Hike Location: William Harbin Park
Geographic Location: west side of Fairfield, OH (39.31849, -84.57511)
Length: 1.1 miles
Difficulty: 1/10 (Easy)
Date Hiked: June 2019
Overview: An out-and-back on asphalt trail passing one of
the best views in Fairfield.
Park Information: https://www.fairfield-city.org/425/Harbin-Park
Hike Route Map: https://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=754840
Photo Highlight:
Directions to the trailhead: On the north side of
Cincinnati, take I-275 to US 127/Hamilton Avenue (exit 36). Exit and go north on US 127. Drive US 127 north 2 miles to Hunter Road and
turn left on Hunter Rd.; there is a traffic light at this intersection. Hunter Rd. dead-ends at William Harbin Park
in 0.7 miles. Park in the first parking
lot on the right.
The hike: Owned
and maintained by the City of Fairfield, William Harbin Park consists of 230
acres in the city’s highly residential southwest quadrant. The park is the largest park in Fairfield,
and it comes with numerous amenities including athletic fields, a disc golf
course, several picnic shelters, and one of the area’s best sledding hills. An overlook accessible by car provides a nice
view from the top of this sledding hill.
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| View from top of sledding hill |
Harbin Park
features three trails that are signed as “nature trails,” but these trails see
a lot of mountain bike traffic because they were built by and for mountain
bikers. Partly due to the mountain bike
traffic, partly due to some thunderstorms that were moving in from the west,
and partly due to recent rain that left all lowland trails a muddy mess, I
chose to hike the short paved Harbin Park Path described here. As with most paved hike/bike paths, the
Harbin Park Path does not make for the best hiking, but it provided a workable
option given my constraints. Also, while
most bike paths are nearly flat rail-trails, the Harbin Park Path has just
enough elevation change to help get the hiking muscles powered up after a long
winter’s nap.
 |
| North trailhead: Harbin Park Path |
From the
parking lot, walk across the park road and look to the right for the signed
start of the asphalt bike path. A picnic
shelter sits to the left here. The trail
embarks on a general southward course with gradual ups and downs. Planted trees line the asphalt, and stone
plaques indicate that some of these trees were planted as gifts or memorials.
The park’s
disc golf course crosses the trail as a blue water tower comes into view ahead
and to the right. A gazebo sits off to
the left here, and a 1.4 mile fitness trail passes through the grassy area to
the left. I would have considered adding
the fitness trail to my hike, but some thunder started rumbling in the distance
when I reached this point.
 |
| Water tower |
Past the
water tower, the trail comes very close to the park’s west boundary, which is
marked by a line of honeysuckle shrubs.
A moderate descent brings you to the trail’s south end at a maintenance
building on Gray Road, thus marking the end of the bike path. Turn around and walk 0.5 miles back to the
parking lot that contains your car. The
overlook at the top of the sledding hill sits just uphill from this parking
lot, and it makes a nice short detour either before or after your hike. The thunderstorm that threatened me during my
hike unleashed a torrent of rain as I was driving out of the park.
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