A Walk in the Park

Where: Several parks in Middletown and vicinity
When: Any day
Time: Any time
Cost: Free

What can be better on a crisp winter day than a walk in the park! Middletown has several fine options for walkers. There are 32 public parks scattered throughout the city of 51,000 residents. For the resident or visitor seeking some exercise, the parks offer a variety of scenery as walkers, joggers and bike riders stack up the miles.

Middletown has recently opened additional length to the Great Connection bike/hike trail which will eventually connect to other trails being built to the north and south. Several points of access are available, the easiest at Bicentennial Commons near the corner of Central Avenue and Carmody Blvd. Bici Commons is an 11 acre passive use park on the Great Miami River where guests can also read the 3,000 plus engraved pavers, sit on a bench to enjoy the wetlands wildlife on the river bank or enjoy the occasional special event held there.

Another access to the bike trail is via a 1.5 mile connector from Smith Park to Bicentennial Commons. Smith Park, with its own walking loop is in downtown Middletown and is one of the largest and certainly the most heavily used park in the system. It is a 94 acre mass of athletic playing fields, a fishing pond, skate park, playground, splash pad and several choices for exercise. The trails are paved and have periodic exercise options for those who want more than just a stroll in the park.

One of the newest of the Middletown walking options is a park made from a recycled soap box derby track. Now it is the site of several soccer fields, shelters, state-of-the art playground and almost-a-mile paved walking track around the perimeter. It is also the exercise site nearest the hotels and shopping at Exit 32 on I-75. Jacot Park on SR 122/ Grand Avenue near  Breiel Boulevard, named after a local educator who stressed good posture and exercise, is on a hilltop offering an unexpected view of the surrounding countryside to the south.

A favorite of locals in the know is the Bulls Run Arboretum. The 11.4 acre site located on Rosedale Road just off Breiel Boulevard, was once a former Fresh Air Camp where Middletown area young people of the 1940s spent their summers building up their bodies to ward off disease. Now, the protected site of native plants and animals, it offers hilly trails and marked trees and plants to educate its visitors.

Also, a mostly unknown trail is at the nearby Miami University Middletown campus. Enter off Breiel Boulevard and watch for the trail entrance at the edge of the wooded area to the left. One of the campus’ outdoor sculptures marks the trail entrance. The hilly terrain can be a challenge or an easy stroll, depending on which of the many forks in the trail is chosen. Well maintained with mulch and appropriate bridges, the trail is also a botanist’s laboratory for those who look carefully at the trail-side growth.

Almost unknown, even to the natives, is a park which surrounds a water tower on the eastern edge of the city.  The Manchester Water Tower Park, all 7 acres of it, was built by neighbors who cleared the trails and put down mulch for walkers to enjoy the 1/3 mile of trail. Located at the end of Autumn Drive just off Manchester Road, it is more wild than most parks but a great spot for those who want to be totally alone as they walk and think.

Sebald Park, the largest park at 317 acres, is owned by the City of Middletown but leased to the Butler County Metroparks agency. Out of town a bit, it adjoins Weatherwax Golf Course off SR 122 and sports many shelters for picnicking, a stream for wading or watching, and wide open spaces for family games or walking.

While Old South Park is small and located on South Main Street at Fifth Avenue in the midst of a residential area, it is a fine spot from which to launch a walk through the historic district where almost every home is on the National Register of Historic Places. Stop by the historic fountain to marvel at the artist’s work and the loving care given the artifact by its neighbors.

The 219 year old City of Middletown shows the well-thought-out planning by its early residents who set aside so much of the city’s land for public use and provided for the needs of its citizens through the years.