COLUMBUS, OH - A record 53 Ohio State Parks recently received the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' (ODNR) 4.5 Star Award, recognizing an overall good to excellent level of customer satisfaction with services and facilities. The awards are based on a yearly survey of park visitors who complete and return customer-comment cards to ODNR.
"Our park employees work hard to provide visitors with outstanding facilities and services," said ODNR Director Sam Speck. "The positive results shown by this survey are a direct reflection of our employees' dedication to providing excellent customer service."
Comment cards ask respondents to rate individual parks in 21 areas such as cleanliness, employee helpfulness, safety and security and quality of programs. Each rating is given a score from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest. The scores are then averaged for each park. During the 2000 recreation season, 17,543 survey cards were returned to ODNR.
Customer comments most frequently complimented park campgrounds and campground staff, as well as naturalist programs, cottage upgrades and trail maintenance.
ODNR instituted the 4.5 Star Award nine years ago. Seven of Ohio's 73 state parks have received the designation every year since. Those parks are: Barkcamp State Park in Belmont County, Beaver Creek State Park in Columbiana County, Harrison Lake State Park in Fulton County, Malabar Farm State Park in Richland County, Paint Creek State Park in Highland County, Quail Hollow State Park in Stark County and Mt. Gilead State Park in Morrow County.
This year, four parks received the award for the first time, including Headlands Beach State Park in Lake County, Marblehead Lighthouse State Park in Ottawa County, Mohican State Park in Ashland County and Van Buren State Park in Hancock County.
Strouds Run State Park in Athens County received the highest overall rating of any park (4.921) for the third year in a row. Cleveland Lakefront State Park in Cuyahoga County received the award for Most Improved Park of the Year. The park raised its 1999 rating of 3.806 to 4.288 in 2000.
Ohio has 73 state parks with 57 campgrounds and more than 9,000 campsites; more than 500 overnight cottages; and eight resort lodges. Reservation information is available at individual park offices or through 1-800-AT-A-PARK for all lodges and cottages except those at Deer Creek State Park. Deer Creek reservations are available toll-free at 1-877-678-DEER. Campsites are available on a first come, first served basis.
4.5 STAR AWARD WINNERS FOR 2000
Alum Creek State Park in Delaware County
Barkcamp State Park in Belmont County
Beaver Creek State Park in Columbiana County
Blue Rock State Park in Muskingum County
Buck Creek State Park in Clark County
Burr Oak State Park in Morgan County
Caesar Creek State Park in Warren County
Catawba Island State Park in Ottawa County
Cowan Lake State Park in Clinton County
Crane Creek State Park in Ottawa County
Delaware State Park in Delaware County
Dillon State Park in Muskingum County
Findley State Park in Lorain County
Forked Run State Park in Meigs County
Grand Lake St. Marys State Park in Auglaize
and Mercer counties
Great Seal State Park in Ross County
Guilford Lake State Park in Columbiana County
Harrison Lake State Park in Fulton County
Headlands Beach State Park in Lake County
Hocking Hills State Park in Hocking County
Hueston Woods State Park in Preble and Butler counties
Independence Dam State Park in Defiance County
Indian Lake State Park in Logan County
Jackson Lake State Park in Jackson County
John Bryan State Park in Greene County
Kelleys Island State Park in Ottawa County
Kiser Lake State Park in Champaign County
Lake Alma State Park in Vinton County
Lake Hope State Park in Vinton County
Lake Loramie State Park in Shelby County
Lake Milton State Park in Mahoning County
Little Miami State Park in Warren County
Malabar Farm State Park in Richland County
Marblehead Lighthouse State Park in Ottawa County
Maumee Bay State Park in Lucas County
Mohican State Park in Ashland County
Mt. Gilead State Park in Morrow County
Muskingum River State Park in Muskingum County
Paint Creek State Park in Highland and Ross counties
Quail Hollow State Park in Stark County
Rocky Fork State Park in Highland County
Salt Fork State Park in Guernsey County
Scioto Trail State Park in Ross County
Shawnee State Park in Scioto County
South Bass Island State Park in Ottawa County
Stonelick State Park in Clermont County
Strouds Run State Park in Athens County
Sycamore State Park in Montgomery County
Tar Hollow State Park in Ross County
Tinker's Creek State Park in Portage County
Van Buren State Park in Hancock County
West Branch State Park in Portage County
Wolf Run State Park in Noble County