“He’s taken his creativity from the woodworking space and put that into donuts now…We really enjoy having him on the trail,” said Tracy Kocher, vice president of marketing and communications for Butler County Visitors Bureau..
The Butler County Donut Trail has become a major part of Butler County’s culinary culture. Every donut shop features their own specialties, such as the “Ugly” from Central Pastry Shop or a “Raspberry Cheesecake” donut from The Donut Spot to Jupiter Coffee & Donuts signature “Miami Maple Merger” or a “S’mores” donut from Kelly’s Bakery.
In its fifth year, the Donut Trail is gaining more national attention than ever before, including recently being featured in the spring edition of Chevy New Roads Magazine. The Donut Trail started in January 2016 with nine stores.
“As these new shops have opened, what they have told us, is one of the reasons they have located in Butler County is to be a part of the Donut Trail,” Kocher said.
With the addition of The Donut Dude, Butler County Donut Trail is now comprised of 13 mom-and-pop donut shops that are located in communities across Butler County. Participants can pick up a passport at an individual shop, or download it at www.gettothebc.com/donut-trail.
“Right now, it’s popular, because you can easily take a donut to go. It’s a fun activity that allows you to be socially distant from others, so people are enjoying that, and it’s a good excuse to go for a quick road trip, or to get out of your house. People have really gravitated to the Donut Trail for those reasons. The Donut Trail is always popular, because nobody is unhappy when they are eating a donut,” Kocher said.
She also said participants express creativity by wearing custom donut glasses or their own Donut Trail vacation shirts. A couple of years ago, a video from Delish came out about the Donut Trail, which now has had more than 14 million views.
“When that video came out, we had a pair of flight attendants from Florida who used their day off to literally fly from Florida to Ohio to do the Donut Trail,” Kocher said, “It’s a lot of fun to see the enthusiasm as people complete it … The joy is infectious.”
As guests visit each donut shop, they get a passport stamped, and when the trail is completed, the participant exchanges the passport for an official Donut Trail t-shirt, which features a new design every January. The 2020 t-shirt is red (or jelly) colored. Participants also enjoy trying all the delicious donuts offered at each shop.
“As of now, we have welcomed over 23,000 people, who have completed the entire Donut Trail. If I had to estimate how many Donut Trail Passports, we have distributed over the last five years, it would probably be north of 300,000 Passports. We have had people visit and complete the Donut Trail from all 50 states and 22 countries, and the Donut Trail has been featured in everything from CNN to recently Chevy New Roads Magazine, National Geographic Traveler and Food & Wine,” Kocher said.
Donut Shops on the Butler County Donut Trail include
Central Pastry Shop - 1518 Central Avenue, Middletown, (513) 423-4431
Holtman’s Donuts - 9558 Civic Centre Blvd., West Chester, (513) 755-1261
Jupiter Coffee & Donuts - 5353 Dixie Highway, Fairfield, (513) 829-7674 - Open for carry-out and curbside pick-up.
Kelly’s Bakery - 1335 Main Street, Hamilton, (513) 285-4040
Martin’s Donuts - 4 W. State Street, Trenton, (513) 988-0883
Milton’s Donuts - 3533 Roosevelt Blvd., Middletown, (513) 422-8612
Mimi’s Donuts & Bakery – 2267 Millville Ave., Hamilton, (513) 280-1911 - Open for carry-out, Thursday - Sunday.
Oxford Doughnut Shoppe – 120 S. Locust St., Oxford, (513) 523-9911
Ross Bakery – 1051 Eaton Ave., Hamilton, (513) 894-9016
Stan the Donut Man – 7967 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, West Chester, (513) 759-0016
The Donut Dude – 7132 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, Liberty Twp., (513) 847-4005
The Donut Hole by Milton’s – 8268 Princeton-Glendale Road, West Chester, (513) 422-8612
The Donut Spot – 5148 Pleasant Ave., Fairfield, (513) 863-7033
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