T-Connector & Wright Brothers Flying Field

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The T- Connector is the link between the existing Wright Brothers' Bikeway aka Kaufmann Avenue Trail and Eastwood MetroPark (when built) which is the current end of the Mad River Recreation Trail. Both are a part of the Three Counties Trail (Nominal Name) that will run from Eastwood MetroPark to Enon, a distance of 15.1 miles (if completed).

The photos on this page will show you the T-Connector at SR-444 at Huffman MetroPark. I have recently added photos of the spur from Huffman MetroPark through gate 18C to the Wright Brothers Flying Field on Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB).

Here is an Google Earth image of the Huffman Dam area. As you can see State Route 444 runs East to West just South of the Huffman Dam. The tunnel runs on a diagonal from just East of the dam under SR-444 and come out just West of the existing Kaufman Avenue bridge over the Norfolk-Southern RR which ends at SR-444. I have colored the image to help you. The blue segment is the tunnel under SR-444. The red section is the bridge over the NS tracks to connect with the existing Wright Brothers Bikeway at the Wright Brothers Memorial.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Here you can see a photo of SR-444 as it crosses over the Mad River. The black line you see just below the roadway is where the trail to Eastwood MetroPark will go under the Mad River bridges. We are looking West towards Area B of Wright Patterson Air Force Base and Eastwood MetroPark.

This photo show a close up of the "black line" mentioned above. This is where the trail will be built up from the Mad River and alongside the Norfolk Southern RR right of way to Huffman Dam and the new tunnel under State Route 444.	Click on photo for larger image

Wright Brothers Flying Field Photos

This is where I begin showing you photos of how to get from Huffman MetroPark to the Wright Brothers Flying Field on a portion of Wright Patterson Air Force Base that was given to the National Parks Service. At the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park in downtown Dayton, you can Ride With a Ranger.

Click on photo for larger image	At left you can see the maintenance road going down and East from the top of the Huffman Dam to gate 18C of the base. This road, takes cyclists into Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to the National Park Service's Wright Brothers Flying Field. The trail goes by the maintenance building next to the new tunnel. See also their Home Page. Turn right (East) from the end of the tunnel and go down the hill to Gate 18C.

Here you see Gate 18C of WPAFB with a opening wide enough for you and your bicycle. This gate is open from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM seven days a week. Please Note: On Wednesdays the Base's Rod and Gun Club located on Hebble Creek Road close to the Flying Field is allowed to use their Trap & Field ranges. If they are using them, Pylon Road and possibly Marl Rd. will be barricaded. If you see signs that say something like "Do Not Enter - Firing Range In Use" DO NOT go past the barriers.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Here we are, just inside Gate 18C and are starting to ride down Marl Road to the Flying Field. We are heading Northeast towards the intersection of Marl Road with Hebble Creek Road.

This photo shows Marl Road continuing to the left and Hebble Creek Road around the bend to the right. Please continue Northeast on Marl Road to reach the Flying Field parking lot.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	We are still traveling on Marl Road. We are about .9 miles from Gate 18C and on the road is a National Parks Service sign that says Huffman Prairie Flying Field. We are almost to the parking lot.

At 1.2 miles from the Gate we see the Wright Brothers Flying Field parking lot on the left of Marl Road. There is a bicycle rack visible in the picture if you want to park your bike and walk around the Flying Field.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Just beyond the parking lot is the walkway entrance to the Flying Field. There is a historical sign just to the left of the walk that you can see in this photo.

At first I decided not to show you the actual Ohio Historical Marker that I mentioned in the photo above, but I changed my mind. I would like you to click on the photo at right and read what it says about the Wright Brothers. Many Americans can tell you that the Wright Brothers first flew at Kitty Hawk, NC, but few can tell you that "where we really learned to fly" (in their words), was at Huffman Prairie in Dayton, Ohio. They master the principals of aviation in 1904 and 1905 and operating the Wright School of Aviation here from 1910 to 1915.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Marl Road continues for a hundred yards or so past the walkway and then makes a hard right turn to connect to Pylon Road. In this photo, we have passed that corner and are looking down Pylon Road towards the replica of the Wright Brothers Hanger. There are several portable restrooms behind me on Pylon Road. We

We are now 1.7 miles from Gate 18C on Pylon Road. This photo is of the replica hanger and the catapult that the Wright Brother's first used to get their airplanes into the air.	Click on photo for larger image

Photo courtesy Professor John Silvius Professor of Biology, Cedarville University	The Flying Field is located on the Huffman Prairie. For you nature lovers, "Huffman Prairie is a black soil tallgrass prairie remnant of a once nearly two square mile prairie..." See the Nature Conservancy on this subject. The original owners of the land; the Huffman family, never plowed the prairie in this area, and the Air Force after buying the property, never built on the site. This prairie is one of the few original remnants of a prairie that once covered the area for thousands of square miles. In recent years the Prairie has been used as a source of seed to create other prairies throughout the US. I have seen volunteers picking seeds of one species by hand to provide starters for another prairie. Please see Dr. John E. Silvius' excellent website: Botany Along The Prairie Grass Trail for more information about this unique natural area.

