A four-year effort to raise awareness about the Ohio River and its towns as places of active tourism has won a major boost with an official designation by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
More than 300 miles of the river, as well as the towns, cities and tributaries along the way, have been designated as a
National Water Trail, joining the National Parks Service’s national trails system that includes scenic, historic, and recreational trails around the country.
The trail is called the
Ohio River Way, 308 miles of river stretching from Ashland, Ky., to West Point, Ky. Along the way, it winds past small towns like Ripley, Aberdeen and New Richmond in Ohio, Maysville, Augusta and Rabbit Hash in Kentucky, and Rising Sun, Patriot, and Madison in Indiana.
The designation puts the river on the map nationally as a destination for paddlers and boaters, as well as for bicyclists, hikers and tourists exploring the towns, cities and wilderness along the river’s banks.
“This water trail is more than just a paddling route,” the application to the park service said. “It’s a journey through the cultural and historical heart of the region.”
The idea of the Ohio River Way came about during a 30-hour trip paddling from Cincinnati to Louisville, as a group of volunteers began envisioning how the Ohio could be made more accessible to active tourists. It grew into a coalition of communities and organizations, including the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, the National Park Service, and many of the towns along the route.
Brewster Rhoads, a longtime Cincinnati consultant and environmental activist, and David Wicks, a Louisville-based educator and activist, were instrumental in organizing and expanding the effort.
“This has been years in the making,” says Forest Clevenger, executive director of the Ohio River Way. “Volunteers and community leaders spanning three states have collaborated to make this designation a reality.”
READ MORE: The Ohio River Recreation Trail promotes geotourism and economies in river cities in three states
The not-for-profit organization has developed an interactive map, a website, a visitors guide, a paddling guide, boating safety information, and signs at 74 public access points along the river.
The trail designation should also help change public perception of the Ohio, which remains a heavily used industrial and commercial waterway. “One of the core challenges we’ve found is that the public perceives the Ohio River as a polluted waterway not worthy of recreation,” the group said in its application. “While there is a real need for restoration, all of our public information works to showcase the natural beauty of the Ohio River, how it can be a destination for recreation, and the resources available to people exploring the Ohio River Way.”
The official park service designation should help attract paddlers, anglers, boaters, and nature enthusiasts from across the country, says Stephan Nofield, associate director of the National Park Service. That, in turn, should increase tourism and outdoor activity in riverside communities.
The application was supported by more than 20 towns, cities, and counties along the route, including Cincinnati, and more than 30 organizations and members of Congress.
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