Great Parks will welcome dozens of volunteers to beautify Winton Woods and Winton Lake during the Winton Woods Cleanup on Saturday, April 9.

On a chilly, sunny Saturday in October, nearly 100 Great Parks staff and volunteers gathered on an undeveloped edge of Mitchell Memorial Forest to plant 120 trees and shrubs as part of ongoing restoration efforts. How do plantings like this one help improve habitats for local wildlife? Conservation Biologist Daniel dives into how reforestation projects help Great Parks continue to be here for you now, and here for the future.

“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, […]

On the corner of Riddle Road and Springfield Pike, a sliver of Glenwood Gardens is nestled in among the neighbors of the City of Woodlawn. With the Mill Creek winding through it, it has the potential to host a variety of wildlife and wildflowers in the midst of a quick-moving urban environment. Throughout the years, […]

Great Parks and Green Umbrella teamed up to host the Kids Outdoor Adventure Expo at Winton Woods Harbor on July 22. The Expo is the largest free interactive outdoor and environmental education event for children in the Midwest! It was hot and sticky, but that didn’t stop thousands of kids from having some outdoor fun! On Winton […]

For some it may be difficult to remember the exact moment that shaped their career choice, but for me it was in the third grade. It was during a reading of Dr. Seuss’s book The Lorax that I realized my calling to try to make the world a better place. For those of you unfamiliar […]

Last week, I decided to join the volunteer program with Great Parks. My first task was standing next to the trail at Winton Woods with all my birding gear, including a powerful spotting scope and field guides. Standing in front of the great blue heron colony, called a rookery, I was on the trail to […]

Volunteers have been an important part of the park district for its entire 85-year history. Running in its current format since 1978, the volunteer program has grown steadily along with the park district. Today, more than 700 volunteers give their time and talents, helping out in practically every department, from stuffing mailers with Marketing to […]