Finally...Hamilton County has a mountain bike trail

http://www.soapboxmedia.com/devnews/mitchellbike0819.aspx

 

The first official mountain bike trail in Hamilton County opened Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Mitchell Memorial Forest in Miami Township.

 

In the works for more than ten years, the 3.9-mile trail was a cooperative effort between the Hamilton County Park District and the Cincinnati Off Road Alliance.

 

Construction of the trail, which has been built to International Mountain Biking Association standards, took 51 days, 101 volunteers and 1,136 volunteer hours.

 

"The challenge level is intermediate, because we wanted it for all levels of riders," says Todd Palmeter, parks planner for the park district and a mountain biker for more than a dozen years.  "We do have a few technical features available for advanced riders."

 

The park district is considering adding more mountain bike trails, but wants to be able to draw upon lessons learned from this one.

 

"There are no solid plans," Palmeter says.  "We want to open this trail and maintain it for more than a year to see the different challenges.  We want to take it slow and see how it goes."

 

Even though Mitchell is one of the county’s lesser-known parks, park district communications specialist Kimberly Whitton believes the new trail will be a regional draw.

 

"The fact that it's hard to find is a selling point," she says.  "It's the only type we have around here.  I think that people will travel a little bit farther because it's something unique."

 

Palmeter agrees, and not just because of the new trail.

 

"We've gotten lots of positive feedback from hikers who love the terrain," he says.  "And it's opened up parts of the park that people have never seen."

Trail open for mountain bikers

By Kellie Geist • [email protected] • August 8, 2008

 

http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/C2/20080808/NEWS/808080370/

 

I'm going to check it out today. :)

Hit the trail this weekend. Long gradual climbs rewarded with long downhill runs. Fun being deep in the woods. I think even the Boy Scouts helped out. Great to have this on the Westside.

 

CORA is a great organization from what I understand and they know what they're doing. Hamilton County has the best parks in the region and offering mountain bike/hike trails is definitely worth the effort. I hope they do a lot more.

There has also been talk of a mountain bike trail at Devou Park in Covington...now that would be really cool.  Something over by Alms Park might also work.  I tend to think we're going to have several of these in the near future...it just seems like they'll be a big hit.

MTB trails are quite nice. Hamilton County parks have a lot of equestrian trails, but none really for MTB'ers (as far as I know). MTB'ers are far less destructive than horses on the trails.

I recall there being mountain bike races at Harbin Park in Fairfield, so I imagine there's a decent trail up there

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=6729

 

Great, I'm not crazy, something called Cyclo-cross happens there. I don't really understand what all of these categories are, but it involves a race and money being won. Seems pretty official?

Devou mountain bike trail starts this Saturday

http://www.soapboxmedia.com/devnews/blazingtrails1007.aspx

 

Greater Cincinnati will get its first urban mountain bike trails on October 11 when 150 high school volunteers from Give Back High converge on Devou Park in Covington.

 

From 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM, volunteers recruited from high schools throughout the region will go to work shoveling, trimming trees, moving logs, smoothing dirt and using heavy duty tools.

 

The Blazing Trails event will mark the beginning of 8 to 10 miles of planned trails, with various levels of difficulty.

 

"These trails will bring much enjoyment to residents and hiking and mountain bike enthusiasts," says Larry Klein, Covington's assistant city manager. "We look forward to implementing this phase of the Devou Park Master Plan with so many dedicated volunteers and sponsors."

 

As part of their work to promote mountain biking in Greater Cincinnati, the Kentucky Mountain Bike Association and the Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance encouraged Covington to include several miles of trail in the park’s plan.

 

The groups point out that one in five Americans over the age of 16 own a mountain bike.

 

States with more miles of mountain bike trails have also been shown to have more physically fit residents.

 

The project is also part of UGive's "Green Machine" series, a partnership of several non-profit organizations that will bring high school volunteers together for eight environmentally-oriented service projects through November 15.

 

Currently, the next nearest mountain bike trail is in Mitchell Memorial Forest in Miami Township, Hamilton County.

 

Awesome, can't wait to use this trail.  Any idea when it will be completed?  I have no idea how long it takes to make trails.

Sweet. I guess it's a go. 10 miles of trails would make it one of the biggest in the area. Burlington, KY might have that much.

 

Also there's a trail in Fort Thomas, KY. I've never tried that one. I understand it's mostly downhill and takes you to the Ohio River. The problem is you have to go back up.

Idlewild has an extensive network (not that big, though) of varying challenges, and Wanton in Hamilton County has a new 6 mile trail. Capitol View in Frankfort (Ky) has an extensive network of varying difficulty with sinkholes and jumps to play around in, but its about one-hour drive away.

