Rentschler Forest MetroPark was the fifth park added to the Butler County Park District (MetroParks) system in 1962. The park began with the historic Miami Canal section of just 0.6 acres along the Great Miami River in Fairfield Township. Walter A. and Edith Beckett Rentschler expanded the park through a donation of a twenty-eight acre tract in 1964. Governor James Rhoads deeded the remaining canal lands between Canal Road and the Excello Locks to MetroParks in January 1968, and the Rentschler family gave two more tracts of land bordering those canal lands from Reigart Road to Headgates Road in 1969. The park expanded again in 1969 with 1.9 acres acquired from Freda Carbonell through an anonymous donation to Hamilton Community Foundation with the one-and-a-half-story stone lock-tender’s house built around 1846. The Miami Erie Canal Bikeway became the first off-road bike path in Butler County, a one-mile paved section of the original towpath from canal days.
The text of the Ohio Historical Marker at Rentschler Forest MetroPark erected in 1971 commemorating the Miami Erie Canal is reprinted below:
Construction began in 1825 on the 20-mile segment of the Miami Canal from two miles north of Middletown to the head of Mill Creek. Canal boats were operating from Hartwell’s Basin near Cincinnati to Middletown by Nov. 28, 1827. This early link in what became the Miami and Erie Canal joining in 1845 Toledo and Cincinnati by water was restored in 1971 by the Butler County Park District. The dimensions of the canal channel were 27 feet at the bottom and 40 feet wide at the top. The depth of the canal averaged four and one-half feet. The 12 locks were 80 feet long with 14-foot-wide interior chambers which could accommodate boats up to 80 tons. The canal from Middletown to Cincinnati was 42 miles cost about $10,400 per mile to build and had a speed limit of four miles per hour.
Three of the four reservable picnic shelters in Rentschler Forest MetroPark are named in honor of gentlemen who were involved with creating the park system. Harry F. Walsh was the Probate Court Judge who appointed the park district’s first Board of Commissioners and continued to appoint new board members until his retirement in 1979. Gilbert E. Condo served from the beginning of the park board in June 1955 until December 1968. George C. Cummins served as a Park Commissioner from January 1969 through October 1979 after having served on the advisory board that created the park district in 1955. Mr. Cummins also donated one of the cabins that now stands in the Pioneer Village at Governor Bebb MetroPark. The fourth shelter, Riverview, overlooks the Great Miami River and the new kayak launch.
The park also boasts several hiking trails, each featuring a different habitat. The Wetland Trail encircles a natural wetland area along the Great Miami River. The Pumpkin Vine Trail, named after the railroad which ran through the park many years ago, winds its way through a natural mixed-hardwood forest. The Cascades Trail follows a stream to a small waterfall and across the Chuck Holliday Suspension Bridge. Other amenities include a playground which was voted “Best in Butler County” in 2023 and 2024, and flush restrooms open seasonally.
Another highlight of the park is access to the Great Miami River Trail (GMRT), a paved bike/pedestrian path connecting south into Hamilton and the City of Fairfield. A new trail segment connecting to Rentschler Forest MetroPark’s portion of the GMRT opened at the adjacent Timberhill MetroPark in 2022. When the Butler County trail gaps are complete, cyclists and pedestrians will be able to travel almost 100 contiguous miles from Fairfield to Piqua!
Rentschler Forest MetroPark is waiting for you to visit! Get out and explore the park’s varied ecosystems and amenities. There’s something for everyone!
About the Author:
Nancy is a Visitor and Event Services Technician with MetroParks of Butler County. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Aquatic Environments from Allegheny College and a Masters in Environmental Science from IES at Miami University. Nancy was Naturalist for Bull’s Run Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum in Middletown for 5 years, then 5 years as a full-time mom to 2 toddlers before working at Sunshine Preschool in Middletown for 26 years, first as a teacher and finishing as the director. Nancy began working for MetroParks in 2019 and has been a volunteer as well for Living Like a Pioneer field trips, Pioneer Life and Fun on the Farm special events, and Show and Tell on the Farm programs at the Chrisholm MetroPark Historic Farmstead. She continues to share her love of nature and crafts in so many ways.
Contact Nancy at: nclark@yourmetroparks.net.