| Little Miami National Scenic River | |
|---|---|
 Little Miami River atMilford, Ohio | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • coordinates | 39°49′39″N83°34′36″W / 39.82750°N 83.57667°W /39.82750; -83.57667 (Little Miami River source)[1] S ofPlattsburgh[2] Clark County, Ohio |
| • elevation | 1,151 ft (351 m)[2] |
| Mouth | |
• coordinates | 39°04′41″N84°25′59″W / 39.07806°N 84.43306°W /39.07806; -84.43306 (Little Miami River mouth)[1] with theOhio River atCalifornia, Cincinnati Hamilton County, Ohio |
• elevation | 446 ft (136 m)[1] |
| Length | 111 mi (179 km)[3] |
| Basin size | 1,757 sq mi (4,550 km2)[5] |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 1,280 cu ft/s (36 m3/s)[4] |
| Type | Scenic, Recreational |
| Designated | August 20, 1973 |
TheLittle Miami River (Shawnee:Cakimiyamithiipi[6]) is aClass I tributary of theOhio River that flows 111 miles (179 km)[3] through five counties in southwesternOhio in theUnited States. The Little Miami joins theOhio River east ofCincinnati. It forms parts of the borders betweenHamilton andClermont counties and between Hamilton andWarren counties. The Little Miami River is one of 156 American rivers designated by the U.S. Congress or the Secretary of the Interior as aNational Wild and Scenic River and lends its name to the adjacentLittle Miami Scenic Trail.
The Little Miami River is a tributary of the Ohio River. It is part of awatershed that drains a 1,757 square miles (4,550 km2) area in 11 southwestern Ohio counties:Clark,Montgomery,Madison,Greene,Warren,Butler,Clinton,Clermont,Brown,Hamilton, andHighland.[5] The river discharges on average 1,737 cubic feet per second (49.2 m3/s) into the Ohio River.[4] An average of 1,280 cubic feet per second (36 m3/s) flow through the river proper; after heavy rains, the river flow may rise to 84,100 cubic feet per second (2,380 m3/s).[7]
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, andTurtle Creek. Yellow Springs Creek, fed in part by its tributary Birch Creek, join the Little Miami within the boundary of theGlen Helen Nature Preserve.[8] The river's main tributary, the East Fork of the Little Miami,[9][10] was dammed in 1977 by theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers to create Harsha Lake, located inEast Fork State Park. Similarly, in 1973, the Army Corps dammed Caesar Creek to create Caesar Creek Lake, located inCaesar Creek State Park.[9]
The river's headwaters, considered part of the North Fork, are located about 5 miles (8.0 km) fromSouth Charleston in Clark County,[11] nearPlattsburgh.[2] The river empties into the Ohio River atCalifornia, a neighborhood of Cincinnati in Hamilton County.[12] Between the headwaters and the mouth, there is a 705-foot (215 m) decrease in elevation.[11]
The Little Miami River is named for theMiami, anAlgonquian-speakingNative American people who lived in the region during the early days of white settlement.[13] Historically, the river formed the eastern boundary of theSymmes Purchase and the western boundary of theVirginia 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 theLittle Miami National Scenic River as Ohio's firstNational Wild and Scenic River. On April 23 of following year, theLittle Miami State Scenic River fromMilford to the headwaters became Ohio's first State Scenic River, due to legislation that predated the national act by a few months.[14] The remainder of the river was added to the State Scenic River in 1971.[15]
Hydropower of the Little Miami River was developed into the largest privately ownedammunition manufacturing center betweenNew England and theMississippi River.Company towns for theMiami Powder Company andPeters Cartridge Company were built atGoes Station andKings Mills, respectively.[16] The portion of Peters Cartridge Company factory on the opposite side of the river from Kings Mills inHamilton Township, which closed in 1944 and is now owned byDuPont, was declared aSuperfund site in 1996. Since then, studies by theOhio Environmental Protection Agency have established that the site no longer poses an environmental hazard to the nearby river.[17] Even so, the site was listed as aSuperfund National Priorities List (NPL) site by theEnvironmental Protection Agency in April 2012 for copper, lead and mercurysoil contamination. In September 2018, 15 acres of the 71-acre site was removed for the NPL after successful cleanup goals were achieved.[18]
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 ofmussels, including twothreatened species, one of which isendangered. Ohio considers five of the species to be endangered.[19] Recently,zebra mussels andAsiatic clams have crowded out native species.
The river is protected by a number ofnature preserves owned by Little Miami Inc., as well as by state and local parks (seebelow).[20]
The Little Miami River is aNational Scenic River. A series of state and county parks and bike trails have been built along the river, primarily theLittle Miami Scenic Trail, which is concurrent with theBuckeye Trail and Little Miami Scenic State Park. Most of these trails have been built along the abandoned rail grades that run along the river (seeRail trail). TheOhio to Erie Trail project, under construction, aims to link these trails to other trails statewide to create a single bike trail fromLake Erie to the Ohio River.
The Little Miami is also popular amongcanoers andanglers. There are several canoe liveries along its course and thesmallmouth 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 andblue herons.
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.
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