A Cycling & bikes forum. CycleBanter.com

Go Back   Home » CycleBanter.com forum » rec.bicycles » Rides
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

All trails lead to, and away from, Xenia Ohio



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old September 18th 10, 04:24 PM posted to rec.bicycles.misc,rec.bicycles.rides
Garrison Hilliard
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 148
Default All trails lead to, and away from, Xenia Ohio

'We get bicyclists from all over, from as far as California," says
Carl Atzbach of Victoria's Bed & Breakfast in Xenia.





Xenia is a mecca for cyclists, with bicycle trails going off in
multiple directions, and it offers easy access to the good restaurants
and lively atmosphere of Yellow Springs, a city about 10 miles north.

The Little Miami Scenic Trail, celebrating its 25th anniversary this
year, comes through Xenia about 55 miles after its start at Newtown
and continues past Springfield for a total of 78 miles.

In Xenia, the trail passes a replica train station, which serves as a
center for biking information, and its surrounding shady benches can
give cyclists a needed break. The trail continues through Xenia, not
as well marked as it could be and meanders onto the sidewalk, legally,
where traffic is heaviest. Xenia drivers, however, are accommodating
to cyclists.

The Little Miami Scenic Trail, south from Xenia, is quiet and remote
and has a feel of deep country. It passes through the town of Spring
Valley, which gives its name to Spring Valley Wildlife Area, a
destination for bird watchers as well as cyclists.

In the village is an oddity, Ohio's first poured concrete house, a
dignified 1854 two-story construction with columns in front.

The Little Miami trail north to Yellow Springs is likely to have more
people on it, cyclists, walkers, rollerbladers and the occasional
parent pushing a stroller.

Benches, absent from the stretch through Spring Valley, are spotted
along the way. The trail runs in sight of U.S. 68, the road between
Xenia and Yellow Springs, for the first stretch but then dips into
woods with the Little Miami River nearby.

Yellow Springs retains the liveliness of a college town even though
Antioch College has closed. The trail into town passes the now quiet
campus and near there is edged by a spectacular perennial border, the
Women's Park, complete with its own brick walkway, and a bench or two.

The trail also skirts Glen Helen Nature Preserve, with access to the
Glen Helen Trailside Museum and the 1,000 acres that make up the
preserve. Glen Helen is open every day, dawn to dusk, with a suggested
donation of $2 per person.

Yellow Springs is a good restaurant town with a number of eateries on
Xenia Avenue. The Winds Caf? has an excellent menu, its own bakery and
a good wine list. Not cheap, but good value for the money. Sunrise
Caf?, down the street, is less expensive but also has an interesting,
if not so ambitious, menu.

Ye Olde Trail Tavern brings another element to Yellow Springs' eating
options with more traditional but well-prepared offerings. The
building itself is the oldest in town, constructed from trees cut on
the spot at a time when Xenia Avenue was an Indian trail.

The Corner Cone Dairy Bar & Grill at Walnut and Dayton streets offers
not only soft ice cream and other treats but sometimes bicycle
rentals. Some evenings Corner Cone has live entertainment.

Above Yellow Springs, the trail moves through farm fields rather than
woods, but if you turn right after a couple of miles, onto Old Jackson
Road, then another right on Route 68, you'll come within less than a
mile to Young's Jersey Dairy, perhaps the only working dairy with
aspirations of being an amusement park.

Young's is ready for cyclists, with bike racks, maps of the bike trail
and the figure of a cow on a bike mounted high on an exterior wall.
Ice cream of all the usual and some unusual flavors, and what they
claim is the best milkshake in Ohio, are available there along with
miniature golf, a petting zoo, archery and more.

From Xenia, cyclists can also try Creekside Trail, which runs off to
the west, going as far as Dayton and another web of trails there, and
the Ohio-to-Erie Trail, which strikes off to the east. The
Ohio-to-Erie name promises more than it delivers, as significant
sections between here and Cleveland are incomplete and must be
traversed by roadway.

The Creekside Trail, slanting over to Dayton, also moves through more
open territory but in season is alive with wildflowers. The closer one
gets to Dayton the more varied the traffic on the trail.

Bed and breakfasts are a good Xenia lodging option. Victoria's, an
1881 mansion with 12-foot-high ceilings, is just two blocks from the
trail. On Creekside Trail, about 6 miles from Xenia station and 9
miles from Dayton, is the pleasant Alpha House in a 150-year old home.

Xenia also boasts an actual bicycle trail that proceeds for about 35
miles, to a point 6 miles beyond London.

Bike rentals are available in Xenia at K&G Bike Center, and bike
repairs at Surf N Cycle, both open weekends.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...way-from-Xenia
Ads
 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
All trails lead to, and away from, Xenia Ohio Garrison Hilliard General 0 September 18th 10 04:24 PM
Inch by inch, bike trails linking up - Cincinnati, Ohio area Garrison Hilliard Rides 0 March 21st 10 04:16 PM
Your Favorite Bike Trails in Ohio and Nearby (Long) daytoncapri Rides 3 October 16th 06 02:24 AM
Dayton, Ohio bike trails? Bruce W.1 Rides 5 August 23rd 06 02:26 AM
2005 Ohio River Way Regional Trails & Greenway Symposium Garrison Hilliard General 0 April 3rd 05 09:08 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 07:19 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CycleBanter.com.
The comments are property of their posters.