The holidays are coming to a close, and a new year is upon us! You may find yourself contemplating an upcoming resolution. While hitting the gym or eating a better diet might be high on your list, at MetroParks, we can’t help but encourage you to get outside more next year. With so many green spaces to explore throughout the county, we’ve been on a journey to find what makes a park. Even in the wintertime, nature lends itself to some beautiful discoveries.

This month, we visited the Meadow Ridge area of Elk Creek MetroPark. Located in Madison Township with over 800 acres, Elk Creek is the largest of our MetroParks. Once a golf course for 45 years, this landscape has been transformed into a natural wildlife habitat with native prairies, grasslands, and forests. However, the park also offers several trails for hiking, biking, and running, as well as areas for catch-and-release fishing.

We begin our visit to Meadow Ridge at its shelter. Reservable for parties and events, it overlooks Mirror Pond and offers beautiful vistas of the surrounding parkland. Moving further into the park, you’ll come across Meadow Ridge’s several trails, including Dave’s Trace, Twin Lakes, and South Pond. Most of the paths are paved for accessibility, offering connections to the trails at the Sebald Park section of Elk Creek.

Along the trails, you’ll follow several ponds and prairie and maybe even catch a glimpse of the iconic red barn. There are several cutouts for water access. I cherished my time sitting beside the pond with nature, noticing its sounds and movements. (My furry friend did too!)

Elk Creek has a rich history from its golf course origins, which led to its beauty today. But change continues to loom on the horizon for this park, particularly in its offerings and opportunities for the public. I had the chance to talk with Chad Smith, MetroParks Deputy Director, to learn about the future of Meadow Ridge. He informed me about an exciting update: “MetroParks is excited to have partnered with Young Guns Archery on constructing and managing a public outdoor archery range that will open at Meadow Ridge in 2024. The range will include a designated shooting area with free-standing targets and a trail with 3D targets. Stay tuned for more information about this project.” MetroParks is excited to offer new recreation opportunities to the public that may inspire your outdoor resolutions for the new year.

So, what makes a park? Over the course of this blog series, I’ve realized that parks are a means for connecting with nature. Elk Creek could not be a truer testament to this statement. Its trails are a pathway to the outdoors, and its future holds new recreational opportunities for the public. As much as we despise change, our parks would not be what they are today without it. A golf course, a prairie, an archery range. Past, present, and future, Meadow Ridge has changed frequently throughout its history, all with the intent to create a deeper appreciation for nature.

Here’s to a year spent outdoors!

Addy Werling

Addy is a senior at Miami University in Oxford with a major in marketing. She recently joined the MetroParks team as an intern in the summer of 2022. With a love for writing and connecting with others, she has helped MetroParks in the creation of their very first blog, Footprints. Although she had only set foot in one MetroPark when she began, she is excited to explore new green spaces here in Butler County and showcase them on the blog. Beyond her work, Addy enjoys spending time outside, camping, running, hiking, and playing with her dog, Max. She appreciates you taking the time to read her content on the blog and hopes that through this platform, we all can find a renewed gratitude for the outdoors.

awerling@yourmetroparks.net