To the user's of the Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail, THANK YOU. With your help, Friends of the Little Miami State Park has successfully secured funding to repave the 40-year-old section of trail between Morrow and South Lebanon. The bumps, cracks and holes in this 3-mile length of trail present inconvenience and a safety hazard to all trail users.
Through a FLMSP request, the Ohio legislature has committed $200,000 toward the project. The City of South Lebanon will repave 0.9 miles as part of an upgrade of their municipal infrastructure. FLMSP has committed $50,000 of its funds available from memberships and donations. And most important, over $100,000 has been raised from you, the trail users, in response to our trail paving campaign.
The $350,000 has now been turned over to Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the contracting process has begun. With good luck, the actual paving will occur early spring 2026.
Why isn’t ODNR paying for repaving?
Since most of the Little Miami Scenic Trail is a state park, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. ODNR must prioritize needs across all 75 of its state parks. Recently, that included replacing the O’Bannon Creek trail bridge in Loveland and supporting Morrow's renovation of the Todd Fork bridge.
The disrepair of the pavement does not threaten to close the trail, so it is not as high on ODNR’s priority list, and we appreciate their efforts to stay on top of the bridge and culvert issues. But for trail users, the condition of the trail was priority number one in FLMSP’s most recent surveys. That is why FLMSP chose to make repaving of the most damaged trail section a priority. We obtained funding from the state, we committed funds already in our account, we reached out to allied organizations, and we asked for donations from trail users.
FLMSP appreciate and are thankful that trail users appreciate this community resource so much they are willing to support an effort to keep it beautiful, enjoyable, and safe.
