The City of Covington will soon apply for a federal grant it hopes will fund the completion of the trail development section of the 2008 Devou Park Master Plan. This collaborative effort with the Devou Park Trails Collective will use private donations as the required local match and rely on the passion and energy of regional trail advocates to push the project along. The proposed grant will request $120,000 that will be matched with $31,000 raised by a Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance (CORA) Party in the Park fund-raiser held in Devou Park in Spring 2019.

Please share any comments you may have on this project in the box below. Comments can also be sent by April 1, 2020 to:

Recreational Trails Program Governor's Office
Department for Local Government
1024 Capital Center Drive
Suite 340
Frankfort, KY 40601

and:

City of Covington
Attn: Meganne Robinson
20 West Pike St.
Covington, KY 41011

The proposed project will include several elements, the maps below show the proposed trail expansion:

1. A trail to the Civil War-era military fortification site called Battery Bates, with signs, fencing, and benches. The battery - which is mostly unrecognizable to the untrained eye - consists of rifle pits dug into the ground and the remnants of an earthen wall. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.

2. A trail that connects the Glengarry subdivision in Fort Wright to the trail system in Devou’s “back country” area (west of Sleepy Hollow Road).

3. Expansion of the John Volz Trail east of Devou Drive near the Drees Pavilion.

4. Creation of the East Entrance Connector Trail, a connection leading from the Drees overlook to Western Avenue. It will connect the park to the Riverfront Commons Trail being built along the Ohio River.

5. Creation of a “skills area” where mountain bike beginners can develop riding skills and organized classes can be held.