By: 1808Delaware Staff
During Friday’s virtual meeting of the Preservation Parks of Delaware County Board of Commissioners, one fact clearly emerged.
When it comes to the County’s parks, Shale Hollow is currently one popular place.
Statistics shared by Board and Staff revealed this to tbe the case. In terms of law enforcement, for instance, there were 528 visitor contacts with the Preservation Parks Police squad, as compared to the usual 175 to 200. Shale Hollow leads all parks in this area.
The same sort of statistic can be found in park traffic counts. Park attendance is up substantially with the pandemic restrictions on indoor activity. The following numbers represent traffic in each park; the first number is for May 2019, the second for May 2020, and the percentage increase for each:
- Blues Creek: 1100, 2202 — 98%
- Char-Mar Ridge: 3530, 5915 — 68%
- Deer Haven: 2772, 4284 — 55%
- Emily Traphagen: 2936, 3833 — 31%
- Gallant Woods: 1393, 3038 — 118%
- Shale Hollow: 5149, 11818 — 130%
Shale Hollow’s popularity can be discovered in yet another way. Commissioners heard information about the current state of communications and marketing the various Preservation Parks. A large increase in site traffic is led by its new most popular page. A year ago, the home page was the website’s most visited page — now, it is that for Shale Hollow Park.
Shale Hollow Park is located at 6320 Artesian Run in Lewis Center. According to its page, “Located in a rapidly growing area of Liberty and Orange townships, Shale Hollow Park is named for the curve in the tributary to the Olentangy State Scenic River that runs through the park, and for the shale evident in the cliff walls and stream bed.”
