Families heading to the 2025 Ohio State Fair will find an eight-acre playground of ponds, prairie and paddles when the reborn Natural Resources Park opens Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
The park and the entire fair close Sunday, August 3, 2025. The park is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. on every weekend day of the fair, with every activity included in the price of fair admission, according to the fair’s official schedule.
Operated and maintained by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the park features eco-friendly initiatives, including a sustainability hub built from recycled materials, while giving outdoor-hospitality professionals a real-world template for blending guest engagement with money-saving green upgrades.
Visitors can reel in bluegill at a free kids’ fishing pond, paddle the kayak lagoon, loose arrows at an archery range, stroll a butterfly house, and wander a Geological Walk Through Time that ends at a new nature center.
A native-wildlife boardwalk, tall-grass prairie and accessible playground elements—fossil dig, barrel maze and life-size canoe—round out the lineup, the fair’s park details show.
Campground and resort owners watching the crowds can borrow several proven tactics: set up quick, no-reservation micro-activities such as backyard archery lanes; sell tiered passes that bundle premium experiences like kayak rentals or fossil digs; rotate short demos—think campfire cooking or junior-naturalist badges—to keep midweek traffic steady; and cross-train maintenance staff as interpretive guides to stretch payroll dollars.
The fair’s newest centerpiece is a sustainability hub built from recycled materials that hosts the ConServe Ohio program.
It sits beside eight water-bottle refill stations funded by a $15,000 Ohio EPA grant—four of them are inside Natural Resources Park; the rest are elsewhere on the fairgrounds—and a new grounds-wide recycling program that will divert cardboard to the Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center in Columbus, a news report said.
“Sustainability across the state is important to conserve resources, boost the local economy, and promote a healthy environment for all,” Executive Director Adam Heffron said in announcing the initiative.
Operators looking to mirror that visibility can install refill stations and sell branded bottles, convert turf to low-maintenance prairie, post clear recycling signage and publish an easy-to-read eco scorecard that helps travelers filter for green amenities.
On the entertainment front, the park’s amphitheater runs the Great Lakes Timber Show’s lumberjack skills, a turkey-call contest, and other free daily stage programs and music, while visitors can follow painted Smokey Bear paw prints to reach the park.
ODNR will hold its 75th-anniversary “Birthday Bash” on July 25, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., in Governor’s Grove, a show lineup noted.
“We always look forward to coming together as a department during the Ohio State Fair because it allows us to proudly exhibit the beauty of Ohio’s natural resources in a fun and exciting way,” said ODNR Director Mary Mertz. “It is a great time to share our passion of education and conservation while celebrating our anniversary.”
The park is designed for low-impact participation, ensuring every exhibit remains free with general admission.
By fusing high-touch recreation with highly visible conservation, the Natural Resources Park offers campground, RV-park and glamping operators a ready-made case study: experiences that lengthen dwell time and spark repeat visits can live side by side with eco investments that cut utility bills, all while guests have too much fun to notice the lesson.
The fair continues through Aug. 3.