This 70-acre site located at 7077 Thayer Road, Mount Vernon 43050, is leased from the Knox County Commissioners. Originally planned as an expansion area of the now-closed county landfill, this site abounds with wildlife and has a wet woodlands.  


A parking lot with an information kiosk and a pergola shade structure with a picnic table and grill, as well as benches, are located at the site. A nine-hole disc golf course was installed in September of 2010, with assistance from the Rotary Club of Mount Vernon and Knox County and Rotary District International #6690.  The 2009 Leadership Knox Class and the Lucy Knox Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution donated some of the park amenities.

This park serves as the first park managed by the Park District to offer bridle and mountain bike access. While hikers and walkers are welcomed to use the trail system, please be away that muddy or rutted trail conditions and horse manure can be expected to be encountered.

The Knox County Park District is fortunate to have assistance from the Ohio Horseman’s Council, Knox County Chapter to help with the maintenance of the Thayer Ridge Park trails. In 2015/2016 the OHC, KCC designed and completed a perimeter loop trail for the horse-back riding community.  The loop trail traverses a bridge completed in 2014 by the OHC, KCC which overlooks the Heart of Ohio Trail. In 2016 the Park District is working with the OHC, KCC constructing an even larger, additional parking lot conducive for multiple horse trailers and rigs. This lot is encountered before arriving at the traditional main entrance to Thayer Ridge Park and has a locked gate. At the present time this lot will be scheduled to be used for special events only .

Please observe the following trail courtesy; 

Mountain bikers yield to horse riders & hikers 
Hikers yield to horse riders
Horse riders please control your horse

Equestrians with horse trailers drive past the traditional park entrance to the next entrance. A horse trailer parking lot (recently expanded in 2015) is found south of the traditional parking lot. A hitching post is installed near the horse trailer parking lot. Equestrians must bring food and water for their horses and must clean up after their horses in the parking area.

Archers, by permit-only, assist the Park District with our deer management program, during Ohio’s white-tailed deer archery season. Archery participants pursue their sport at Thayer Ridge Park throughout the week (including weekends) during archery season which typically runs from the end of September through the beginning of February. Gun hunting is prohibited at the park.

In 2021, a group of volunteers spent countless hours to complete a plant survey for all of Knox County Parks. The survey highlights the baseline data for the presence of forbs (herbaceous flowering plants) that are not graminoids, within selected county parks. The project further determined flowering time for each identified species. During the 2021 growing season, surveyors identified a total of 320 distinct species forbs. Click the plant data link above to view the results. You may also review the narrative of the project at the link below.