Sarah Brookbank

sbrookbank@communitypress.com

BURLINGTON – Boone County Fiscal Court voted on Sept. 20 to close Boone Cliffs, a state nature preserve, to help restore the property.

Boone Cliffs is located on Middle Creek Road off Ky. 18 in Burlington.

“Many of the residents that live in the Middle Creek Road area, in and near the park and the nature preserve, requested us to come to a meeting,” Boone County Judge- executive Gary Moore said. “When we got there, I was shocked to learn of some of the abuse to the natural areas and some of the neglect that has been going on in overseeing the property.”

According to the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission, Boone Cliffs was originally acquired by the Nature Conservancy in 1988. Boone County has owned the 74-acre preserve since 2011.

The preserve will be closed for 12 months for healing and rehabilitation of the preserve, which has seen more visitors than it should.

Residents said Middle Creek Road looks like a parking lot, and that many people who visit Middle Creek Park, a park with dedicated hiking trails, travel to Boone Cliffs with the same intentions.

Moore said it was made clear that the property needs time to recover.

County Administrator Jeff Earlywine said the county will also be taking steps to help preserve the park. Boone County will develop a long-term maintenance plan, adding signage, preforming maintenance and enforcing rules.

“The preserve has been a victim of its own success,” Earlywine said.