Great Parks | Great Stories

December is the most wonderful time of the year. The holidays are almost here, putting people in high spirits … especially for National Llama Day! Never heard of this holiday? No prob-llama! The Great Parks marketing team ventured over to Parky’s Farm to learn more about these fuzzy camelids. Meet Yoshi Yoshi is the sole […]

I have been thinking about this story and its lesson since it was relayed to me a few months ago. In the 10 years that I was based at Winton Woods as a Nature Interpreter, I had heard about mink living down near the Kingfisher and Great Oaks Trails, but had never witnessed their presence […]

For the last 33 years, Great Parks has conducted a butterfly count in the western Hamilton County parks headed by former Great Parks Ranger and current VIP Bob Nuhn, in collaboration with the North American Butterfly Association. One Saturday every July, employees, volunteers and the public head out with sunscreen and binoculars to count the number […]

Around the same time every year — late summer through early fall — our fields, meadows, prairies and wetlands take on a golden-yellow hue. This color change is primarily caused by a priceless pollinator plant, goldenrod. Goldenrods are members of one of the largest plant families in the world, Asteraceae. There are about 60 different […]

Make a list of some of the most endangered animals on the planet and the first that come to mind might be large mammals like tigers, rhinoceroses and gorillas. However, some lowly mollusks should be on the list. Mussels are some of the most endangered animals in not only Ohio, but also the country. Approximately […]

In the hubbub and craziness of life, we often encounter things that interrupt the smoothness of our day. When these situations arise, they can often make even the most level-headed person question why they even bothered to get out of bed that morning. Recently the Landscape Department has been working on edging and mulching all […]

“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” ― Chinese proverb Each September for the last several years, Great Parks of Hamilton County has taken part in a truly outstanding nationwide event. National Public Lands Day was started by the National Environmental Education Foundation in 1994, […]

Each Great Park has its own maintenance crew to handle day-to-day tasks, such as cutting the grass, cleaning picnic areas and getting rid of trash in our parks. What most people don’t know is that we also have a specialized crew that travels to every park. This crew focuses on specific projects that fall outside […]