Ohio, Monroe County
River view
Hannibal Locks and Dam is one of the fine town parks created by the US Army Corps of Engineers in conjunction with their locks and dams along the Ohio River. As is usual for their developed sites, it includes not only a parking area with an excellent view of the lock, but also a picnic shelter with picnic tables and grills and a restroom with flush toilets and running water. The landscape is quite simple: a mowed lawn with some sub-canopy trees in it.
In addition, this particular site includes lots of potential information about the Ohio River. There is the specialized boat used to raise and lower the historic wooden locks, and part of such a lock. The boat is well-labeled, but unfortunately the brass signs with the general explanations are missing. This is too bad! There is a lot of information here! USACE — how about interpreting this site by numbering the various elements and publishing a small brochure that explains the numbers? That way you can convey a great deal of information for little expense, and you can update it as necessary. With that, this park could be a real destination!
For kayak campers the question is whether one can get out of the river or not, but for both kayak and bike campers it would be an excellent place to camp, with water, flush toilets, and proximity to a town. Whether the Corps of Engineers would allow it or not is a separate question.
Park view
Ohio River Parks Project 