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Knox County Park District

Knox On The Outside

Late in April, KCPD closed on the Honey Run Waterfall property near Millwood.  Because the site contains sensitive resources and does not contain a trail system for visitors to use safely,  the site will remain closed to the public at this time.  Planning a safe trail system that protects both users and the unique resources on the site is underway.   Stay tuned for updates in future issues.

KCPD Acquires Honey Run Waterfall, Park Planning Commences

Volume 1, Issue 3 May 07

Gardens Gone Wild!

Birding at Wolf Run Regional Park

May brings many colorful visitors and beautiful sounds to Wolf Run Park.  The annual song bird migration is underway, and KCPD staff encourage you to grab a pair of binoculars and hit the trails.  Birds to view at the park include: blue jays, chickadees, tufted titmice, phoebes, white-breasted nuthatches, eastern wood-peewees, northern cardinals, warblers (yellow, yellow-rumped, common yellowthroat and ovenbird) woodpeckers (downy, hairy, red-bellied, pileated and yellow-bellied sapsucker), red-tailed hawks, red-eyed vireos, blue-gray knatcatchers, indigo buntings, eastern bluebirds, robins, wood thrushes, goldfinches, turkey vultures, mockingbirds, catbirds, brown thrashers and sparrows (field, song and chipping).

Migratory birds are returning and singing, beckoning you to explore and enjoy your Knox County Park District. This issue of Knox On The Outside features upcoming KCPD-led programs and status updates on projects of interest.

Due to reader demand, this edition (and future editions) of Knox On the Outside will feature an expanded section on Knox County trail news.

In a recent Knox County Commissioners meeting, the Commissioners signed a resolution of support for the Knox County Trail System Concept, a proposal authored by the Knox County Park District and endorsed by the Kokosing Gap, Heart of Ohio and Mohican Valley Trail volunteer groups.  “With the exciting development of the Heart of Ohio Trail, the county trail system is expanding in Knox County, and an increasing need exists to coordinate the efforts of all the various trail groups to plan, fund, develop, operate and maintain the county trails system,” said Kim Marshall, Park District Director,  “And the Knox County Park District is well positioned to assume the role of trail system coordinator.”

Knox County Commissioner Tom McLarnan added, “Until the Park District has established a dedicated source of funding, all large or major trail acquisition, rehabilitation and development projects will remain the responsibility of the Knox County Commissioners.  We have a wonderful compliment of volunteers that serve with our trail groups, and the operational responsibilities that have been delegated to the respective trail groups will continue as well.”

Kokosing Gap Trail:  The trail is ready for visitors, and plans are underway to seal the entire trail in the early summer.   Gap Trail volunteers are looking for skilled carpenters or painters interesting in volunteering restoration work on the exterior of the caboose this summer.  If you would like to volunteer, or know of someone possessing such expertise, please contact Randy Cronk at Randy.Cronk@MVNU.edu or 392-6868 (ext. 3702).  KCPD and the Gap Trail group recently partnered to order a new six foot wide welcome sign for the trail that will be installed at the corner of Mount Vernon Avenue and Lower Gambier Road.

Mohican Valley Trail: Knox County Commissioners awarded a grant of $5,000 to the Park District to assist with mowing, grading and upkeep on the Mohican Valley Trail.  Kim Marshall said, “The Park District and Mohican Valley Trail volunteers appreciate the grant and recent donation of a grader by the County Commissioners to improve the quality of the Mohican Valley Trail.  Trail users will enjoy a better maintained trail this year, and we encourage mountain bicyclists and horse riders to utilize this terrific and picturesque resource.”  Tom Davis will serve as maintenance coordinator for KCPD this summer.  The June edition of “Knox on the Outside” will feature more on Tom and his talents.

Heart of Ohio Trail: The County Commissioners have decided, for user safety reasons, to keep the recently cleared Heart of Ohio Trail (HOOT) closed to all users, until bridges are upgraded and repaired.  A portion of the Heart of Ohio Trail, from State Route 314 west through Centerburg, is open to the public, however.  HOOT volunteers will be making several assessment excursions on the trail this spring and summer.

As a reminder, all terrain vehicles (ATVs) are banned on all trails (Mohican Valley, Kokosing Gap and Heart of Ohio) in the county. 

Having trouble viewing the graphics in this newsletter?  Click here to view the newsletter as a PDF.  Most internet links are operational in the PDF file.

Hummingbird Nest

In cooperation with the KnoxWays subcommittee of the Knox County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, KCPD is pleased to provide the “Knox County Birding Trail,” a guide to birding in Knox County.  Four sites are featured as excellent, publicly-accessible birding sites: Wolf Run Regional Park, Ramser Arboretum, Brown Family Environmental Center and Knox Lake Wildlife Area.  The guide lists bird species that are likely to be encountered at this sites, as well as latitude/longitude coordinates for those with GPS units.

Birding Trails of Knox County

Gardening is a favorite past time for many, and the KCPD recently developed four fact sheets to help with your gardening needs.  The fact sheets serve to assist Knox County citizens in living within their natural world and can be found at local garden centers around Knox County.  You can download PDFs of the facts sheets, which include: Deer Resistant Plants, Plants for Hummingbirds, Plants for Butterflies and Ohio & Midwest Native Plants for Gardens.

On May 5th and 6th (10am-1pm each day), kids and their parents can learn to fish with assistance from staff and volunteers at Wolf Run Regional Park.   KCPD is grateful for the donation of fishing poles and tackle from the Ohio Division of Wildlife.  Fish identification trading cards and temporary tattoos will be available for kids and adults alike.  Join us for this  event—you don’t even need a fishing license!

The official dedication of Ohio’s newest state scenic river, the Mohican, will occur on May 18th at 1pm at Mohican State Park on State Route 3.

Mohican State Scenic River