The Park District manages just under 1,400 acres and of those, 155 acres are in warm season grasses and prairie forbs. These grassland ecosystems are managed with prescribed fire. On Wednesday March 29th the Park District burned about 44 acres at Honey Run Highlands.
By utilizing prescribed fire, the Park District is able to achieve its grassland ecosystem management objectives by eliminating undesirable vegetation (woody plants and non-native invasives such as autumn olive and Callery pear), while encouraging the planted native grasses and prairie wildflowers. Accolades to our Prescribed Fire Manager Jennifer Windus of the Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves Association (ONAPA), as well as, ONAPA crew members Madi Brown and Lydia Radcliffe.
Jennifer was joined by three other prescribed fire managers Tim Mason, Austin Roby and Dave Heithaus. Others who assisted with the burn included Barry Bowden, Terry Totman and the Park District Operations Managers Ron Doup, Dan Dennis, Tim Tahyi and Cliff Carpenter.
Prescribed fire crews are a great group of people who tend to share their time and resources with other agencies. Austin is a Natural Resources Manager at Johnny Appleseed Park District in Lima, Tim Mason is a Natural Resources Consultant from Licking county and Dave Heithaus is Director of Green Initiatives at Kenyon College. Park District truly appreciates our relationships with these folks and our fantastic crew of volunteers. As stated many times, Park District absolutely could not do what we do, like the prescribed fire without those who helped. A big thank you, everyone!
Please be aware that there will be no parking at the Honey Run waterfall park for our Fire and Ice event this evening. Please park at the Millwood Church of Christ, 10900 Millersburg Road. Thank you!
We are getting ready! Join us this evening 5:00 pm - 8:30 pm for our Fire and Ice event! Thank you to our awesome volunteers and sponsors who make this possible for our community to enjoy!
Macy Helser -2022 College Intern
What are our interns doing on “Keeping up with the Interns”? They are at the fair this week! Stop in our tent located outside the merchants building and view the Intern displays as well as all the information we have available for you! Sign up for your chance to win a book title on our Storybook Trail illustrated by local artist Richard Cowdrey, Illustrator. Fill out a park survey and we will give you a Park District Backpack. Stop in and see us!
Friends of the Woods Group
Good afternoon! If you are visiting the fair today, stop by our tent and browse our display full of park and trail maps, informational brochures, ODNR ID Booklets and so much more. Sign up for our Storybook drawing as we are giving away (4) books this week! Stop by and see Katie until 4:00 today and mention you saw this post on Facebook for free ice cream coupon (limited supply) compliments of Round Hill Dairy! Our volunteers will be here periodically to answer any questions about their latest projects! Sue Firehammer Hagan
Park Director, Lori Totman had the opportunity to speak with Callie Clark Greer with Out N About Columbus, the segment aired last Sunday. We are fortunate to work with numerous partners, sponsors and volunteer trail boards to maintain the beauty our county has to offer. Our trails, parks and river accesses are a very important venue for outdoor recreation. Trail towns are becoming increasingly popular and contributes to a local economy.
Keepin It Reel Youth Tournament Follow-Up Event
Thank you to our sponsors for the “Keepin it Reel, Igniting a Spark for Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention” youth virtual fishing tournament. This tournament was held on May 28 and 29 and today we met with participating anglers to present them with their tackle sack and t-shirt compliments of our co-sponsors Knox Community Health Center, Knox Public Health, National Alliance of Mental Health of Knox and Licking Counties and Igniting a Spark to Precent Suicide Inc. The Kokosing Valley Jr Anglers youth fishing club served as tournament sponsors as they provided the prizes to our leaderboard winners. Our sponsors provided many educational and encouraging items as well as fishing related items to help them enjoy a relaxing day on the water! Good luck today as these anglers will compete in the final tournament of this sponsored series to raise awareness on Mental Health. Stay tuned for the results!
Keeping Up With The Interns 2022
Another video in our series “Keeping Up With the Interns” as Sam and Macy take part in Butterfly Monitoring with our Volunteer Group on the Butterfly Transect Trail in the Honey Run Highlands Park. Sam was intrigued by the Little Wood Satyr that decided to land on him. If you have an interest in learning about butterflies, contact us and join our volunteers for weekly monitoring throughout the season! There are some many varieties and you can find an identification guide on our website at www.knoxcountyparks.org, click on Parks and choose Honey Run Highlands to download the ID guide!
Visit our Knox County Geotrails!
The Knox County Park District has many recreational programs to offer to you! Katie Hux, Park District staff shares an informative video about geocaching our trails while enjoying local discounts from our many sponsors. Check out the Bingo challenge from Get Healthy Knox County too! Lots to do this summer! Tami Lybarger Ruhl
Keeping up with the Interns 2022
What a beautiful morning to start our series “Keeping up with the Interns”as we want to highlight the duties of a KCPD internship. Macy and Sam recently planted our raised garden at the Wolf Run Regional Park near the Natural Childrens Play Area. This raised bed was an Eagle Scout Project of Claire Duffy built a year ago. We are excited to see it grow! Check it out and tell us what you are enjoying this summer in the parks!
