Great Parks of Hamilton County plans to release its master plan this spring for a planned 36-mile blueway and trail system on the western side of Hamilton County. First, it's hosting a public open house on the first planned river access point.
A blueway is a water-based trail. The West Region Blueway & Trail System would and river access points. Once completed, the West Region Blueway will connect to the and the . The first of four or five access points is planned for Mitchell Memorial Forest.
"The Mitchell Memorial Forest River access happens to be about midway along the Great Miami River in Hamilton County, so strategically, it's a good location as both a put-in or take-out for those who are paddling on the Great Miami River," explains Sean Creighton, landscape architect and project manager.
He notes there currently are only a few public access points along the Great Miami in Hamilton County.
"In order to serve a greater amount of the public here throughout the county, it's really important to have multiple access points that run up and down the river and provide a range of distances that folks can travel, as well as a range of locations that they might be able to access the river and have different types of experiences," he says.
An open house on Tuesday, March 18, will allow people to see plans for the access point, and provide feedback. Funding for the project will come, partially, from the 0.95-mill levy voters approved in 2021 to cover infrastructure improvements and master plan projects.
The access point is slated to include a parking lot, a two-unit restroom facility, a canoe/kayak launch, a fishing area, and a natural surface trail.
Creighton says parking is important since most people will be hauling their own gear, such as kayaks/canoes or fishing equipment.
"Then, people who are getting on and off the river or maybe just wading, whether it be for fishing or just hanging out, might want to have a place to change their clothes before or after getting on the river, a place to kind of clean off. We're intending to provide a foot washing station," Creighton adds.
He says the design is about halfway complete. Earlier public sessions and online surveys gathered feedback on the overall blueway and trail system plan. Initial construction could begin as early as this coming winter or in spring of 2026.
"This public open house will be the first time that we're really sharing the plans for the river access at Mitchell Memorial Forest with the public, and our hope would be that we get some thoughts from the public on how they might see themselves using the site, and [their] impressions of the design that was developed in response to previously obtained public input," says Creighton.
The open house is from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18, at the Miami Whitewater Forest Visitor Center auditorium.
