Cincinnati's Top Walking Trails Rated by Distance and Difficulty

Cincinnati Parks logged 87,400 trail entries at four main sites between May 1 and July 1 this year, with Eden Park and Ault Park accounting for the largest shares.

Summer heat and longer daylight hours have pushed more residents outdoors for daily movement, and the parks department added new mileage markers and difficulty signage on June 15 to help walkers choose routes that match their current fitness.

Staff at the Cincinnati Parks office on Central Parkway report that the new signs point users toward loops that start at street level and climb gradually, avoiding sudden elevation changes near the Ohio River.

Short and flat options

Eden Park’s Mirror Lake circuit runs 2.1 miles on mostly paved paths with a maximum grade of 3 percent, beginning at the Elsinore Arch on Gilbert Avenue and circling past the Krohn Conservatory before returning along Victory Parkway. The route stays under 20 feet of elevation gain and finishes near the park’s tennis courts on Gilbert.

Ault Park’s lower meadow path covers 2.8 miles from the shelter house on Herschel Avenue down to the overlook above the Little Miami River, staying on crushed gravel that the parks crew resurfaced last fall. Walkers can add a half-mile spur along the park’s eastern fence line if they want a slightly longer but still easy outing.

Moderate climbs with more distance

Mount Airy Forest’s Blue Trail starts at the nature center on Colerain Avenue and covers 4.9 miles with 420 feet of total ascent, passing through second-growth woods and crossing the old railroad grade twice before ending at the picnic shelter on West Fork Road. The trail surface mixes dirt and boardwalk sections added in 2024.

Sharon Woods offers a 3.7-mile perimeter loop rated moderate because of two short hills near the dam on the north end; the loop begins at the parking lot off Sharon Woods Lane and stays inside the park boundaries without road crossings. Cincinnati Parks charges a $5 vehicle entry fee on weekends through Labor Day.

Walkers new to the graded system are advised to begin with the Eden Park loop and note their time before moving to longer routes. Trail maps updated this month are available at the Eden Park visitor kiosk and on the parks website, which also lists water-fountain locations and shaded rest benches.