Little Miami Scenic Trail

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

The Little Miami Scenic Trail runs from Cincinnati to Springfield, Ohio. It is a 78-mile paved rail-trail and is a “destination” trail, i.e., one that you would travel to just to ride. I had ridden on parts of it before. But I had never ridden the entire length. I decided it was time to ride the entire trail.

Little Miami River – Yellow Springs

I had ridden with a friend, Bob Berberich, twice previously and I would meet him somewhere. I went to Springfield, Ohio, and stayed at the Fairfield Inn and Suites. I had scouted out restaurants in Springfield beforehand and knew they did not have a Skyline Chili but Columbus had five locations. Before arriving in Springfield, I stopped in Pinkerington for my carbo-loading.

Spaghetti, chili, and a pound of cheddar

It was 6:00 p.m. when I arrived in Pinkerington at the Skyline Chilli restaurant. Perhaps foolishly, I went for a large four-way figuring I would need all the calories I could get. It was a bit much.

This unmarked intersection is the start/finish in Springfield, Ohio

I checked into the Fairfield Inn and Suites. Very nice staff and I informed them what I was planning to do – bike to Cincinnati. They figured that might take me five days. Needless to say, they were a bit surprised and impressed when I said I would be back tomorrow. I had called ahead and asked about leaving my car for a day and they said that would be fine.

Ghost town in Springfield

Most hotels are not fully staffed to resume serving breakfast and this was no exception. However, they had oatmeal and that was enough. I also grabbed a couple Nutri-Grain bars for my pockets to fuel me on my ride.

Train station in Yellow Springs

I am not into bike-packing. I have no paniers or racks on my bike. I don’t want the extra weight. I would travel as minimal as I could. But that would mean a small backpack.

Corwin

In my small backpack, I would carry a change of clothes (shorts/t-shirt/underwear), deodorant and toothbrush, a clean cycling kit for tomorrow, and flip-flops. Sunscreen. Even then, maybe that was too much.

Caboose at Morrow

It was 69º when I rolled out at 7:52 a.m. Sunny. I had mapped out the route using RideWithGPS and sending it to my Wahoo computer unit. Of course, that would be super easy once on the trail. But the first four miles would be on city streets. Two were “main drags” while the rest were residential streets.

The Miami Trailyard – a very nice outdoor cafe in Miamiville

I came to the northern terminus of the trail. It was not marked – I just happened to know it was there. I jumped on it and went 50 meters and it was closed. Detour. The detour did not last long, also 50-60 meters and then I jumped on the trail again. This time for good. I had ridden this section before and recognized where I was.

The trail in Morrow

Once south of Springfield the trail is mostly forested with a heavy tree canopy covering the entire trail. Although not recommended, one could probably get away without applying sunscreen because of the shade.

Directional sign in Loveland

The first 20 miles to Xenia are on a wide asphalt trail. It could safely accommodate riders 2×2 in each direction. The pavement was good with barely any sections with uproots on the trail.

Little Miami River at Morrow

In this section are two towns. The first, Yellow Springs, is 10 miles from Springfield. The second is the city of Xenia at 20 miles.

Covered Bridge at Yellow Springs

In Xenia, the trail goes right through the downtown area (which is very nice). On my way south I missed the trail crossing to the other side where it became a dedicated bike lane. Somehow I did not see the bright green crosswalk.

Downtown Xenia

All trails, and there are many here in “Trail City,” lead to Xenia and Xenia Station. What a beautiful old station here. While it is great for cyclists it is sort of sad to think these trails were train tracks and were the lifeblood of this community.

Xenia

The route south of Xenia starts by entering Little Miami State Park. Here the trail becomes narrower and a little rougher. There are some rooted sections as well.

At grade railroad crossing in Loveland

Except for one lonely mile marker left behind by the railroad, there were no markers on the side of the trail. But there were large painted mile markers every half-mile. And all distances seem to be the distance from Xenia.

The only railroad mile maker remaining – Waynesville

I had planned to meet Bob for lunch at Kings Mill and was having problems finding distance charts. Finally, at Corwin, there was an information board with mile markers. (I cannot find the map online.)

Detour on the trail north of Loveland. But one could get their bike through there safely.

I saw Corwin was MM 14 and that Kings Mill was 36. With 22 miles to go, I texted Bob and told him I’d be in at 11:45 a.m. And I got there at 11:45 although I underestimated the climb and distance from the mile marker to the restaurant since my calculation was to the trail head.

Lunch – Buffalo Wings and Rings, Kings Mill

After lunch, and the temperature was up to the low 90s, I went back to the trail expecting another 20 miles or so to go. I passed through Loveland, which is probably the nicest trail town here (Mile 40).

