A planned multi-use path connecting Sharon Woods into a regional trail system is moving along. Great Parks of Hamilton County recently acquired the property needed to make the Sharon Creek Trail a reality.
"The Sharon Creek Trail project is really envisioned as more of a future element to this growing trail system in the region," says Becky Osinski, regional planning coordinator for Great Parks. "It's a part of the Triangle Trail, which has a vision of connecting the northern suburbs together, and also into theselarger trail networks like the CROWN and Great Miami River Trail. If you think about it like an upside down triangle (with) the two points at the top, we're trying to connect Winton Woods Park and Sharon Woods parks."
The proposed trail is shown in yellow on the map above. It will follow Sharon Creek south from Sharon Woods toward the Mill Creek and be about a mile long.
The trail is still in the early stages. Osinski says it's too early to estimate the cost or timeline.
"The first step is really just acquiring the land, which we're able to do ... with some grant funding, so we jumped on that. Then the next step will be a feasibility study to look into exactly where the trail is going to go and how much it's going to cost and what's going to be involved."
One of the first projects will be stream restoration work along Sharon Creek, she adds.
A public desire for more trails was a key takeaway from the Great Parks master planning process. This trail is part of connecting the northern suburbs and tying into other trails further south toward Cincinnati.
"The CROWN is really going to be fantastic at connecting Cincinnati, but we need something north," Osinski says. "There's been a trail group that's been working together for years called Mill Creek Collaborative that we're a part of, and they have this long range vision for recreation and transportation trails up in that section of the county. This specifically is Sharonville and Evendale, but really connected down in the Reading and Lockland and Arlington Heights and all these other neighborhoods to get them connected, whereas traditionally right now it's just a lot of driving."
Great Parks announced last month it had the final funding to begin a planned trail connecting Glenwood Gardens to Winton Woods.
