Ironton moves ahead with 18-hole disc golf course for riverfront parks

Ironton is betting that disc golf can do more than add another amenity. By stretching an 18-hole course from Storms Creek Park to the Ironton Riverfront, the city is treating the layout as a low-cost walking sport that can pull people across existing park space and keep them moving through a growing recreation corridor.

The project is expected to be ready in the fall of 2026, and Mayor Sam Cramblit publicly thanked the Foundation for the Tri-State Community for approving the effort. Jay Kehoe, Ironton’s community and economic development and parks and recreation director, said he got the idea from a course near his house and saw how heavily it was used. He said some disc golf courses can draw a couple thousand people in a season, which is the kind of repeat traffic Ironton is clearly chasing.

What makes the plan noteworthy is how little new infrastructure it seems to require. Kehoe said the city already mows the property, and the elevated metal baskets will be installed in the spring and removed before winter so they last longer. He said that approach should help the baskets last 25 years or more, and he said he has already contacted J&M Metals to build them. The course is also planned to include a shade structure, a barbecue grill and a picnic table, a small but telling setup that frames the project as a family-oriented place to linger before or after a round.

That matters in a city where the riverfront is already being reshaped piece by piece. Ironton opened the Susan Dooley Memorial Dog Park next to the Oakley C. Collins bridge last November, recently opened two sand volleyball pits at the riverfront and upgraded Etna Park with brighter lights, a better windscreen, four additional picnic tables and more barbecue grills. Separate riverfront work has also included a bar and restaurant, sand volleyball courts, a playground, a multi-use trail, a seawall and boat services, showing that the disc golf course is joining a broader push to activate public land rather than standing alone.

Ohio already has 441 disc golf courses, including 219 with 18 or more holes, so Ironton is entering a crowded state landscape. The difference here is the pitch: not a specialty attraction tucked into a corner, but a walkable public course that could give families, casual players and longtime disc golfers a reason to keep returning to the riverfront all season long.