Dugas Community Park is a standalone, non-profit park in Scottsville governed by a board of directors instead of the city or county. We are open to the public free of charge seven days a week from sunrise to sunset. The park depends on donations, grant funding, and sponsorships for all things other than day-to-day operations. We have rolling hills, creeks, and forested areas for guests to enjoy the Kentucky scenery. The park focuses on passive recreation, so you will not find ball fields or any courts here. Guests are still welcome to play catch or throw a football, though. Some of our areas are also perfect for flying a kite on a breezy day!
If recreation is your focus, our park currently features over three miles of trails (gravel, paved, and grass) on 120 acres. The gravel trails feature a lot of elevation change, so be sure to bring water and your sense of adventure! One of our loops goes by the opening of a small cave. Guests often see deer, turkey, hawks, and owls, in addition to the occasional coyote, skunk, and fox. The park is still in the development phase and will eventually have 340 acres available for public use. For those into history, we are also home to a Union Civil War Encampment. The Dumont Hill Section’s trails feature informational signage about the Civil War and Nature in our region, along with a Story Book Trail in partnership with the Allen County 4-H Council. We also have a quarter-mile paved Toddler Trail that was developed in conjunction with United Way of Southern Kentucky and features Born Learning prompts geared towards pre-school age users and their caregivers. Our Grasslands Section has its first one-mile trail that winds through our campground, follows Potts Branch, and goes through our Highpoint Overlook area for a bit of shade and a view.
Our current amenities include a 1200-seat amphitheater, a large pavilion, a primitive campground, and a playground for ages 5-12. As mentioned, we are in the development phase, so amenities will continue to be added as funding becomes available. The park’s current fundraising efforts are for Allen County’s Dog Park. The Dog Park will feature a two-acre off-leash section for small dogs and a four-and-one-half-acre off-leash section for medium and large dogs in our Pretty Woods Section along US 31-E. Each section features agility equipment appropriate for the dog size, as well as benches for the owners.
As part of our fundraising efforts for the dog park, we are hosting our first Shamrock 5K Trail Run, sponsored by Span Tech, on March 18th. The full registration fee goes directly to the completion of the dog park. Those that would like to sign up may register at RunSignUp.com or by scanning the QR code pictured. Pre-registration ends on February 24th and guarantees entrants a free T-shirt and swag bag! A fun word of warning since it is a trail run, a water crossing and hills are to be expected. A bit of mud could be a possibility depending on the weather, so we definitely recommend the 5K participants wear older shoes.
In addition to the Shamrock 5K Trail Run, we have several other events throughout the year. April 8th will be our free Annual Easter Egg Hunt. With a new vendor and dog-centered event, Paws in the Park will follow on May 13th. Our 2nd Annual Solstice Shop Vendor Event is scheduled on June 17th and our Fireworks in the Park display is always the Friday before the Fourth of July, which means this year it will round out the first half of 2023 on June 30th! We also have a couple of events hosted by other non-profits scheduled for the fall. The Allen County Scottsville Arts Council’s NorroFest returns on October 21st and the Allen County Special Olympics 8th Annual Dogs on Dumont is the first Saturday in November.
Keep up with all things Dugas Community Park by following @DugasPark on Facebook and Instagram or visit dugaspark.org.
-submitted by Dugas Community Park