By Bill Brown
A generous donor, a memorial honoring a trail supporter and a trailhead needing an upgrade converged to create a wonderful opportunity for a project at the Miamiville Trailhead near mile marker 48!
The trailhead in Miamiville near the VIllage Grocery is a very popular stop on the LIttle Miami State Park trail. The combination of parking availability, grocery store, portolets and great view of the LIttle Miami River from the bridge make this one of the most traveled sections of the trail according to trial census data taken every year. The trail traffic at this trailhead often overwhelmed the seating facilities at the site. There were only two benches and one was an old wooden bench at the end of its life. Thanks to Dr. Robert Reed, the trailhead has now been upgraded with three picnic tables and a second bench.
Dr. Reed contacted the Friends of the LIttle Miami State Park (FLMSP) about honoring a long time FLMSP volunteer from Terrace Park with a memorial. Bill Schwinn was a legendary trail volunteer and was an early Adopt-a-Trail segment owner maintaining the segment of trail from Wards Corner to Cunningham Rd. The Miamiville Trailhead is on this section of trail and locating the memorial there was a perfect match!
Dr. Reed donated the necessary funds for volunteers to install three picnic tables and a second bench at the trailhead. The bench foundations were dug, the concrete for the bases were poured and the tables were installed in November 2025. Bench installation followed soon afterward and all work was completed by December. Ernst Concrete donated the concrete for the table bases and the FLMSP South Crew (Bruce Cortwright, Bill Brown, John Telintelo, Mike Dresch, John Schreiber, Stuart Lohrum, Fritz Buschmann) were joined by Memorial Bench program members Ron Gorley and Kevin Leamy for the installation work sessions.
The next time you're on the trail stop and enjoy the results of what can happen when a donor, a trail supporter memorial and FLMSP volunteers join together to improve this incredible Ohio State Park!
