GREENE COUNTY PARKS & TRAILS

As a popular destination park in Greene County, Ohio, the Narrows Reserve offers over five miles of hiking, an apiary and aviary, and a nature center while also boasting direct access to the Little Miami River (designated a National Scenic River.) Primarily viewed as a recreation park for enjoying the outdoors, Greene County Parks & Trails sought to shift how the park was utilized. There was an impetuous to increase usage of the visitor center while not increasing foot traffic on the hiking trails due to excessive existing wear and erosion. Likewise, the intent was to capitalize on people coming to use the park for purely recreational purposes, piggybacking on the natural draw of the river with enjoyable interpretive opportunities throughout the park. In fact, the central theme was crafted with this in mind…Greene County is connected to the Little Miami River in every way. This acknowledges that the resource (in this case the Little Miami River) is king and goals shouldn’t seek to challenge this, but instead to embrace why people are there in the first place. Subthemes tying our physical, cultural, ecological and recreational well-being to the river seek to connect visitors to the idea that the Little Miami is no only worthy of being conserved, but needs to be enjoyed and explored to fully understand how amazing of a resource that it is.