Walking the trail at the Otto Armleder Memorial Park and Recreation Complex is an easy way to stretch your legs, quiet your mind, and indulge yourself in the sights and sounds of nature.  Even though it has soccer fields, picnic shelters, a dog park area, and a pavilion, the multi-use trail surrounds a flat, wide open space, so you feel separate and far from all the activity, and immersed in nature.  We walked on Sunday, April 23, 2017, at noon, with a temperature of 59 degrees, cloudy skies, and a brisk wind.

The entrance to the park is located at 5057 Wooster Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45221, where a road takes you down a ways to a large field with low vegetation and soccer fields, a fenced-in dog park area, and several parking areas.  There is a brick pavilion at the main parking lot, along with a playground and picnic shelter.  The multi-use trail starts and ends here, going to the right and left, and includes a stretch along the Ohio River.  The trail is paved with asphalt, in excellent condition, with lane lines for bicycles, and distance markers painted on the trail.  

The flat area in the center of the circular trail is alive with songbirds, tall grasses and other brush and small trees. The birds seemed unusually friendly as they greeted us, perching on birdhouses stationed along the trail, and swooping around us, making our walk simply delightful.  The beauty of the trail took our breath away as we seemed surrounded by nothing but wild plants, wind, birds, and sky.

We walked quickly, with the wind in our hair, as bicyclers passed us occasionally, some on rollerblades, some jogging or walking dogs, and even people flying kites, all enjoying the simple joy of exercising outdoors in this very pleasant place.  Our pedometer showed we had walked 1.7 miles as we returned to the beginning at the pavilion area.

Restrooms: The restrooms at the pavilion building were open, clean, and heated.  There were also port-a-potties at each parking lot.

Traffic Noise: There was traffic noise in the distance at beginning of the trail, but as we got farther away from the road, the noise disappeared.

Interesting Features: Not only is there plenty of space for all the activities at the park, the park is kept in excellent condition with plenty of benches along the trail, trash receptacles, and a canoe launch area into the Ohio River.  The park also has a one mile paved trail that connects with the five-mile Lunken Airport loop.

Historic Points of Interest: An information sign at the park tells about Otto Armleder, a Cincinnati businessman and philanthropist, living from 1862 to 1935. After graduating from Queen City Commercial College, he applied himself to flour milling and beer bottling, and by 1894, he started a wagon making company on Longworth Street from which he made his fortune.  By 1912 he was building commercial trucks under the Armleder Motor Truck Company banner at 12th and Plum Streets.  His success enabled him to donate millions to charitable and civic projects since the 1930’s, and his trust funds helped create this park.

Overall Rating: We found walking the trail at this park a true breath of fresh air.  The light vegetation, clean and easy setting, and wide open space, made it easy to share the joy of simply being outside with others, as dogs ran happily in the dog park, children played soccer, folks rode bikes, flew kites, whizzed by on rollerblades, or walked along peacefully enjoying the birds and nature around us.  It was a very happy place to be.

If there is a trail or park you would like Kathy to report on, please contact her at kathpfeiff@fuse.net or by going to her website: www.kathleenpfeiffer.com.