Todd Fork

I came to a river crossing of the Little Miami and saw some “kids” (who were probably 18-year-olds, so adults, no?) at the end of the bridge. Some were crawling over the railing.

Crossing the Little Miami – notice the kids at the far end climbing down (Loveland)

I went to the end and talked to a couple of the kids. They were scaling the fence then carefully climbing down the trestle to a girder. From there they would carefully edge their way out on the girder to the middle of the bridge and jump perhaps 30 feet into the river. Collectively, they’re braver than smart.

Carefully crawling out on the girders – Loveland, Ohio

The last miles went fairly fast. I passed the Milton Trailhead and went down to Newton where I exited. The trail appears to officially end about a quarter or half-mile farther but I was exiting.

Interstate-71 – Oregonia

A family on four bikes was taking a wide turn into my lane so I moved over and greeted them. The mother/wife replied, “I like your cookies.” Not sure a woman ever told me that before. (I was wearing a Phil Gaimon “cookies” kit.)

Trails End – The Bridge from the trail over the Little Miami River.

It was five more miles to the hotel on Round Bottom Road. This was the only sketchy part of the ride. I would describe it as part country and part residential although that’s not quite accurate. Maybe a mix of light industry and country. And busier than a country road should be. With no shoulder, I was not comfortable riding this road.

Cyclists in Morror

I checked into the Tru by Hilton Hotel which was near the Interstate. The restaurants were too far to walk so I continued to ride. Quaker Steak and Lube had outdoor seating so I chose that. The one problem was their outdoor seating was smoking. C’mon Quaker Steak – you can do better. I sat outside braving the occasional smoke because that’s where my bike was.

Tru by Hilton – Milford

In the morning I scrounged for oatmeal as the breakfast offering was scarce. I filled my water bottles at their water cooler which had the worst tasting water from a cooler I ever had. I suspect it wasn’t an actual cooler with bottled water but had a direct line to the hotel water which was pretty awful. Of course, I never tasted the water and didn’t discover this until 10 miles into my ride.

Loveland, Ohio

It was 74º when I rolled out on Tuesday morning. Very pleasant. I took South Milford Road into Milford passing by a nice retirement community and beautiful homes on Mound Street.

The Junction – Milford, Ohio

I came to the edge of downtown which looked really nice but I was right across the Little Miami from the trailhead and just went to the trail.

Milford Trailhead from the parking lot

It was a lovely morning as I went north. I was 22 miles from the trailhead at South Lebanon and met Erin T. at the trailhead. With 54 miles to travel, I would backtrack my route from yesterday with two exceptions.

South Lebanon

The first deviation came in Xenia, the Town of Trails. Erin was out of water and I wasn’t drinking mine. I brought a measured amount of ScratchLabs drink mix for one bottle and I could not taste it as I drank. The taste of the water was enough to keep me from drinking and I needed to be drinking.

Sand sculpture in Xenia

We went into a Speedway gas station/convenience store. With temperatures in the 90s, Erin took her bottles to the ice dispenser on the soda machine (or here I guess it’s the “pop” machine). I went to the cooler and bought a gallon of water for $1.99. The small bottles were $1.49 each. We went outside, filled our bottles with cold water. I had dumped out my hotel water. I then gave away half-gallon of water to a passing customer.

Train station in Morrow

The other deviation would be a stop at Young’s Dairy Farm. I did not have a big breakfast at the hotel and did not find packaged bars at breakfast to fill my pockets. I was hungry. I was hoping Erin would want to stop for lunch and we came to a pizza place (two, actually) in Yellow Springs. But she wanted to keep going.

Young’s Dairy Farm, Yellow Springs

At least three times I have been told to be sure to stop at Young’s. So this time I did. We saw a sign and turned on West Jackson Road. A man on a three-wheel recumbent bike had turned on the road ahead of us and it gave us a feeling that this road was safe if he would ride on it. Young’s was almost one mile away. And it is worth a stop. It was very busy but if I get back here again I will be stopping.

Young’s Dairy Farm

Back on the road, we stayed on Ohio 68 rather than backtrack to the trail. I knew they would intersect although I was surprised at the distance which was 3.5 miles. But they did come back together. We then had four miles through Springfield back to my parked van at the Fairfield Inn and Suites.

Barry at Yellow Springs. Photo Credit: Erin T

Bottom line. This is definitely a destination trail. Almost 80 miles of paved bliss. Out and back in two days was a great ride.

Loveland and Lebanon

May 15, 2018

LOVELAND, OHIO

I came to Ohio to ride the Little Miami Scenic Trail and to catch up with my friend, Bob. I parked in the beautiful little town of Loveland where we would meet and ride north.

