Willow Island Locks and Dam

Ohio, Washington County

river mile 162

River access: yes. Tree cover: open. Impervious surface: some. Landscape design strategy: manicured. Information about the Ohio River: some.

Lots of Purple Martin houses at this US Army Corps of Engineers locks and dam park. There are picnic shelters, picnic tables, grills, and several benches looking out at the locks. The landscape is the standard mowed grass with a few medium-sized trees, very open. There are a couple of port-a-potties, but no water, and the park is a fair distance from any towns, so bike and kayak campers would find it a less than ideal camping spot.

On the West Virginia side of Willow Island is one of the sites for American Municipal Power’s hydropower development, a good source for renewable energy, especially here on the Ohio River where the dam and the reservoir already exist.