Devou Park: 3-4 Mile Bike Trail - From Fermenting To Finance

This park is known for it’s beautiful overlook views, paved trails as well as backcountry mountain bike trails.

Devou overlook on a foggy day

There’s also a historic museum on site with a children’s nature playscape (Natureplay@BCM). Playscape parking is available for free at the Behringer-Crawford Museum. Click here for general museum directions.

Running trails, photo credit: Devou Park Website

Location:

The park is generally located just south of Cincinnati in Covington, KY.

For the trail run, meet in the parking lot at 460 Deverill Rd., Ludlow, KY. This is the lot next to the baseball diamond and where the trailhead is.

Map directions:

460 Deverill St, Ludlow, KY 41016 [Maps link here]

Strava [link here]

Distance:

3-4 miles

Sign at entrance to trails

Park details:

I don’t believe dogs are allowed on this trail but you might call the visitors center to double check!

415 ft elevation

Bring your hydration vest/water bottle, as there is no place to refill on the trail, and no restroom.

This trail does have a few pretty good hills so be forewarned. There are fun turns and twists to these trails with motivating ups and downs that aren’t too terribly strenuous to keep the run exciting! (No stone steps here but it can get extremely muddy!)

Trail runs near a railroad, so don’t be alarmed if you hear a freight train that sounds like it’s coming for you!

The trail runs near a railroad at the entrance.

Checkout the website to see what all the park has to offer. Read about the park and history here.

As of 2024, there are new trails added to explore that connect to the incinerator and train surfer trail, including the 3 bridges trail! These new trails can be found on Strava, but the park maps on site and online are not yet updated as of Oct. 2024 to include these add-ons.

One of the three new bridges

After the run recommendations:

North South Baking Co. at 39 W Pike St., Covington, KY 41011 [Maps link here]

A Kentucky brewery. My recommendation is Braxton Brewery located at 27 W. Seventh St., Covington, KY where dogs are allowed indoors.

Trail maps:

Incinerator, back bowl, and train surfer trails totaling 3.4 miles. [Link to Strava]

This is the same route as above but with the addition of the new 3 bridges trail totaling 4.4 miles [link to Strava]

Path follows the incinerator trail, to the back bowl, then onto the train surfer trail

Click the image for a link to both an English and Spanish version

An abandoned incinerator building along the entrance of the incinerator trail (now demolished)

Interested in other Cincinnati trail runs or hikes? Check out my list of Cincy trails here.

New to trail running? Jump to my post on handy gear if you decide you’re ready to invest in your personal fitness.