Well I guess from reading the first article posted, it took 51 days to complete the 3.9 mile trail in Hamilton County, so 8-10 mile trail may take around 3-4 months assuming it's created at a similar pace.

Keep in mind, these trails are built with volunteer labor. Sounds like Devou trails will get off to a great start with 150+ people. It would be a great accomplishment if the trail is ready by spring.

 

I understand the wind storm a few weeks ago wreck the trails. Trees and branches everywhere. I think Mitchell Memorial Forest is still closed. Hamilton County Park District won't allow volunteers to use chairsaws. Whereas, with Idlewild-England(Burlington), people just got together and cleared the trails.

 

I'll try and gather a list of links that has more info on the various trails.

Unfortunately the Devou Park trail has been postponed.  Apparently the volunteer turnout was not what they had hoped for and decided to delay it.

Here's a selection of links.

 

Ohio Mountain Bike Association - http://joinomba.org/

 

Cincinnati Off Road Alliance - http://joinomba.org/cora/, Forum: http://joinomba.org/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=5

 

Trails in the "tristate area". Ones I'm familiar with:

 

Caesar Creek State Park Waynesville, OH http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/720/default.aspx

 

East Fork State Park Bethel, OH http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/eastfork/tabid/732/Default.aspx

 

England-Idlewild, Burlington, KY. http://eitrails.home.insightbb.com/]http://eitrails.home.insightbb.com/]http://eitrails.home.insightbb.com/ My personal favorite.

 

Harbin Park Fairfield, OH http://www.fairfield-city.org/ParksRecreation/parks/Harbin_Park_1733.cfm

 

Hueston Woods State Park College Corner, OH http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/745/default.aspx

 

Mitchell Memorial Forest Cleves, Cincinnati http://www.greatparks.org/parks/mitchell.htm

 

Tower Park Fort Thomas, KY. http://www.ftthomas.org/Recreation/homepage.html

Here's a link to a site with more info on local hiking , biking, and horseback riding trails

http://www.trailmeister.com

First urban mountain bike trails coming to Devou on March 28

http://www.soapboxmedia.com/devnews/blazingtrails0317.aspx

 

Work will begin on Greater Cincinnati's first urban mountain bike trails on March 28 when 150 high school volunteers start cutting their way through Devou Park in Covington.

 

Blazing Trails, a program sponsored by Give Back Cincinnati subsidiary Give Back High, is recruiting high school students from throughout the region to help build eight to 10 miles of trails of varying levels of difficulty.

 

"We do have several large school groups registered to participate and there is a general excitement in the air related to the project and its impact," says Teresa Murphy of Give Back High.  "It’s a fantastic way to enjoy nature and simultaneously create a permanent venue for others to enjoy an unfinished area of the park."

 

These trails would be the only beginner- and intermediate-level trails within 15 miles of downtown Cincinnati.

 

"I went to the trails the weekend before last for some training and was able to get a sense of the large-scale project’s vision and detail," Murphy says.  "It’s strange – after spending some time working at the site, you see the impact and are able to picture the final product."

 

Murphy says that work on the trails will continue into the foreseeable future, and there will be many more opportunities to volunteer.

 

"The goal is to have the first 4-5 mile loop done by the fall of this year," she says.  "In years to come, more mileage and loops will be added – on average, about 4 miles can be added per year."

 

As an incentive, two student volunteers will be selected to win Superlight Mountain Bikes, donated by Santa Cruz Bicycles and retailing at $1,800 each.

 

The Kentucky Mountain Bike Association and Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance pushed hard to have trails included in the park's master plan, which was approved last summer.

 

In advocating for the trails, both groups pointed out that more than one in five Americans over the age of 16 own a mountain bike, and that studies have shown that states with more miles of mountain bike trails have more physically fit residents.

Hamilton County Parks seek input on mountain biking

By Kevin LeMaster, Building Cincinnati | January 5, 2010

http://www.building-cincinnati.com/2010/01/hamilton-county-parks-seek-input-on.html

 

The Hamilton County Park District and the Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance are conducting a survey to further understand the local mountain biking demographic.

 

The short online survey asks about the availability and quality of local mountain bike trails and on-site amenities, what type of equipment and what skill level respondents have, and how many hours respondents have spent volunteering on local trail projects.

 

It also asks respondents how much money they spend at mountain bike facilities outside of the county.

 

The 3.9-mile, intermediate-level trail at Mitchell Memorial Forest in Miami Township is the only operating mountain bike trail in the Hamilton County Park District.