| At right we are looking North from the parking lot at State Route 55. As you can see the new trail segment starts at the right and then goes under SR 55 via a tunnel There are no facilities at this parking area. I hope in the future that the Simon Kenton Pathfinders will place a portable restroom on the site. |
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At left you see a closer view of the box culvert that takes the trail under State Route 55. A truck is going over the tunnel on SR 55. We are about to go through the tunnel and continue our trip North towards Urbana |
| At right we have gone under State Route 55 and are looking North towards the South Edgewood Avenue crossing about 1/2 mile or so ahead of us. The Urbana West Water Tower is in view ahead of us at the left of the picture. |
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In this photo we have our backs to South Edgewood Ave. crossing and we are looking North up the trail through the woods. The tunnel is about 1/2 mile behind us going South. Ahead of us is the College Way crossing. |
| We have reached the College Way AKA Mad
River Pike spur on the trail. We are looking North. Ahead of us is the bridge over
Muzzy Rd. As you can see there is a "Railroad Crossing" sign
on the pavement. Behind us about 10 yards an active railroad line
crosses the trail. It's only a freight line but please be careful
crossing. If you go down the spur that you can just see to your right you'll be on Muzzy Road which becomes Mad River Pike and runs into College Way. You can take that to Urbana University 579 College Way Urbana, Ohio 43078 On the campus is the: Johnny Appleseed Museum at Bailey Hall |
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In another one half mile or so we cross
Miami Street which is also State Route 36, the main street of Urbana and
come to: The Station in cooperation with the Coffee Depot will be open with restrooms and water available at the hours above.
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| Here is another image of the Simon Kenton Trail looking South from the Station. This shows the ample parking behind the Station. |
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This is a picture of the end of the
Urbana Station with the sign for the: As mentioned above the Depot Cafe is within the Station and it open 7 days a week Hours are: Sunday -Thursday 7 AM - 7
PM Because it is open cyclists have availability to coffee, inside restrooms and water. Susan and David Oelker, the owners, have a great coffee stop for you.
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After attending the dedication of the coffee shop (see above) we were told that we "Should Not Miss": Cafe
Paradiso in downtown Urbana The Cafe is on the Southeast corner of US-68 and US-36. From the Station turn left (East) and go about five blocks to the round-a-bout. Also see Yahoo Maps for more location information. |
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As we continue North on the trail we go under an active railroad bridge about 100 yards North of the station . In this photo we are looking South back towards the Station which you can just see through the railroad bridge. From the Station North the trail is parallel to an active railroad line. This is why you'll see a chain link fence next to the trail (at right in photo). |
| The trail crosses West Church Street and the next crossing on the trail is at Russell Street. I liked this picture because of the very old house at the left of the picture. South is to the right of this picture and North to the left. We are looking South on Russell Street. As you can see both the trail and the railroad track crosses Russell Street. |
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About 100 yards North of Russell Street we cross Ward Street. This picture has Ward Street behind us. The bridge ahead is Dugan Street crossing the trail. Since the bridge gives a good vantage point I decided to cross the bridge and take pictures from it. The result is below |
| The next two pictures are taken from the Dugan Street bridge over the trail which you can see in the photo above. The first one here at right is looking South back down the trail at the Ward Street crossing. You can see that the trail is crossed in this area by several roads including Ward Street |
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The next picture is also taken from the Dugan Street bridge looking North. It shows the trail crossing North Main Street about 1/2 mile ahead. In the picture you can see a large gas station at the left of the picture as the trail crosses North Main Street. In the distance you can see an large active grain elevator. We will be crossing Bloomfield Ave in about 1/2 mile from North Main and the grain elevator is just across Bloomfield Street as we shall see. |
| We have crossed North Main Street and it is behind us. We are now at the Bloomfield Avenue crossing which is behind us. The large, operating grain mill is on our left and when I was taking these photos the mill was accepting large trucks of corn from the nearby farms for processing and storage. |
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We have reached the end of paved trail about a half mile North of the Bloomfield Ave. crossing. Here the trail makes a sharp right hand turn and runs almost due South. I'd slow down for the turn. As you can see from the photo the trail runs North about 50 yards and then turns back on itself to go South. We are at the corner of East Lawn Avenue and Dellinger Road looking North. At this point the trail leaves the old railbed. |
| To continue the trail you must ride
South (turn right from the trail) on East Lawn Avenue for about one
fifth of a mile. You'll come to the corner of East Lawn Avenue and
Children's Home Road. At the corner turn left. In another one fifth of a
mile you'll come to Melvin Miller Park. This photo shows the corner
taken from the South side of the corner. There is a large church on the
corner as you can see.
Note: If you are hungry continue South on East Lawn about 1 mile until you reach State Route 36 which is the main street of Urbana. Turn left (East) and you'll see three or four fast food restaurants on the North side of SR36.
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We have followed Children's Home Road East about .2 mile and Melvin Miller Park is on the right (South) side of the road. Miller Park is a very large park with play fields as well as water and restrooms. The trail parallels Children's Home Road in this picture but also runs around the circumference of the park. Just before this photo there is a turn where the trail goes into the park. The trail comes out at the far Southeast of the Park and continues East |
| You can either follow the trail above
to its end and then turn right (South) into the park and ride until the
park road connects with the trail. At this writing you could not do
that.
What we recommend is that you follow the trail around its border. At the Southeast corner of the park the trail continues East. In this photo we are looking West back towards Miller Park. The trail makes a hard right (South) turn and continues towards the Urbana YMCA. Shortly the trail will go past a new neighborhood of houses at South Boyce and Old Farm Road.
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The trail continues South for maybe
another half mile and comes to a trail spur to the West (left turn). If
you take the spur you'll ride behind some athletic fields and it dead
ends in about 300 yards into a neighborhood.
If you continue South on the trail it will look like this and will continue until it reaches a sharp left turn (East)
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| As you can see from the photo we have come to the left turn in the trail. From here the trail is in the middle of a large cornfield. When I took the photos there were deer tracks alongside the trail and many chewed corncobs along the way. The trail is in the cornfields for several hundred yards and then it turns sharp right (South). You are almost to the end of the trail. You'll see the back of a building ahead; it's the Urbana YMCA. |
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This is a picture of the front of the Urbana YMCA on Community Drive at SR36. This is the end of the trail. We are 14.6 miles from where the trail started by connecting to the Buck Creek Trail in Springfield, Ohio There is parking, bike racks, water and restrooms (inside) the YMCA. If you follow Community Drive about 100 yards South you'll be on State Route 36 East of downtown Urbana. |
| We finished taking pictures and asked where there was a good place for lunch in Urbana. The persons we talked to asked us if we had ever gone to "Rothschild's?" We said No. They told us to turn left from Community Drive after leaving the YMCA in Urbana. That puts you on SR 36 going East. Follow it out of town about 3 miles and you'll see the "Rothschild Farm." on the right side of the road. We had a wonderful lunch there. At left is a picture of the guest shop and restaurant. |
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