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Northern Kentucky’s unique landscape has inspired so many to get out in nature, and several new innovative programs have popped up around the region to make it an ever more exciting place to explore.
One of the more prominent aspects of our geography is, of course, its rivers.
The mighty Ohio and its tributary, the Licking, define and run through or past Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties.
“The River cities,” as they are called, butt up to the Ohio River and run from Dayton to Bromley. These cities are just that, cities, and, as Christopher Schack knows, that can create some issues for kayakers.
“I live out in Alexandria,” Schack told LINK. “I have an acre of property. I have plenty of spots to place a kayak, but, when you go down to Newport, you don’t have as many options because it is a dense urban environment.”
Schack’s company, Schack’s Yaks, has an innovative twofold program: It provides lockers so those with kayaks can store them by the river so they don’t have to lug them around and find creative storage solutions. It also offers hourly rentals in kayak kiosks for people looking to take a quick trip on the river.
The first kayak kiosk the company put together was in Augusta. The company placed one in Newport after it was approached by city officials who wanted a creative solution to their urban kayaking problem.
“It was an issue that we were presented, and I think we did a pretty good job of addressing it,” Schack said.
Here’s how the kayak kiosk works. Prospective kayakers must download an app, which can be found at schacksyaks.com; then they scan a QR code, which in turn will pop open the door to a locker that has a kayak, a life jacket and a paddle.
You can then take out the kayak, leave your stuff in the locker (other than your phone, because you’ll need it to reopen the locker), and head out onto the river. You’ll be charged by the hour through the app. When you’re done, drop the kayak back in the locker.
The kayak kiosk in Newport is the only one in NKY, but Schack said he’s hoping to expand into other river cities.
“The river was always just kind of a backdrop, and that was it,” Schack said. “There weren’t really activities on it other than just kind of watching it. So it’s cool to be able to add something to a waterway that’s always been there.”
“The front porch of the South” is the motto for the proposed 20-mile multiuse path running from Devou Park to Pendery Park along the south bank of the Ohio River.
The Riverfront Commons project hopes to “create an unbridled destination for every season of life,” said Will Weber, CEO of Southbank Partners, which created and operates the riverwalk.
The riverwalk, once complete, will stretch 20 miles through eight cities and will include 14 trailheads and seven overlooks. At the moment, five miles have been completed; three miles have been designed or engineered, thanks to a federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant, and 12 miles have been planned.
Part of the purpose of the walk is to get people out and supporting businesses along it; the walk runs through the urban river cities, and Weber said the map “shows that a riverfront park in an urban area is blocks away from a downtown business district.”
On top of building the path, Weber said the project will also enhance parks the riverwalk connects to, building out trailheads and developing overlooks.
“We’re really just helping enhance this world-class active destination on our riverfront,” Weber said.
Park updates
While we’ve been talking about several additions to Northern Kentucky’s recreation landscape, there’s also a lot going on in the existing infrastructure.
In Boone County, the parks department is doing a lot to improve and expand its facilities. The department recently purchased the Rivershore Sports Park baseball complex, according to parks director David Whitehouse, who said he hopes to provide fields for the community.
“We have a little over 4,200 kids playing baseball in Boone County, between boys baseball, girls softball and adults,” Whitehouse said. The six new fields within this complex will help facilitate games for several different leagues.
Whitehouse is always open to new and even unique ideas for outdoor recreation at his parks. He was approached by Oakwood resident Kevin Spanier, who was using radio-controlled cars on the BMX track in England Idlewild Park and wanted to build a dedicated track for radio-controlled vehicles.
He asked Spanier what he needed to get the track done, and Spanier said he needed dirt, so they dropped off two truckloads of it. Soon, Spanier completed the track by himself, and the track hosted its first RC competition, which had over 40 racers, in the fall of 2024.
Another unique sport (at least to the United States) now at Boone County Parks is cricket. Whitehouse said that, about three years ago, he noticed a group had set up a wicket at the Central Park & Arboretum and that they were playing some game he didn’t know. He approached them and asked what the game was, and “next thing, you know, now, almost three years later, we have two teams, and they play matches.”
After adding a second team, Whitehouse said they now have around 50-60 people in their cricket league. He watches most of the home matches; he’s even been invited over to watch games at members’ houses, “but I haven’t gone to the point that I’m going to go at 3 a.m. and hang out and watch cricket.”
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