I don't think parking is legal for cyclists here.	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	Eventually the trail will continue South towards the Rentschler Forest Preserve just North of Hamilton. From looking at Google Maps it looks to be about another 4 miles to get to the Preserve.

After I built this page, I asked an authority to look it over. The trail continues. The separated trail does end at the cul-de-sac (known as old SR 73) just below the SR 73 bridge, but the trail continues from that point East along old SR 73 as a signed shared path/roadway another 0.5-mile to where old SR 73 and new SR 73 intersect just below the Middletown sewage treatment plant. I n the Goggle Earth photo to right you can see SR-73 and Old 73 run to the East and then meet at the sewer plant. From that point south the trail will once again be a separated path to Rentschler Forest Preserve	Click on thumbnail for larger photo

Click on thumbnail for larger photo	The trail will pass Lesourdsville Lake, home of the Americana Amusement Park, before it reaches the Rentschler Forest Preserve. This Google Earth photo shows Oxford State Road (SR-73) at the top (current end of trail) and SR-63 at the bottom. Where SR-63 connects with Wright Brothers Memorial Hwy. is Lesourdsville Lake. Click Here to see the Google Maps page that clearly shows the amusement park and you can see a least one roller coaster. You can also navigate in any direction to see more of the trail.