Ribbon Cutting for the new extension of the Ohio to Erie Trail
Thank you to all who were involved in the monumental celebration of the completion of the Heart of Ohio Trail paving project. This day celebrates a connection of three counties of Knox, Licking and Delaware to join this section of trail which is also serves as the Ohio to Erie Trail and Great American Rail-Trail. We greatly appreciate the work involved in this long awaited celebration. We give thanks to the dedicated funding, work and support of the Knox County Commisioners (past and present) and the Knox County Park District Board of Commissioners as well as our Park Director, Lori Totman who was instrumental on writing a Clean Ohio Trail Fund grant to receive funding as well as the Park District providing a state match . Thank you to all the Trail Volunteer Boards who dedicate numerous hours to these trail systems. Please enjoy this awesome video filmed by Knox County IT staff Andrew Champlin. We hope cyclist enthusiasts and our local community will embrace the assets of these trails for years to come. Knox County Ohio Ohio to Erie Trail Great American Rail-Trail
All Aboard the Geotrail 2022
Plan to do our GeoTrails this summer as we offer two geocaching trails, the State Scenic River Trail and the All Aboard Trail. Go to our website for further information and details. It is a lot of fun for all ages! Complete the trail to earn a geocoin.
Fairy Blossom Trail Launch Hellbender Preserve
Hike with us on the newly launched Fairy Blossom Trail!
Honey Run Waterfall 3/7/22
“Water is the driver of nature.” Leonardo Da Vinci video 3/7/22
Honey Run Waterfall 2/27/22
Tonight we have a rendition of “Through the Lens” with our Park Director as she captured some amazing photos and video of the Honey Run Waterfall and Highlands Park. What a beautiful day, can you smell spring? Pictures to follow!
Thank you for highlighting this awesome brochure featuring the many amazing green spaces in Knox County! These brochures can be found in the Knox County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Brown Family Environmental Center, Knox County Service Center and Knox County Park District offices. Pick one up today!! @visitknoxohio @thebfec #knoxcountyohio #explore_knoxcountyparks #knoxcounty
Reindeer in the Parks Sponsor!
The Knox County Park District continues to create partnerships with local businesses and today we would like to shout out one of our park sponsors, Almost Famous Sweets & Sodas on “Teamwork Tuesday”. Owner, Tia Vickers is a mother of three who visit our county parks and trails often. Mount Vernon is definitely becoming what some call a “Trail Town” offering discounts and special promotions to those who enjoy the recreational opportunities Knox County offers! Tia feels her business has flourished with both local customers and those from out of town who are out enjoying our parks and trails. Tia is a sponsor of our Geocaching Trail and recently Pumpkins in the Park activity. One lucky Reindeer in the Parks participant will be drawn for a literally “sweet” gift basket from the store! If you haven’t heard of our Reindeer in the Parks activity, go online to read more at www.knoxcountyparks.org and click on the activities link. Complete the activity and attend our Fire and Ice event event on December 11 5:00-8:00 pm at Wolf Run Park to receive a participation gift compliments of the Knox County Convention & Visitors Bureau Be the first 25 to complete the activity for a bigger surprise! $150 gift card drawings as well from The Payne-Campbell Group - Red 1 Realty and THR Creekside; Home Inspections, LLC. Thanks for supporting our programs!!
Mount Vernon Inn Sponsors Reindeer in the Park
This is part II of our video demonstrating how the Reindeer in the Parks activity is played. See our post yesterday for part I. This activity is being sponsored by, Long Branch Pizza The Burg’s Scoop Cafe, Animal Station Payne-Campbell Group Red One Realty, Almost Famous Sweets & Sodas Amato's Mount Vernon The Mount Vernon Inn The Blonde Robin The White Oak Inn Weavers Farm & Furniture Valley Kayak Rentals THR Creekside; Home Inspections, LLC Millwood Church of Christ Dave Jones We encourage you to download the entry form off our website at www.knoxcountyparks.org and read the instructions to participate, view the Google map for search locations, and submit your completed entry online. Plan to attend our Fire and Ice event on December 11 5:00-8:00 pm and receive a participation gift compliments of the Knox County Convention & Visitors Bureau Each participant will also receive an entry to our gift card/prize drawings. If you cannot attend our Fire and Ice event, choose from our alternative dates to obtain your complimentary gift. This activity also supports Food for the Hungry Lisa Mazzari so please bring some canned food to support our community cause. Upon locating Mrs. Claus in our parks, she will encourage to visit the Millwood Church’s Sharing Shed to leave your donation. We hope you enjoy this awesome community activity bring local businesses together to enjoy a recreational event in Knox County Parks! The activity will end on December 31, 2021. Take a selfie at any of the stops on the quest and message it to us for an extra entry in our prize drawings.
Help Santa Locate His Reindeer in Our Parks
We are on the countdown to help Santa locate his reindeer in our parks and we NEED you! The word is out and the businesses are awaiting your participation in our activity as well as the Park District awaiting your exploration of our parks and trails and river accesses. We have provided this video to give you some insight to the recreational activity! Thanks to all our sponsors as this location will take us to #mountvernoninn Animal Station Long Branch Pizza Amato's Mount Vernon Almost Famous Sweets & Sodas @thewhiteoakinn The Blonde Robin Weavers Farm & Furniture Valley Kayak Rentals @millwoodchurchofchrist Dave Jones THR Creekside; Home Inspections, LLC The Payne-Campbell Group - Red 1 Realty
The ribbon cutting of the Storybook Trail was led by Carol Grubaugh of the Knox County Chamber of Commerce this afternoon. The Director of the Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, John K. Chidester spoke as well as Erica Newton who was instrumental in making this idea a reality for our community. The Knox County Park District is pleased to have Wolf Run Park be the home of the Storybook Trail. Thank you to all the partners involved Paragrah’s Book Store, Knox County Career Center Building Trades Class, Knox County Foundation and others. It truly is a very nice addition to Wolf Run Regional Park as our Park Director, Lori Totman shared.
