PORTSMOUTH, Ohio — On a summer morning, there are few places Logan Minter and Wendi Waugh would rather be than on their bikes, riding through the Scioto County wilderness.
Both members of Portsmouth Connex, they’ve spent years trying to highlight the outdoor opportunities their community has to offer and advocating for more infrastructure to encourage even more activity. Now, with dozens coming to enjoy their local parks, trails and events, they said they’re starting to see that work pay off.
Portsmouth Connex is a nonprofit focused on promoting outdoor activity in and around the city, forming more than 10 years ago in an effort to develop bike trails downtown. After years of fundraising and advocacy, that goal was realized last fall, the same time a number of other outdoor investments seemed to fall into place.
Around the same time, a BMX pump track opened just west of Portsmouth. By the spring the long-awaited Portsmouth skatepark opened and the city entered a partnership with the Ohio River Way to promote canoeing and kayaking in their community.
“It takes a lot of work sometimes without seeing any benefit and then all of a sudden you start to see all these things come together and I think that’s what we’re seeing,” Waugh said.
The group’s aim is to bring more people from near or far to their community to experience the outdoors the way they have for years and to play to Portsmouth’s strengths in order to help it grow.
“One of the things Scioto County has in abundance is a lot of natural resources, a lot of green infrastructure, a lot of green space,” Minter said.
For that reason, he said it makes a great candidate for an adventure destination, attracting tourists to town to bike, hike, canoe or camp while checking out a few local businesses while they’re here.
“It does stimulate the economy in lots of ways but also for the local population,” he said.
For those who already live in the community, Portsmouth Connex hopes this outdoor investment and infrastructure help their quality of life as well. Minter said it’s an opportunity to encourage healthy lifestyles and promote physical activity at any level.
“Getting the population outside and involved and active is a really good thing,” he said.
On June 18, Connex got a taste of what that could look like, with dozens coming out to its second annual “Wild Ride” through Shawnee State Park. Most came traveled from less than an hour away, but others came to ride in the area for the first time.
Waugh said she hopes opportunities and events like this will only continue to grow as more people learn what her community has to offer.
“Every time it’s more people, more people are involved like and you see so many people, saying, ‘Hey, I heard about this. Hey I want to get involved in this,’” she said.