All 21 Great Parks parks and preserves open with few restrictions

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - All 21 parks and preserves in the Great Parks network are open with very few restrictions. It’s a perfect time to get outside.

The cicadas are finally dying, and it’s much quieter out at Great Parks.

“We’re really trying to get back into the groove of things basically just like everybody else is too, but I think everybody is very excited for everything to be happening again,” said Great Parks Public Engagement Coordinator Kimberly Whitton.

There is plenty for the entire family to do at Great Parks of Hamilton County. Their parks offer boating, camping, golfing and much more.

While some facilities and attractions were closed last year due to the pandemic, everything except indoor playgrounds and splash pads are open now.

Everything is open just in time for the official start to summer Sunday!

“Everything else is going on. We’re doing day camps. We’re doing nature programs. We’re doing everything that everyone expects from Great Parks,” says Whitton.

Last year more and more people discovered the great outdoors because it was proven to be safer than indoor activities during the pandemic.

Great Parks saw the same trend, and they say that hasn’t really ended either.

“We noticed a huge uptick in attendance at the parks, and it seems to be still going. It gave people the opportunity to not only go to their local park that they’re used to, but they’re like, oh wow, there’s these other ones that are on the other side of town, and we’ve got time to go,” said Whitton.

Whitton says a hidden treasure many don’t know about is the trails, “Trails remain popular those were really the only thing to do through last year, and I think people were experiencing trails they didn’t know existed like the gorge trail at Sharon Woods was a really popular one.”

She says many people don’t know about Glenwood Gardens in Woodlawn with wetlands, prairies and meadows.

If you haven’t explored the parks in your area, maybe now is the time to grab your hiking shoes, your bike, or your kayak and get outside.

Check out all the events happening this summer at the Great Parks website.

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