Recreational opportunities abound for residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley. Public parks and wildlife areas offer opportunities for picnicking, hiking, swimming, hunting, fishing, and camping. Acres of beautiful forests are open for nature-lovers. Many public and private golf courses are available, and the rivers invite all types of water sports.
The area boasts a year-round public recreational program, sponsored by the Wood County Recreation Commission. A full-time staff oversees a number of programs for children and adults, including basketball, baseball, tennis, and soccer. There are a number of public parks and recreational areas open to the public.
Parkersburg
City Park is the largest and oldest municipal park in the valley with a public swimming pool, a lighted ballpark and bleachers, seating 2000. Sweeping, tree-covered grounds surround a large, picturesque pond. The park is a popular jogging and hiking spot and has special areas for other recreational activities, such as miniature golf, tennis and horseshoes. Its large, winterized pavilion is the site of many festivals and special events throughout the year. Picnickers have a choice of a number of shelters, and children enjoy the playground area. It is located between Seventh and 23rd Streets off Park Avenue.
Quincy Hill Park is a small, neighborhood park which offers a spectacular view of Parkersburg, the Ohio River and Blennerhassett Island. It also features a playground for children, but parking is limited. It is off Seventh Street on Quincy Street.
Point Park is at the end of Second Street, through the gates of the floodwall. It is at the confluence of the Little Kanawha and Ohio Rivers and the place where passengers board sternwheelers to go to Blennerhassett Island. It is also the site of many activities during Parkersburg’s annual homecoming. This is a popular area for residents who enjoy a peaceful stroll along the river during any season.
Southwood Park is located on Belmont Road in the southern section of the city. It offers playground equipment, picnic areas and shelters, a lighted softball diamond, bleachers which seat nearly 400, an olympic-sized swimming pool, miniature golf, and a giant
water slide.
Blennerhassett Island Historical State Park is located in the Ohio River near Parkersburg. Visitors can tour the beautiful, reconstructed mansion and garden during the summer and fall. Sternwheelers leave Point Park hourly from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday, noon
to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Other park attractions include horse-drawn wagon rides, bicycle rentals, picnic facilities, and arts and crafts exhibits. The island is a perfect area for hiking with its towering sycamore trees, large walnut grove, and dense population of deer and other wildlife.
Corning Park is on Rt. 47 at the city limits. It has a small picnic area with public restrooms and offers a public boat ramp on Worthington Creek which accesses the Little Kanawha and Ohio Rivers.
Johnson Janes Park is in the process of being developed. Home to a variety of birds and other wildlife, it is located at the end of Randolph Drive, near Worthington Golf Course. A walk through its pristine 36 acres is relaxing and enjoyable.
Vienna
McDonough Wildlife Refuge features hiking trails, duck marshes, and scenic overlooks. It is located off Rosemar Road.
Jackson Park is centrally located within the Vienna city limits. It provides picnic shelters, a community building, and areas for tee ball, baseball, swimming, tennis, soccer, football, and basketball.
Williamstown
Tomlinson Park hosts many sporting events and features a playground area for children. It has a community building, picnic tables, a ball field, tennis courts, and a basketball court. Williamstown also maintains a modern boat launch ramp on the Ohio River.
Nearby
Veterans’ Memorial Park is in the northern part of the county, near the Wood County Airport entrance. Covering 28 acres, it features picnic sites and shelters and is equipped with playground equipment. Its well-stocked fishpond is reserved just for children.
North Bend State Park is named for the horseshoe curve of the North Fork of the Hughes River, near Cairo in Ritchie County. It is an approximate 40-minute drive east of Parkersburg on US Rt. 50 to WV 31. North Bend has a modern lodge with 29 guestrooms, as well as conference areas and a gift shop. Also available are eight deluxe cottages with stone fireplaces, electric heat, telephones, televisions and fully equipped kitchens. The park’s restaurant overlooks the woodland river valley, often dotted with grazing deer.
Other attractions include tennis and volleyball courts, a swimming pool, an amphitheater, a paved, handicapped accessible hiking trail, and many miles of paths through peaceful forests along the river bank and through impressive rock formations. The Park schedules a number of special events throughout the year.
Mountwood Park is located 12 miles east of Parkersburg, on US Rt. 50, at the Volcano Road Exit. Perfect for the camping enthusiast or anyone loving the outdoors, this area has more than 2000 acres of natural, rolling woodlands, along with a well-stocked 50-acre lake. All facilities are handicapped accessible.
The park boasts 500 acres of primitive campsites and 81 blacktop sites, some of which have electrical, water, and sewer hookups. The park contains an abundant supply of picnic tables, fire rings, and barbecue grills.
It has an open gun range that is leased by the Department of Natural Resources. The lake, which is stocked four times a year, contains bass, muskies, and trout.
Twenty-three acres of the park have been set aside for ATV trails. Some are partially used by mountain bikes, but there are also approximately seven miles of single-track trails for bikes. The entire park is open for hikers.
Hughes River Public Hunting and Fishing Grounds are just 15 miles south east of Parkersburg by way of Rt. 47. This area offers more than 10,000 undeveloped acres for all types of outdoorsmen.
North Bend Rail Trail is a multipurpose recreational trail operated as a state park. Following a former rail line, it is part of the 5,500-mile coast-to-coast American Discovery Trail. Closest access from Parkersburg is off Rt. 47 (Staunton Ave. exit from I-77) toward Happy Valley on the Little Kanawha River. A small parking area is available. The scenic trail stretches from this point to Wolf Summit in Harrison County past several quaint towns, through 12 tunnels, and across 32 bridges. Although the rails and ballast have been removed, some sections of the recently purchased trail toward Walker are still being developed and may be too rough for biking.
Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge is under the Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 235-acre refuge covers 20 islands scattered along 362 miles of the Ohio River. It includes Neal Island near Vienna and Middle Island Creek near St. Mary’s. More than 200 different kinds of birds use the refuge for feeding and resting during migrations. Volunteers have been working in the past few years to restore the wetlands and dense forests which existed 200 years ago.