What's the scoop? Ottawa County Parks and Recreation has been working with Karina White, a biology and A.P. environmental science teacher from Jenison High School (JHS), for almost a decade through the Adopt-A-Park program. When White decided to attend Grand Valley...
Celebrate the American Hiking Society’s #NationalTrailsDay with Ottawa County Parks & Recreation Millions of people have found physical, mental, and emotional restoration on trails and in quality green space during the pandemic. Let’s return the favor as a...
Article written by: Nealy Molhoek, Stewardship Supervisor As hints of spring begin to appear all around us, many of us take the opportunity to spend more time outdoors, either in our own backyards, or in the parks that we're so lucky to be surrounded with in Ottawa...
Summer is the season of outdoor barbecues, the sound of children splashing in inflatable pools, and the smell of a freshly-mowed yard. Nothing is quite as ubiquitous as the American lawn – a vast, well-manicured plane of Bermuda or Kentucky bluegrass adorns the front...
Spring is approaching! While preparing for upcoming spring projects, I’ve been thinking about the impact of our volunteers. We have amazing volunteers! People who generously give of their time and talents in so many different ways. People who are dedicated to...
Join us for a BioBlitz at Ottawa Sands on May 13, 2022! This event will bring local scientists and conservation organizations together to work with community members to build an awareness of the biodiversity at Ottawa Sands while collecting monitoring data. Last year...
Coarse Woody What? The benefits of dead trees in our forests. Ottawa County Parks and Recreation (OCPR) prides itself in having high quality park properties. Through the financial support of voters, OCPR can hire maintenance staff (or recruit volunteers!) to maintain...
A Transformed Landscape Introduction The land that is now Upper Macatawa Natural Area has seen tremendous change in the last 200 years. Virgin forest was felled to provide lumber for construction of homes and businesses for the growing immigrant population. Then, for...
Article written by: Nealy Molhoek, Stewardship Supervisor From the inception of the Ottawa County Parks and Recreation Commission (OCPR) in 1987, Parks properties have been managed with natural resources in mind. We are fortunate to live in a region that contains...
Featured Volunteer Workday: Grand Haven High School at Ottawa Sands Last month, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, parks staff hosted a volunteer workday for a group of students from Grand Haven High School at Ottawa Sands. This workday was part of GHHS's 'Day On...