Great Parks Schedules Oasis Trail Open Houses

Great Parks, in partnership with the City of Cincinnati, launched a virtual open house today for the Oasis Trail, which will link downtown Cincinnati to Lunken Airport and additional connections to regional and state trail networks. The Oasis Trail virtual open house will share planning updates and gather public input on multiple trail design and access options. The virtual open house will be open 24/7 through October 23, 2026, at GreatParks.org/Oasis-Trail.

In addition to the virtual open house, Great Parks and the City are also hosting an in-person open house from 4-6 p.m. on September 23, 2026, at T.M. Berry International Friendship Park in Cincinnati’s East End neighborhood.

“The public is asking Great Parks to build more trails, and few trails have captured the public’s imagination as much as the Oasis Trail,” said Todd Palmeter, Great Parks CEO. “Great Parks is eager for this public dialogue as we develop the details of how this generational trail project will connect downtown Cincinnati to our growing local, regional and statewide trail networks.”

Completely separated from nearby roads, the Oasis Trail will provide a safe and paved pathway for bicyclists, walkers, runners and other non-motorized users to travel between downtown Cincinnati’s Sawyer Point, the Lunken Airport area and beyond. It will replace the northern track of the Oasis Rail Line, which is located between Columbia Parkway (US 50) and Riverside Drive (US 52).

The Oasis Trail will also be a transformative link in Greater Cincinnati's shared-use trail network by closing a sizable gap in the 34-mile Cincinnati Riding Or Walking Network (CROWN), which encircles the city and connects many local landmarks, neighborhoods and other local shared-use trails, including the Little Miami Scenic Trail. It will also complete an arm of the Ohio River Trail, which follows the river for nearly eight miles in the Cincinnati area and connects to the Ohio to Erie Trail, which spans 326 miles between the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Cleveland.

Information shared at the in-person session will be the same as that shared through the Virtual Open House.

Individuals with disabilities needing reasonable accommodation to participate in the open houses should contact Great Parks at (513) 521-7275, Voice/TDD.

The current total cost of design and construction is estimated at more than $19 million. Great Parks extends appreciation to The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) for an $8 million Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) Improvement Program grant awarded in 2024 for Phase 1 construction, the largest funding award in Great Parks’ history, and an additional $6 million CMAQ grant awarded in December 2025 for Phase 2 construction. Additional funding partners include Metro, which committed $3 million in public funds for railroad easement acquisition, CROWN which committed $2.75 million in private funds, and the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) with $5 million in grant funding through the Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) and Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), secured by Great Parks and awarded to the City of Cincinnati to support land acquisition.

Great Parks has committed $1.5 million in public funds for design to date and is actively working to secure an additional $2 million to cover remaining design and construction costs. Great Parks also continues to work with Metro and the City to secure funds necessary for land acquisition.