Mt. Airy Forest

Sounded like a nice place for a hike, until we actually got there…
— All bathrooms were «CLOSED FOR THE SEASON» on a lovely mid-​50-​degree day in the fall?
— Couldn’t find decent directions or trail map, either online or anywhere at the park?
— Every trail in the park was closed with a big red warning sign due to deer hunting season?
Go somewhere else!

On a whim I decided to go for a Sunday afternoon hike, and decided to check out Mt. Airy Forest. It’s very close to downtown and gas over 1,400 acres of of land featuring trails, activities, shelters and more. The best feature though is a big beautiful park in the middle of an urban area. It was the perfect quick escape for an afternoon. The trails were well marked and went though beautiful areas. I will be back soon!

Such a nice park and it was free to get in! We didn’t get to hike to see the treehouse but we played disc golf. They have an 18 hole course. My boyfriend and I were just amateurs and enjoyed but the course is definitely not kid friendly (more for experts). Next time, we will definitely try the hiking trails.

My husband and I went hiking there a few days ago. It was clean, family-​friendly and beautiful. We hiked «Circle,» first (easy), then ended up on «Square» and «Diamond.» It got pretty challenging. Extremely steep hills that seem never-​ending, with huge twisted roots everywhere, but once you get to the top you feel pretty great. Out of breath and legs on fire, but great, also. We’ll be back but with some hiking boots, next time. Wore gym shoes and repeatedly slipped, kept coming close to straining my ankle on the steep down-​hill trek, the roots can really trip you up.

This was my first visit to Mt. Airy Forest, and it won’t be my last. I went on a 4.5 mile hike, and saw only a small portion of the trails through this giant park. I really appreciated how well marked all of the trails were. At every intersection there is a signpost and the signage is great about pointing toward landmarks in the park like the oval and the treehouse as well as parking and picnic areas. The «E» trail is marked with white hashes on the trees, which is convenient.
I was weaving back and forth between multiple trails, but there seems to be something for everyone as far as hiking. I walked several flat, wide trails as well as some very tough, vertical ones (those stone steps are no joke!). The forest itself is gorgeous and I’m not very bird-​saavy, but it seems to be a great place to bird watch. Even my untrained eye identified a bevy of cardinals and a couple of woodpeckers along the trail. Even though it was a busy spring day, I only encountered maybe ten other people on the trails making for a very peaceful hike.
The treehouse is very cool, and totally accessible. I didn’t stick around to grill or picnic, but the park was packed with families having cookouts… something on my to do list.

After reading about Everybody’s Tree House online I went on the hunt to see it for myself! I was looking for the Tree House and I couldn’t find directions online to save my life! I drove around for a while before finally stumbling upon it. It is a genuinely awesome tree house that is also fully wheelchair accessible!
If you’re looking to check out the tree house set your GPS for the intersection of Trail Ridge Rd. and Oak Ridge Rd. 45 223 and that should get you there! It’s on the right after the playground!
Enjoy

Although we didn’t get a chance to go through many of the trails, we enjoyed ourselves and plan on returning. The hike was relatively easy and I don’t expect the trails to get much harder.
I got the idea to visit this place based on Unilocal reviews. Unilocalers hit the mail on the head. Good reviews lead us to a place that was well worth the drive from Louisville.

What can I say this is the place were I became one with the love of my life. It is a beautiful park and the largest park in the Cincinnati’s park system.
On May 25^th, in a Gazebo, by Meyer Lake along with our immediate family and my best friend we said our vows. I wish I could post some of our wedding photos that illustrate how beautiful this place is, but they all have my beautiful wife in them as well.

My girlfriend just got back from taking our paper recycling there (4pm on a Sunday), very shaken up as a group of ten males sexually harassed and threatened her.
I had previously looked past the negative stigma that Mt. Airy Forest carries with a lot of Cincinnati locals, but that’s over now. We won’t be visiting or recommending this park to anyone. It’s just not safe enough anymore.

Mt Airy Forest features a well established and respected Disc Golf Course, arguably the best on the Ohio side of the river. It’s nice and long, and has many nice, mature tree lined holes as well as a few long field throws. Explore the rest of the park while you’re there, there are lots of trails and lots of wildlife.

I grew up going to day camp in Mt. Airy. When I was 10 we followed our teenage leaders on a hike that took us deep into the forest, down a creek and through large pipes that ran under the highway. We weren’t supposed to travel so far but it illustrates the size of this park and Arboretum located minutes from the city. Mt. Airy is the cities largest park and is host to a lot of wildlife so watch for deer when driving in or around the park. The hiking is beautiful throughout all the seasons but I favor the winter and spring walks. Rough trails are plentiful, marked and reasonably maintained.