MIAMI COUNTY — The longest pedestrian suspension bridge is now in the Miami Valley according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
The Miami County Park District unveiled its brand new suspension bridge that connects the Maple Ridge Reserve to the Stillwater Prairie Reserve. The bridge is 232 feet in length, 170 feet of which is suspended.
The bridge goes across 140 feet of river.
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“Normally they’re over little creeks when you’re going through parks,” Scott Myers, executive director of the Miami County Park District, said. “The length I think is what folks are going to find fascinating and then when you get out into the middle and you see the views down the Stillwater river it is absolutely fascinating how beautiful it is.”
Maple Ridge Reserve is more than 10 years old and sits near the Stillwater Prairie Reserve. The park district has been working to try and connect the two parks and in the last year and a half they’ve been working to make it happen.
Leiann Stewart, executive director of the Miami County Visitors and Convention Bureau, said this bridge is much more than just connecting two pieces of land.
“It’s really just another connection, another extension of what we’re trying to create here in Miami County between the parks and between the communities,” Stewart said.
During the shutdown in 2020 Charleston Falls, the county’s most popular park, became overcrowded with people flocking to the falls that they had to restrict access briefly. With the new record setting bridge the park district is expecting to see a surge in visitation to see this unique site to explore more of the county’s park.
“One thing that we know that we’re already planning on is here at Maple Ridge enlarging the parking lot,” Myers said. “Visitation is already going up as folks were anticipating the bridge, seeing the bridge being done, and now that it’s here and they’re able to use it they’re coming back more and more often.”
The bridge cost $300,000 to build. Funding for the project also came in part from Clean Ohio.
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