Sharon Woods – Sharonville, Ohio
Sharon Woods park was a fun outing. There are many small waterfalls sprinkled throughout this rather large park.
Playground
We started out our trip with some playtime at the playground near the harbor on Sharon Lake. It is a very nice park. There is an area for big kids and a play area for the toddler crew. There are baby swings but not swings for the big kids here. My oldest found this a little disappointing.
There are a small rock wall and an area that looks like a rock that has places to climb up and tunnels to climb through. There’s a snack bar right by this park. In the summer there are fountains here but we went in spring before they were up and running.
Lake
After some playtime, we decided to check out the harbor and lake. There is a boathouse located here where you can rent boats. It was much too cold out for us to even consider a few hours on the water. I also must warn you that boat rentals are not cheap!
Isabella loved playing “Peek-a-boo” through the holes at the playground. She was giggling the whole time.
At the bottom of the stairs was a paved path that circled the lake. We decided to go for a walk. My husband went back to the car to grab the stroller. We went with the jogging stroller on this day. The path does wrap up and around to the parking lot so you do not have to carry the stroller down the stairs. You do however have to wrap up and around the playground. After we had Isabella strapped in the stroller, we were off.
There were many ducks on the lake and the path. They were almost too used to being around people because you could walk right up to them. It was neat for our oldest who loves animals but if you have a child that would try to touch them I would suggest watching closely because these ducks will not run away easily.
We walked along the path for a while before my husband said, “What’s that noise?” I stopped and sure enough, I could hear something that sounded like water. He walked across the small road to look for the water. Ivy who had followed him across the street yells, “WOW! Mom, you have to see this! It’s a waterfall!” I cross the street. The water was running out of the lake through the dam. It was not a “waterfall” but it was still neat. We stood there for a few minutes.
Walking Down a Path
There was another path on that side of the road that led up into the woods. It had a large sign. I walked over to see what it said. It looked like something we could do at 0.7 of a mile one way through the woods. The path leads to the other side of Sharon Woods Park and was marked as moderate so we thought we would be able to get the stroller down it. We began down it and figured if we got to a place where we could not get the stroller through we would simply turn around. It thankfully never came to that. The path was very nice. It followed along the water.
There were many real waterfalls along the way. There were also educational signs to read beside the path. At one point it crosses the water. The cliffs here are quite a sight. Since it was spring we did not encounter a lot of people on the trail. There were a few places we had to work a little to keep the stroller moving but it was not bad at all.
This is a little climb down but not too bad.
Taken from the water.
When we got to the other side there was another path running along the road. It passes a couple of small waterfalls. These are neat and very easy to access because they are right along the road. One even has parking by it.
The girls and I next to the waterfall by the road
Ivy was standing on a rock in the middle of the water.
When we got a little further down there was a large bridge leading across the water. On the other side, there was a large park with a little log cabin. This park is one of the large wooden ones. Ivy was happy because there were swings nearby. Two large picnic areas are close by as well.
The Sharon Woods Center
The Sharon Woods center is near here too. There is a free nature area inside. We took advantage of this. The girls favorite part was a large aquarium with a “log” running through it. The kids climbed inside to watch the fish and turtle swim around. It was very neat. I had one problem with this as a mom of a toddler. The outside edge of the “log” is concrete and you have to really keep an eye on them. They could fall and hurt themselves but more likely is a child running their head into the top of it when trying to climb inside. It is made to crawl through but my toddler could just stand in it.
There is an area at the back with chairs for the adults to take a much-needed break. The whole back wall is made of windows that look out on a nature area. While we were there we saw birds, chipmunks, and a raccoon. In this room, there is an area to stick your hands in and guess what you are grabbing. This would have been much easier if they actually all had stuff in them. About half of them were empty. There is also a table with crayons and papers for the kids. As you walk toward the door leading out there is a great photo op wall and a tree to walk through.
The trees here are huge!
There is something called the “Heritage Village” here too but we did not go. You have to pay to get in. It was looking like it was going to rain so we just headed back toward our car. It looked neat so I would like to go back sometime. We were almost back to the lake when it started to sprinkle. By the time we made it back to the car, it was raining. I was glad we did not have to be out in the rain for long.
There are a few other things to do at this park including an 18 hole golf course (not sure of pricing) and an indoor play area that costs $2.50 a child. There are ample picnic areas and tables throughout the park. I would also like to give some credit where credit is due. The restrooms were some of the nicest I’ve ever seen in a park. They were clean and well stocked with toilet paper, soap and paper towels. I was honestly shocked by this! Quite impressive!
The Details:
Heritage Village is $5.00 for adults, $3.00 for children ages 5-11, Children under 4 are free.
Admission: Sharon Woods was $3.00 for the day.
Website: http://hamiltoncountyparks.org/parks/sharonwoods.shtm
Location: Sharon Woods 11450 Lebanon Rd. Sharonville, OH 45241
We revisited this park recently! You can read the updated post here!