The Little Miami River ( sjw, Cakimiyamithiipi) is a Class I tributary of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

that flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed May 26, 2011 through five counties in southwestern

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The Little Miami joins the

east of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

. It forms parts of the borders between

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

and Clermont counties and between Hamilton and Warren counties. The Little Miami River is one of 156 American rivers designated by the U.S. Congress or the Secretary of the Interior as a

National Wild and Scenic River The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...

and lends its name to the adjacent

Little Miami Scenic Trail The Little Miami Scenic Trail is the fourth longest paved trail in the United States, running through five southwestern counties in the state of Ohio. The multi-use rail trail sees heavy recreational use by hikers and bicyclists, as well as the ...

Hydrography

The Little Miami River is a tributary of the Ohio River. It is part of a

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

that drains a area in 11 southwestern Ohio counties:

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin language, Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone ...

, Montgomery,

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community *Greene, Iowa, a city *Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene *Greene (town), New York ** Greene (village), New York, in the town ...

, Warren,

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantry ...

, Clinton, Clermont,

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

, and

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

. The river discharges on average into the Ohio River. An average of flow through the river proper; after heavy rains, the river flow may rise to . Tributaries of the Little Miami include Beaver Creek, Sugar Creek, the East Fork Little Miami, North Fork, Todd's Fork, Duck Creek, Caesar Creek, Massie Creek, and Turtle Creek. Yellow Springs Creek, fed in part by its tributary Birch Creek, join the Little Miami within the boundary of the

Glen Helen Nature Preserve The Glen Helen Nature Preserve is a nature reserve immediately east of Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. The initial 700-acre parcel was given to Antioch College by Hugh Taylor Birch in memory of his daughter Helen Birch Bartlet in 1929, an ...

. The river's main tributary, the East Fork of the Little Miami, was dammed in 1977 by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

to create Harsha Lake, located in

East Fork State Park East Fork State Park is public recreation area located around the East Fork of the Little Miami River in Clermont County, southeast of central Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States. It maintains the 33-mile "Steve Newman World-Walker" peri ...

. Similarly, in 1973, the Army Corps dammed Caesar Creek to create Caesar Creek Lake, located in

Caesar Creek State Park Caesar Creek State Park is a public recreation area located in southwestern Ohio, five miles (8 km) east of Waynesville, in Warren, Clinton, and Greene counties. The park is leased by the State from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who ...

. The river's headwaters, considered part of the North Fork, are located about from South Charleston in Clark County, near Plattsburgh. The river empties into the Ohio River at

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, a neighborhood of Cincinnati in Hamilton County. Between the headwaters and the mouth, there is a decrease in elevation.

History

The Little Miami River is named for the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, an Algonquian-speaking Native American people who lived in the region during the early days of white settlement. Historically, the river formed the eastern boundary of the

Symmes Purchase The Symmes Purchase, also known as the Miami Purchase, was an area of land totaling roughly in what is now Hamilton, Butler, and Warren counties of southwestern Ohio, purchased by Judge John Cleves Symmes of New Jersey in 1788 from the Conti ...

and the western boundary of the Virginia Military District. In 1967 The Ohio University Development Planning Institute (Athens, Ohio) published "The Little Miami of Ohio; A Study of a Wild and Scenic River". This 56-page booklet, illustrated with maps and black and white photographs, first presented the idea of a corridor of parks and natural areas along the river. In June 1967 Dayton newspaper editor Glenn Thompson would bring together educator Arthur Morgan, business leader Charles Sawyer, and outdoor enthusiast Corwin Fred to form Little Miami Incorporated, dedicated to the preservation of the Little Miami River. Mr. Thompson was the editor of the Dayton Journal-Herald in the late 1950s, and a strong advocate for the preservation of green space in the Miami Valley. The members of the newly formed Little Miami Incorporated would convince Ohio Congressman Clarence Brown to ask for inclusion of the Little Miami in the final list of 27 rivers to be studied for a proposed Scenic Rivers Bill. The 1968 Wild and Scenic River Act designated portions of the Little Miami National Scenic River as Ohio's first

. On April 23 of following year, the Little Miami State Scenic River from Milford to the headwaters became Ohio's first State Scenic River, due to legislation that predated the national act by a few months. The remainder of the river was added to the State Scenic River in 1971.

Hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of ...

of the Little Miami River was developed into the largest privately owned

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

manufacturing center between

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

Company town A company town is a place where practically all stores and housing are owned by the one company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schools, markets and re ...

s for the

Miami Powder Company Miami Powder Company operated a gunpowder manufacturing complex on the Little Miami River at Goes Station, Ohio from 1855 to 1925. Willows growing along the banks of the Little Miami River provided the charcoal required for gunpowder. Production ...

and Peters Cartridge Company were built at Goes Station and Kings Mills, respectively. The portion of Peters Cartridge Company factory on the opposite side of the river from Kings Mills in Hamilton Township, which closed in 1944 and is now owned by

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

, was declared a

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency ...

site in 1996. Since then, studies by the

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) is the administrative department of the Ohio state government Ohio Rev. Code § 121.01 ''et seq.'' responsible for protecting the environment and public health by ensuring compliance with envi ...

have established that the site no longer poses an environmental hazard to the nearby river. Even so, the site was listed as a

National Priorities List (NPL) site by the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...

in April 2012 for copper, lead and mercury soil contamination. In September 2018, 15 acres of the 71-acre site was removed for the NPL after successful cleanup goals were achieved.EPA's Superfund Site Information for PETERS CARTRIDGE FACTORY
Environmental Protection Agency

Ecology

Little Miami River through Clifton Gorge

The Little Miami River is home to at least 87 species of fish, as well as many species of turtles, frogs, water snakes, birds, mammals and invertebrates. The river contains 36 species of

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which ...

s, including two

threatened species Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of '' critical depen ...

, one of which is

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

. Ohio considers five of the species to be endangered. Recently,

zebra mussel The zebra mussel (''Dreissena polymorpha'') is a small freshwater mussel. The species originates from the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in ma ...

s and Asiatic clams have crowded out native species. The river is protected by a number of

nature preserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

s owned by Little Miami Inc., as well as by state and local parks (see

below Below may refer to: *Earth * Ground (disambiguation) *Soil *Floor * Bottom (disambiguation) *Less than *Temperatures below freezing *Hell or underworld People with the surname *Ernst von Below (1863–1955), German World War I general *Fred Below ...

Recreation

The Little Miami River is a National Scenic River. A series of state and county parks and bike trails have been built along the river, primarily the

, which is concurrent with the Buckeye Trail and Little Miami Scenic State Park. Most of these trails have been built along the abandoned rail grades that run along the river (see

Rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetc ...

). The Ohio to Erie Trail project, under construction, aims to link these trails to other trails statewide to create a single bike trail from

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also ha ...

to the Ohio River. The Little Miami is also popular among

canoers Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

and anglers. There are several canoe liveries along its course and the smallmouth bass fishing in the river is among the best in the state. For a river its size and considering that it drains mainly agricultural land, the water quality of the Little Miami River is excellent. Visitors may see a variety of wildlife including several varieties of turtles, mallards, and other ducks,

Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North America, and it is o ...

and blue herons.

Places and point of interest

The following places, towns, and points of interest are located on the Little Miami starting at the headwaters in Clark County and proceeding down the river to its mouth on the Ohio River. * Clark County – Headwaters of river *

Greene County, Ohio Greene County is located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 167,966. Its county seat is Xenia. The county was established on March 24, 1803 and named for General Nathanael Greene ...

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People * Clifton (surname) * Clifton (given name) Places Australia *Clifton, Queensland, a town ** Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong * Clifton, Western Australia Canada * Clifton, Nova Sc ...

and Clifton Mill ** John Bryan State Park and

Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve, in Greene County, Ohio, is located three miles east of Yellow Springs, Ohio, and immediately southwest of Clifton, Ohio. The preserve constitutes 268 acres of gorges along two miles of the Little Miami Rive ...

** Yellow Springs and

** Beavercreek Township ** Sugarcreek Township ** Bellbrook ** Spring Valley * Warren County ** Waynesville ** Corwin ** Caesar Creek Gorge – mouth of Caesar Creak leading to Caesar Creek Gorge and Lake. ** Oregonia ** Mathers Mill – canoe livery, public access **

Jeremiah Morrow Bridge The Jeremiah Morrow Bridge is the name for a pair of concrete box girder bridges built between 2010 and 2016 which carry Interstate 71 over the Little Miami River gorge between Fort Ancient and Oregonia, Ohio. The bridges are named for former Go ...

– Interstate 71 bridge crossing over the river valley ** Fort Ancient – canoe livery, public access ** Morrow – canoe livery, mouth of Todds Fork tributary ** South Lebanon ** Kings Mills – historic Peters Cartridge factory ** Fosters – historic settlement & public access *

Clermont County Clermont County, popularly called Clermont ( ), is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 208,601. Ordinanced in 1800 as part of the Virginia Military District, Clermont is Ohio's eighth oldest county, t ...

east side of river, Hamilton County west side of river ** Chateau LaRoche Museum, also known as Loveland Castle (Hamilton County) ** Loveland – canoe livery (Hamilton and Clermont County) ** Lake Isabella, Ohio – (Hamilton County Park) ** Milford – (Clermont County) * Hamilton County ** Terrace Park ** Mariemont **

** Lunken Field – Cincinnati Municipal Airport is along the bank of the river **

– mouth of the Little Miami River

References

External links

Buckeye Trail

Loveland Bike Trail

Ohio to Erie Trail

Little Miami, Inc.
(LMI), a non-profit conservation group {{authority control Rivers of Ohio Tributaries of the Ohio River Wild and Scenic Rivers of the United States Rivers of Clark County, Ohio Rivers of Clermont County, Ohio Rivers of Hamilton County, Ohio Rivers of Greene County, Ohio Rivers of Warren County, Ohio