Ohio has the best state parks in the country

COLUBMUS, Ohio – American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration, in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association has announced Ohio State Parks as the best in the nation.

Ohio overcame the other 49 states to receive the the 2025 National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation Management. Gov. Mike DeWine explains why he thinks Ohio stands out with our state parks.

“First of all they start off, they’re free. Second, we have rehabbed the cabins, we have ten lodges all over the state of Ohio in different places,” DeWine said. “… almost 10,000 camping sites. So weather you tent camp, weather you just want to go to a lodge, weather you want to go and hike for a day, it’s there and it’s close to every Ohioan.”

On top of all those campsites and lodges, there are more than 1,200 miles of trails and over 7,100 educational programs annually. DeWine goes onto say that it’s the people that set Ohio’s parks above the rest such as the rangers, maintenance crews, and naturalists.

“One of the things that Fran and I really enjoy is taking grandkids and have them exposed to the naturalists. Naturalists put on programs there and at each state park and we have great naturalists,” DeWine said. “They love the outdoors and they do a great job of talking to kids or adults and explaining to them the animals that are here. Sometimes they’ll show them an animal, plants, all kinds of things and they just make it fun. ”

One of the key points highlighted by the judges in the competition was the newly created Great Council State Park in partnership with the Shawnee, Eastern Shawnee, and Absentee Shawnee Tribes. The park near Xenia, Ohio highlights Native American history and Ohio’s pioneering past.

“It literally is on the grounds where the Shawnee Indians in the late 1770’s, that’s where they lived. Where a thousand Shawnees were there and we tell the story of the Shawnees we tell the other Native Americans but we also tell the story of the settlers who are coming in,” DeWine said. “Sometimes they lived in peace and they traded and learned from each other. Sometimes they were waring against each other but it’s part of our history it’s part of our story and we wanted to tell that Ohio story. And so, I think anyone who goes there will be impressed by just that piece of history that we’re trying to preserve and explain.”

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Great Council State Park saw more than 21,000 visitors and nearly 4,000 program attendees in its first five months.