
Welcome to the Loveland Bike Trail and Little Miami Scenic State Park
Sparkling sunshine and cool shade with miles of paved flat trail along the Little Miami River. It’s a treat in Historic Loveland, Milford, Miami Township, Newtown and Lebanon. Affectionately called the “Loveland Bike Trail” it is the Little Miami State Park and it is 70 miles long with connections to well over 100 miles. Free parking, picnic tables, rest rooms, easy access, coffee, ice cream shops, restaurants and entertainment have made Loveland, Milford, Newtown, Miami Township & Lebanon excellent staging areas.
Some Rail to Trail History
In 1870 what is now the trail became the Pennsylvania Railroad, trains stopped operating in 1962. In 1983 the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources began development of the Multi Purpose Paved Trail we have today.Much of the trail follows an old railway line of the Little Miami Steam Railroad chartered in 1836. It reached Milford in 1841 and Loveland in 1844. In 1861 President elect Abraham Lincoln road the line to his inauguration, the train consisted of a steam locomotive with coal hopper and three passenger cars. Just three years later confederate General John Hunt Morgan and his raiders derailed a train near Miamiville. The fireman (who shovels coal into the engine) was killed and 150 Union recruits captured.
In 1916 a special train bearing President Woodrow Wilson and the Liberty Bell stopped at the still existing Loveland Station, the story of the day reported school children were excused from classes to see him.
Along the trail you will see Canadian geese and ducks paddle through the river, wildlife darting through the woods and Bald Eagles in the sky.