Access In Action: Colerain Township on the Great Miami River

Among the oldest and largest of Ohio’s townships is Colerain Township in Hamilton County. According to watercraft registration statistics compiled by the Division of Watercraft, Hamilton County ranked fourth among the Ohio's 88 counties in 2007 with a total of 17,903 registered watercraft.

Flowing through the township is a portion of the 170-mile Great Miami River that joins with the Ohio River just west of Cincinnati. A popular boating and fishing destination and Ohio’s third longest river, the Great Miami River is attracting a greater number of paddlers each year.

In response to greater demand for boating access facilities, Colerain Township partnered with the Division of Watercraft to construct canoe/kayak launch ramps along the Great Miami River at Dravo Park and Heritage Park. Attaining state funding in 2003 through the Division’s Cooperative Boating Facilities Access Grant Program in the amount of $79,250, local officials and other project supporters contributed an additional $26,250 for completion of both projects which occurred in 2005.

The launch ramps are located 4.3 nautical miles apart and include Dravo Park, a renovated soccer complex, and the new 126-acre Heritage Park that is located upstream at 11405 East Miami River Road. Heritage Park, formerly known as the Wilhelm Farm and believed to be the site of Colerain Township’s first settlement in the late 18th century, features one mile of river frontage along the Great Miami River. Dravo Park has existed since the 1970s as a baseball field complex and now is home to the Obergiesing Soccer Complex.

"Boating access and facilities top the list of demands and needs as expressed to us by Ohio boaters,” says Julie McQuade, manager of the Division’s Cooperative Boating Facilities Access Grant Program. “This certainly applies to recreational canoeing and kayaking needs as these paddle sports are among the fastest growing of all outdoors recreation activities. Our watercraft registrations also show a large increase in the number of canoes and kayaks present in Ohio, which now total more than 17% of our total registered watercraft."

The Cooperative Boating Facility Grant program provides up to 100% reimbursement assistance to eligible political subdivisions and state/federal agencies for acquiring, improving, and/or developing recreational boating access. Grant applications must be submitted to the Division of Watercraft by April 1 each year (see Related Links).