Kenton County Recreation (859) 525-PLAY

We've come a long way! And more is happening all the time!

Kenton County Recreation was created in 1998. At that time, we provided Shelterhouse Reservations and offered just one program ~ Adult Recreation Softball Leagues.

Kenton County Recreation has since become an important leisure services community resource. We have an easy-to-remember telephone number to help make remembering it, and finding us, easier. Our phone number is 525-PLAY. That's (859) 525-7529.

On our telephone line, there are four mailboxes with recorded messages designed to help you ´Help Yourself' to Kenton County Parks & Recreation information. When you dial 525-PLAY, you will be able to speak immediately with Mary Voorhees, our Office Assistant or Steve Trauger, Recreation Programs Coordinator, or Scott Gunning, Kenton County Parks & Recreation Director. You may leave a message at any time, day or night. We will return your calls quickly ~ usually the same day. Should we be on the line or out of the office when you call, you may access the other three mailboxes. A recorded message will begin and prompt you with the following options, depending upon the specific information you seek:

0 ~ The Main mailbox message with voice-mail to leave messages, Shelterhouse Reservation details, and basic information;

1 ~ Recreation PROGRAM Cancellation Line ~ Use this number when the weather may have affected our ability to operate individual programs, activities and events in our parks. Information will be available ONLY when a program has been cancelled;

2 ~ ´How-Do-I-Get-There-From-Here?' ~ Directions to each of our parks, including a list of the amenities provided at each location;

3 ~ Our FIELD CONDITIONS hotline ~ A user-friendly service which is updated daily, seven days a week at 3:30 pm on weekdays, by 7:30 am on Saturdays, and by 9:00 am on Sundays, during the outdoor sports season, providing callers timely information, and making travel to personally inspect playing fields unnecessary.

Kenton County Recreation designs, develops, promotes, and operates all of the programs approved by the Kenton County Recreation Commission, with the approval and support of Kenton County Fiscal Court.

Each year, we offer numerous programs, from one-day extravaganzas to season-long programs, including Wild Wednesdays!, named Kentucky Recreation and Park Society Outstanding Program of 2005; (Almost) Every Other Thursday Science, named Kentucky Recreation and Park Society Outstanding Program of 2009; Go Outside (And Don't Come Home ´Til The Street Lights Come On); Kids Fishing Derby; Kick-Off To Summer Party; the Halloween Haunted Trail and Great Pumpkin Races; and Letters To Santa ~ Letters From Santa, among many others. And more is happening all the time!

We help present the Northern Kentucky Senior Games ~ Winter Edition and the Northern Kentucky Senior Games ~ Spring Edition for those 50 or better. We present nationally recognized youth sports contests, including Major League Baseball's Aquafina® Pitch, Hit & Run and National Football League's Punt, Pass & Kick. We facilitate an all-ages sports program called the World's Biggest Disc Golf Weekend. We also present the High School Disc Golf Championships.

We encourage and support community involvement and participation and coordinate many activities which help facilitate Boy Scout Eagle honors projects and National Honor Society projects in our parks. We present important environmental projects, including monitoring our links in the Northern Kentucky Bluebird Trail; promoting the Great Backyard Bird Count; cooperating to present Reforest Northern Kentucky; operating the Great American Cleanup/Doe Run Lake & Nature Trail Clean-Up; presenting Star Gazes with the Cincinnati Observatory Center and Midwestern Astronomers; organizing and facilitating the Banklick Creek Clean-up; and we provide programs during the Great Outdoor Weekend.

And, during the spring and summer, we continue to operate three successful Adult Recreation Softball leagues: Monday Men ~ Church ´A' and ´B' and Friday Women!

For details about all the programs we offer, scroll down the menu on the left and click on the specific program. Or, check out the Programs, Activities, and Events Guide!

We are grateful to have in place a loyal network of hundreds of volunteers. Each year, our volunteers provide thousands of hours of unpaid labor. And, more importantly, they are attentive eyes and ears in every one of our parks, which helps keep vandalism and unwanted activities to a minimum. Most importantly, our volunteers provide constructive criticism and valuable suggestions for improving the quality of the services we provide to you. If you are interested in joining our volunteer staff, or would like to help out on a specific program, activity, or event ~ please, just call!

Scott Gunning and Steve Trauger are both active members of the Kentucky Recreation and Park Society (KRPS), our statewide association of park and recreation professionals, and the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).

Our office is located at 3902 Richardson Road, Independence. Directions are easy. From I-75, take the Florence/Union exit, go north on KY42 to Industrial Road, go east (turn right) on Industrial Road 2.9 miles to 1303/Turkeyfoot Road, go south (turn right) on Turkeyfoot Road .6 mile to Richardson Road (just before the Sunoco), and go east (turn left) on Richardson Road 1 mile. Turn right into the entrance of the Golf Courses at Kenton County and take the immediate left into the driveway. From I-275, take the Turkeyfoot Road exit (Exit 81), go south on Turkeyfoot Road 4.3 miles to Richardson Road (just before the Sunoco), and go east (turn left) on Richardson Road 1 mile. Turn right into the entrance of the Golf Courses at Kenton County and take the immediate left into the driveway.

Kenton County Recreation has become an invaluable Northern Kentucky information clearinghouse for outdoor activities. Call anytime ~ if we can't help you, we will be able to point you in the right direction!

For news of upcoming programs, activities, and events to be held in Kenton County's parks, call the Parks & Recreation office at (859) 525-PLAY (7529). Ask about signing up for a once-a-week e-mail update of What's Happening in Kenton County's parks.