We have continued down Pylon Road to its intersection with Hebble Creek Road. Please turn right or West on Hebble Creek Road and it will take you back to Marl Road where you can leave WPAFB via Gate 18C and go back up the hill to Huffman MetroPark. Note: Base employees who work in Area "A" or "C" can turn left, continue on Hebble Creek Road to the fence and turn right past the old Equestrian Center (that is follow the road that tourists in cars would use to exit the base). Then go around the gate that allows trucks to enter WPAFB and show the guard your Base ID. That should allow you onto the base on "H Road."	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	We have exited Wright Patterson Air Force Base (Gate 18C), in a repeat of the photo above. This Marl Road extension will take you back to Huffman Dam and the T-Connector. If you turn left you'll go through the tunnel and bridge to the Wright Brothers Bikeway. If you continue straight you can cross the dam face and continue into Huffman MetroPark where there is parking, water and restrooms. Unfortunately, there is no signage from the trail to the Flying Field. This will be fixed in the future.

Return to Huffman MetroPark and Wright Brothers Bikeway

Click on photo for larger image	We have returned to the T-Connector in this photo. This picture shows the interior of one half of the tunnel taken looking South from the North side of SR-444 in Huffman MetroPark. The tunnel is about 100' long and lighted within.

Here is a longer view of the new tunnel. If you could look to the left of this picture you'd see the maintenance building at Huffman Dam in front of you. SR-444 is above at the fence.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	After we pass through the tunnel from Huffman MetroPark we come out on the South side of SR-444 which you can see above. We are almost below the signs that direct you left to Springfield Street which takes you to Area B of the base and the Air Force Museum or right to SR-444 "Dayton" which connects to SR-4 and then becomes Valley Street.

Looking up the trail from the last photo we see the bridge over the Norfolk Southern tracks with Kaufmann Avenue to left of the photo.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	In this picture you are looking West on SR-444. These are the West-bound lanes of the four lane highway. The tunnel is completed under the road. You can see in this photo the new dark black pavement. The tunnel is under this new pavement. The picture was taken just North of SR-444.

Here is another view of the North side of the tunnel area taken from the Wright Brothers Memorial on the hill above. In this photo you can see the maintenance building across Sr-444. At the left of the building the trail goes under the road but cannot be seen in this photo.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Beyond the tunnel under SR-444 the new trail is carried on a new bridge over the Norfolk-Southern RR tracks next to the Kaufmann Road bridge over the tracks. Here you can see the almost finished bridge over the tracks. We are looking North and Kaufmann Avenue is on our right.

In this photo we show the bridge from the curve where it connects to the existing Wright Brothers Trail alongside Kaufmann Road.	Click on photo for larger image

Click on photo for larger image	Here is another Google Earth image. It shows almost all of the planned route of the new trail from the T-Connector at Huffman MetroPark West alongside the North side of the Norfolk-Southern RR almost of Eastwood MetroPark. I have colored the route with blue dots. As you can see from the image the trail is North of the railroad right-of-way and then goes just North of the railroad bridge across Springfield Street close to Wright-Patterson's Area "B" main gate. The trail then follows the South side of the river up to Huffman Dam where it will go under SR-444 via a tunnel and over the tracks next to the existing Kaufman Avenue bridge.

Finally I thought I would give you a link to Yahoo Maps. You can go to the website and see an image of Huffman MetroPark and manipulate the map yourself to see where the tunnel and bridge will go and then look West to Eastwood MetroPark for the trail link to the Mad River Recreation Trail and the Creekside Recreation Trail that meet there.

Surface: Construction started October 2006 with a planned completion of July 2007.

Photos of the Completed Tunnel & Bridge	Plans
Surface	Route
Map	Park & Ride Locations
Rest Rooms	Wright Brothers Flying Field Photos

Plans: The plan was to build a tunnel under State Route 444 and a bridge across the trail road tracks from Huffman MetroPark to the Wright Brothers Memorial, (a part of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) on Kaufmann Avenue. The picture at right is of Huffman MetroPark. The tunnel and bridge were completed June 2007.	Click on photo for larger image

"Three Counties Trail" (Nominal Name) - From Huffman MetroPark, a new trail is planned to be built along the Mad River downstream, alongside the Norfolk Southern right of way and under Harshman Road to arrive at Eastwood MetroPark and connect with the Mad River Bikeway Extension (to Dayton) and the Creekside Trail AKA "H" Connector" to Xenia.