DELAWARE, Ohio — Ohio's state parks offer many free program and activities residents may not even know about.

“A kayaking program, perhaps an archery program, fishing program, so those are some of our outdoor recreation opportunities,” said Colleen Sharkey, the education and outreach coordinator of Ohio State Parks and Watercraft.

Sharkey said the list doesn’t end there. There are also free activities like feeding animals and themed hikes with park naturalists, and she said everything is easy to find online.

“So you can search for all those different options and see what's available, could even put in a date range," she said. "And again, they're all free."

If you ever have any trouble determining which park you would like to visit based on the activities in which you want to participate, Sharkey said every state park has brochures available that lay out what each park has to offer.

“One thing that's great, it kind of shows you where all the all the parks are, but also in the back, it shows you all the amenities," she said. "For example, here we are at one of the state park beaches. So it will show you swimming areas, boating areas, fishing, camping, you know, nature centers, all those different amenities that you can think of."

She also said the updated state parks passport is a way for visitors to keep track of which parks they have visited.

“This is kind of a fun way to document your visits at state parks," Sharkey said. "You know, just to kind of share some memories and get some things written down."