The “New” park for Kenton County, Kentucky is the unmaintained former Fox Run Golf Course that closed in 2020. I believe that the name is a placeholder name while the county works on a master plan for the property.

It was the last day of February and the weather offered both promise and peril, with sunny skies and temps in the low fifties, but also wind gusts up to forty miles an hour. The winds were going to keep us out of the woods for the day. The cart paths of the old golf course seemed a safer alternative.

I was interested in hiking this area of our county as in the early 1980’s we had hiked at Banklick Woods Park which was on adjacent land, and some of it may have been repurposed for the golf course in the early 1990s. At that time the park was a relatively unimproved property that had hiking trails and outstanding trees on its the forested hillsides. In contrast, my memory of the golf course, which I only played on a few occasions in its 27 years of existence, was not so pleasant as it did not suit my game – too many hillside lies and sloped fairways that seemed to consistently dump my ball into creeks, thick grass, or other hazards – bringing to life Mark Twain’s description of golf, ” a good walk spoiled”.

With the relatively steep grades of the asphalt paths this outing turned into a cardio tree walk. There are a good variety of tree species in the park and some clearly predated the development of the golf course.

On the old ninth hole, where we started our walk, the path went through a natural allée of Black Walnut.

We found this large Sycamore creekside in a valley.

These Pin Oaks, given their grouped placement, were undoubtedly planted with the course development. Pin Oaks, which are fast growing, are easily identified from a distance by the lower branches that slant sharply down toward the ground. That characteristic makes them less than ideal lawn trees.

These three large oaks, on the other hand, would have predated the course. The ones on the ends are Bur Oaks, with a Red Oak in the middle.

Another oak with outstanding structure was this White Oak. Given its age and breadth, this specimen probably grew in the farm pasture that predated the golf course. White Oak acorns are quite small, but they are preferred by wildlife over acorns from the Red Oak family. White Oak is also the wood of choice for making bourbon barrels.

But not all our tree sightings were inspiring as along our way we also witnessed one of the most concerning ecological situations of our time – the invasiveness of the ornamental pear tree. Virtually all the small trees to the right of the path in the photo below are ornamental pear.

Below they can be seen tightly clustered on both sides of the path. On this short walk I would estimate that the ornamental pears numbered in the tens if not hundreds of thousands on the formerly open terrain. In some areas there was literally a tree in every two foot square space. These displace our native species such as the Dogwoods (Flowering, Rough, and Gray), the Sumacs (Staghorn, Smooth, and Winged), Redbud, Sassafras, and Redcedar that normally play the pioneering role in reforestation. In a few weeks Footpaths with post an article that tells the full story on the Callery Pear.

Other interesting sightings that we had along the way included many clusters of wild raspberries with their reddish-pink stems.

This unique bird’s nest also caught our eye. Notice how it is suspended from the branch above it. That is apparently characteristic of the Vireo species. While I can’t say that I have seen many Vireos on our hikes, my Merlin Bird ID app tells me they are frequently singing nearby, including in our garden.

One of the sentinels from last season still standing in the fields was Teasel. The spines that arch up around the seed head differentiates them from Thistle.

Lastly, as we crested the final hill on our walk back toward our vehicle we noted a bird with a somewhat unusual flight pattern. Was it a quail? Can you see it in the photo below? It was hard to see as it scurried through the dormant grasses.

It was a small group of Meadowlarks that allowed us to watch them for several minutes. A somewhat rare sighting on our hikes, it was a fun end to an enjoyable outing.

In summary, the paths at the New Kenton County Park offer an opportunity to get outdoors when the weather would have otherwise make that not feasible. That said, although they are asphalt, this is not an all persons trail – there is significant grade changes along the paths and you will go up and down many hills. It is a good cardio and toning workout. Kenton County is in the process of finalizing a master plan for the park (link below), so there may be changes in the future, but hopefully the trails of the developed park will still offer close encounters with the stately trees and the assorted wildlife habitats.

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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.

Overview:

Location – 604 Independence Station Road, Independence, KY, 16 miles from downtown Cincinnati.

Parking – asphalt lot for 20 cars

Facilities – Portolet at the parking area.

Trail Conditions – asphalt paths. Their are 4 connected loops. The outer loop would measures 6 miles. The trails and the many path intersections are well marked.

Print Trail Map Link – https://www.kentoncounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/2692/New-Kenton-County-Park-Trail-Map?bidId=

Benches – none noted.

Picnic Tables – none noted.

Kids – I think that the degree of slope on many sections of trail would be challenging for kids less than 8.

Dogs – welcomed on a leash.

Paired Hiking Trails – none

Links:

https://www.kentoncounty.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Fox-Run-Park-10

https://www.kentoncounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/3428/New-County-Park-Master-Plan?bidId=