The Donut Trail: Sweetest road trip in Butler County

What a sweet idea for a road trip.

Sample a S’mores donut in Hamilton, a maple bacon twist in Trenton, an apple fritter in West Chester – all while crisscrossing Butler County on a java journey filled with yeast, cake and glazed concoctions and all the people who made them.

So why is all this donut fun located in Butler County? Well, with 18 donut operations in the county that's one shop for every 20,000 residents. The trail is the only one of its kind in Ohio. (A blogger created a similar tour in Kentucky with seven stops, including shops in Louisville, Lexington, Versailles and Berea.)

This is the Donut Trail, a nine-stop tour of mom and pop donut shops – no chain or store bakery donuts allowed – with at least one stop in each of the county’s five cities. It's a real thing created by the Butler County Visitor’s Bureau. It even comes with a passport to prove you've gone the distance.

But take the trip at your leisure. Meet Sherry Richardson, a former 30-year Hamilton cop who opened Mimi’s Donuts and Bakery in Hanover Township last summer. Or chat with Martin Stanley Crowe or Stan the Donut Man, who grew up on a horse farm and raced horses in the harness circuit and now owns a West Chester shop in its fourth location since his dad opened the bakery in 1960 in Lebanon.

Find out how friendly the competition is between sisters Diana Ramsey and Terri Niederman, who own separate stops on the trail. Ramsey owns Kelly’s Bakery in Hamilton. Niederman owns the Donut Spot – dubbed the ‘D’spot by Fairfield High School students – in Fairfield.

“I don’t really feel like we compete – well, maybe a friendly competition ... It's nice to have someone in the family who knows (the business). It’s been great. We can help each other,’’ said Kelly Hansel, who learned from her aunt and taught her mom.

Hansel worked for Niederman in Fairfield before joining her mom in her Hamilton store 13 months ago.

Each shop has its own story and its own specialty. Richardson, the officer who retired from the force four years ago and felt she was too young to do nothing. With a fierce love for baking – and the promise of family, officers and firefighters as customers – she decided to open her shop in Loder’s Plaza.

She's known for her version of a Reese's peanut butter cup: A donut filled with peanut butter with chocolate icing, with crumbled frozen Reese's cup pieces on top.

When she was a cop and showed up around town, it was often not for a happy occasion. Now, she said, when she meets folks in her shop, it’s a decidedly positive experience.

“Everybody who comes in my door is smiling. Little kids’ eyes light up – they don’t worry about me taking them away from their parents or something else (negative),’’ Richardson said. “It’s good for the soul.”

A specially-created Donut Trail T-shirt awaits anyone who completes the trail by putting in a featured word on a passport available at any of the shops. Decals at each of the stops will allow visitors to find a featured word for the passport.

Tom Perdiew, of Bright, Indiana, and his sister, Linda Young, who lives in the Dayton area, were the first to turn in their passport for a T-shirt.

It took the duo four hours and 77 miles to complete the trail. They bought two donuts at each stop. They sampled each and saved others to bring back to family members.

Perdiew couldn't pick a favorite. “I liked all of them. I can remember tasting all of them. We figured we ate the equivalent of six donuts.”

Six donuts, 18 shops. That's an admirable display of restraint.

Shop owners say the Donut Trail has been good for business. Ramsey said she saw about a 15 percent uptick in business the first two weekends after the announcement of the trail last month. Her sister has upped her weekend inventory.

In just the first two weekends, about 117 had turned in their passports after visiting nine shops, Kocher said.

But a word to the wise: For those who plan to complete the trail in just one day, Kocher advises allotting a minimum of three hours. And a few cups of coffee.

Stops on the Donut Trail
Jupiter Coffee and Donuts, 5353 Ohio 4, Fairfield, 513-829-7674
Kelly’s Bakery, 1335 Main St., Hamilton, 513-285-4040
Martin’s Donuts, 4 W. State St., Trenton, 513-988-0883
Milton’s Donuts, 3533 Roosevelt Blvd., Middletown, 513-422-8612
Mimi’s Donuts and Bakery, 2267Millvile Ave., Lodder’s Hanover Township, 513-280-1911
Oxford Doughnut Shoppe, 120 Locust St., Oxford, 513-523-9911
Ross Bakery, 4421 Hamilton-Cleves Road, Ross Township, 513-738-3129; and 1051 Eaton Ave., Hamilton, 513-894-9016 
Stan the Donut Man, 7967 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Lakota Shopping Plaza, West Chester Township, 513-759-0016
The Donut Spot, 5148 Pleasant Ave. (U.S. 127), Fairfield, 513-863-7033