Little Miami State Park - Loveland - Things To Do Reviews

Little Miami State Park is a small part of the Rail-Trail system in Ohio. The state park portion of the trail runs from Terrace Park (just a bit northeast of Cincinnati to Xenia about 60 miles away). For the most part the trail parallels the Little Miami River on an old abandoned rail bed. There's an abundance of nice scenery (for a heavily urbanized area), and if you're out at dawn or dusk you stand a fair chance of seeing some Ohio wildlife (I've seen deer, wild turkey, fox, not to mention squirrel, chipmunks, lots of birds and the like). In several spots the river has cut out a shallow gorge and the hills rise several hundred feet right above you (remember we are talking about Ohio here - we don't have any mountains).

Best of all the park is free for use. Granted you need the right equipment depending on what you want to do and for that there are some bike rental facilities at the staging area in Loveland. Other staging areas include the towns of Morrow, Corwin, and Xenia (may have rental equipment, but I can not verify).

Also if it suits you, there are several canoe liveries along the river (not associated with the Park) that offer anything from 1/2 day to overnight itineraries. Another change of pace activity for those inclined. See the website link for other information and activities.

The park is actually a part of a wider range of rail-trails that criss-cross southwest Ohio. From Xenia, trails currently branch out in four directions (with a fifth being constructed). One can travel west to Dayton, north towards Springfield and beyond (an extension of the Little Miami Trail, but not designated as part of the state park), northeast almost to Columbus (eventually this is supposed to go all the way to Cleveland and become the Ohio-to-Erie Trail), and south is the aforementioned Little Miami State Park.

It's not flashy, it's not touristy, but if you find yourself in the Cincinnati area (or southwest Ohio for that matter) and want to get out and enjoy the outdoors for a bit, you can't beat the activities on the trail.