Expanding Physical Activity at a Beloved State Park

Earl’s Island Fitness Trail is the newest addition to Lake Loramie State Park in Minster, OH. Lake Loramie is a popular camping destination with much to see and do. One of the original canal feeder lakes, 913-acre Lake Loramie and the surrounding parklands offers visitors a quiet retreat in rural Ohio where visitors can swim from the sandy beach, hike along the old canal towpath, stay a night in a shaded campsite or enjoy boating on the lake. The one thing missing was a place where people could actively exercise in a traditional fitness setting. The solution: add a fitness trail!

Located on the park’s peninsula just north of the pavilion shelter house, the new fitness trail features  10 pieces of equipment at five stations along the quarter-mile course. This helps people count distance as they traverse the trail, every time they complete 4 laps, it equals a mile. The fitness trail was funded by the Lake Loramie Improvement Association. Four planners from LLIA — Cathy Barnes, Belinda Wolaver, Julie Stueve and Vanessa Winner — worked with park manager Jason Whitman to make sure the attraction complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some stations on the trail are dual-use for adults with or without disabilities.

To recognize the community’s dedication to adult fitness for park visitors, Earl’s Island Fitness Trail was recognized as an Outdoor Adult Fitness Park National Demonstration Site as it offers equipment designed to provide a well-rounded workout: cardio, muscle, core, and balance/flexibility, using scholarly best practices from the guidebook "Outdoor Adult Fitness Parks: Best Practices for Promoting Community Health by Increasing Physical Activity." The resource was created with an advisory board of scholars and experts in fitness to help communities understand not just design, but also benefits of outdoor exercise, marketing tactics to promote their Outdoor Fitness Parks, and outcome tracking. The result has been a lot of excited local residents and visitors coming out to workout in a fresh air environment that benefits overall health and wellness.