Paving the Path to Fitness
Beavercreek’s trail system doesn’t just satisfy its own residents; other communities want to imitate it.
Creekside Trail, a well-maintained walking, jogging, rollerblading and biking pathway, stretches five miles through the City of Beavercreek. In addition, the asphalt trail spans another 50 miles within Greene County and beyond, winding its way through cities and towns such as Cedarville, Fairborn, Jamestown, Knollwood, Xenia and Yellow Springs.
Creekside Trail is so well conceived and popular with residents that officials in Beavercreek and Greene County have received a number of phone calls from communities in and outside of Ohio that want to construct a similar trail.
“I will brag that Creekside is the perfect venue for people who want great exercise while going a long distance, if desired,” says City of Beavercreek Department of Parks, Recreation and Culture Director Mike Thonnerieux. “For example, you could take a long bike ride by starting at Beavercreek, go all the way into downtown Dayton, out to Xenia and then all the way out to Jamestown.”
Thonnerieux says all of the cities in Greene County work together to make sure that Creekside Trail remains vibrant.
“The county is in charge of the overall maintenance, but the cities also make sure that the trees, limbs and brush are trimmed back before they start hanging over the trail,” he says. “The preventive maintenance is one of the shining points of the whole system.”
Creekside is already a beacon for exercise enthusiasts in Beavercreek and beyond, but there are continued plans to increase its arterial links. “Once you have a great trail system in place, the community seems to want more of the same, and residents here indeed want further links to Creekside Trail,” Thonnerieux says. “So we are working on plans to construct several additional arterial routes to the trail, including some that will ultimately link neighborhood streets to it.”
Thonnerieux adds that besides the health and wellness aspect, the trail is quickly becoming an economic tool. “Many relocating businesses look for cities with a good quality of life, and our park system that continues to grow and develop can be a true recruiting factor,” he says. “Money magazine has ranked Beavercreek as a great place to live, and Creekside Trail is one of the reasons why it is.”
Trail users can currently access the path via parks around the city. “We are also looking to add a couple of other proposed convenient sites for access,” Thonnerieux says. “We want to keep improving the trail so that the rave reviews never stop.”