Little Miami Scenic Trail in Loveland

Even before 9:00 a.m., it was a balmy 79º as we rolled out of Loveland. Our destination was initially was Morrow where we would find lunch.

Loveland, Ohio

We had ridden less than eight miles when we came to a spur. I saw the trail with the sign towards Lebanon. Although we stayed on the LMST for another 400 meters, I raised the possibility of following that trail.

Little Miami Scenic Trail, Loveland

We turned around and followed this trail for one mile before the trail ended and became signed bike path. At first, we followed Ohio Rte. 15 north before deciding that this wasn’t going to be the most bike-friendly route to Lebanon. We turned around and followed the bike route signs we initially missed (or ignored).

Lebanon

Surprisingly, we had a hill to climb. Yes, a hill. Although Ohio is generally flat, and the LMST is definitely flat, the closer you are to Cincinnati the hillier the terrain becomes.

Bob riding through downtown Lebanon

We got over the hill but as we were descending to Lebanon, Bob had a flat. And no repair kit. I had a spare tube and we were able to repair his tire and keep going.

Lebanon

Lebanon is a pretty town. IMHO, almost all these Ohio towns are beautiful. The older the houses the wider the streets and the prettier the town.

Lebanon

We found a nice place to eat at the Cherry Street Cafe. With some outdoor seating it was the perfect place to eat, nestled in near the train museum.

Cherry Street Cafe, Lebanon

We were on the other side of the hill from the LMST and with full stomachs had to ride back up over the hill from where we came. Of course, we got to enjoy a nice descent back to the spur trail then over to the Little Miami Scenic Trail.

Loveland

Going back we remarked how many squirrels we saw. Shortly after that observation a squirrel darted out and just missed my wheels. Unfortunately, there was a thump as Bob hit it. Bob was lucky he did not go down. The squirrel was not so lucky.

Crossing the Little Miami River on the spur trail to Lebanon

The trail is lovely. Loveland is beautiful. I would love to come back someday and ride the entire trail.

Barry and Bob Berberich, Loveland, Ohio

Little Miami Scenic Trail II

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO

I left this morning for Pennsylvania with another bad weather forecast but surprisingly, as I passed Springfield, it was dry but mostly sunny. The weather forecast was showing a couple of hours with only a 15% chance of rain. I parked at Beatty Station just south of I-70 in Springfield.

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It was 9:00. I met a guy named Dave getting his bike out. We chatted briefly. He told me he was waiting for his group. They would ride to Yellow Springs and back. He also volunteered that I might see them on the trail.

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I headed north to Springfield. I wanted to see how far the trail would go. No far, I learned. When it became a signed road route I decided to turn around and ride south.

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I passed Dave and his cycling friends still getting ready. The trail here is wooded. There are few intersections and just a straight wooded trail. Very pretty. In this section , unlike the southern section, it does not follow the Little Miami River.

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Five miles in a came to Yellow Springs. My impression was this was a Bohemiam community. The downtown had neat buildings including a lot of art shops.

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I continued on the trail. I went under a pretty neat covered bridge. The smell of lilacs permeated the woods.

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I arrived in Xenia then turn around. Or maybe the outskirts of Xenia. But I wanted to get back to Pennsylvania and this was far enough.

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On my return I found the covered bridge and decided to jump on the road. I was disappointed to discover the covered bridge was just two years old (2014). Oh well. It will be historical in 98 years.

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In Yellow Springs I caught the cycling club. I had gone to Xenia. They had gone to Yellow Springs, one third of the distance I had ridden. I saw Dave again and then made my way through the group and eventually back to the car.

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This trail is the third longest paved trail in the U.S. at almost 80 miles. It would be fun to come back and ride the entire route.

 

Little Miami Scenic Trail I

LOVELAND, OHIO

The weather here, and in most of the East, has been bad. It rained all day yesterday and initially was forecast to rain all day today. But at 8:00 when it was still dry I called my friend, Bob Berberich, and told him if we met by 9:00 we could get in two hours’ of riding before the rain.

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Loveland, Ohio

Bob suggested we meet in Loveland, Ohio and off I went. This is a lovely old town which begs for more exploration but not today. We met and Bob showed me the Little Miami Scenic Trail.

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The Little Miami Scenic Trail is a rail trail that follows the route of the old Little Miami Railroad. In this section, which we rode to Morrow, the trail followed the Little Miami River.

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Very pretty. The trail was in excellent shape. Great pavement, no roots.

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About two miles from our return it started to rain. No worries. I got out my rain jacket but never put it on. Just a light rain and we got out two hours in before the heavy stuff would come.

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After a good ride it was time for some post-ride nourishment. When in Cincinnati, you must go to Skyline Chili.

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Skyline Chili – 3-Way

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