HARDIN COUNTY GREEN ENERGY TRAIL

As you follow the trail from South to North, you will explore the rich pioneer history of our lands while viewing the cutting-edge technology defining our future.

Please remember: All featured energy projects are located on private, leased land or fenced utility property. For your safety and the privacy of our local landowners, please enjoy the spectacular views entirely from the public roadside right-of-way. Turn on your hazard lights and pull completely off the berm when pausing to take photographs.

PROJECT FEATURE SECTIONS

1. Scioto Ridge Wind Farm

The Story: Your tour begins on the southwest horizon, dominated by the sweeping blades of the Scioto Ridge Wind Farm. This project represents a monumental effort in community coordination, linking dozens of local families together to form a vast clean energy collective. Its soaring turbines showcase the massive engineering scale required to feed heavy power directly into our regional electrical grid, all while seamlessly coexisting with generations of traditional farming heritage.

• Developer: EverPower Wind Holdings
• Owner & Operator: RWE Clean Energy
• Power Purchaser: AEP Ohio & the regional wholesale grid
• Power Generated: 242 Megawatts (MW) — Enough to power over 60,000 homes
• Infrastructure Specs: 75 towering Siemens Gamesa wind turbines stretching across a 17,000-acre leased footprint of active private farmland.

📜 Local History Checkpoint: Chief Roundhead’s Village & Hull’s Trace

As you drive through this southern quadrant toward the village of Roundhead, you are traveling down a profound historic corridor. Long before the turbines rose, this was a major native agricultural center led by Wyandot Chief Roundhead. During the War of 1812, General William Hull’s army marched right through this territory, cutting "Hull's Trace"—the historic military wilderness trail—directly across what are now our modern grid roads. This area also marks the physical headwaters of the Scioto River!

2. Hardin Solar Energy Center – Phase I

The Story: Turning north, you enter the dawn of utility-scale solar in Ohio. Hardin Solar Phase I made history as one of the very first massive, commercial solar arrays to go live in the state. This project shattered the myth that immense solar gathering was reserved only for western deserts, proving that the fertile horizons of Northwest Ohio could successfully harvest the sun to power the world's most recognizable digital platforms.

• Developer: Invenergy
• Owner & Operator: Owned by Dominion Energy; Operated by Invenergy Services
• Power Purchaser: Meta (Facebook)
• Power Generated: 150 Megawatts (MW) AC
• Infrastructure Specs: Spans roughly 1,100 fenced acres, utilizing hundreds of thousands of single-axis tracking panels that rotate to follow the sun.

3. Hardin Solar Energy Center – Phase II

The Story: Built directly adjacent to the pioneer footprint, Phase II represents the rapid maturation and expansion of our solar corridor. Tucked smoothly into the rural landscape, this phase expanded the county’s green infrastructure eastward. By duplicating the engineering success of Phase I, it solidified Hardin County's reputation as Ohio's undisputed leader in solar generation.

• Developer: Invenergy
• Owner & Operator: Owned by Dominion Energy; Operated by Invenergy Services
• Power Purchaser: Meta (Facebook)
• Power Generated: 170 Megawatts (MW) AC
• Infrastructure Specs: Encompasses approximately 1,200 acres of high-density solar arrays, collection lines, and specialized inverter equipment.

4. Hardin Solar Energy Center – Phase III

The Story: Phase III is the grand finale of the western solar corridor, introducing a massive new global tech partner to the county. Standing alone as the single largest individual solar asset in the entire three-phase complex, this facility represents the newest era of clean energy technology. Its completion transformed the western horizon into a sweeping sea of tracking glass that quietly anchors the daily functions of the global internet economy.

• Developer: Invenergy
• Owner & Operator: Owned by WEC Infrastructure; Operated by Invenergy Services
• Power Purchaser: Microsoft
• Power Generated: 250 Megawatts (MW) AC
• Infrastructure Specs: Covers roughly 1,500 fenced acres, featuring advanced high-capacity panels and its own dedicated electrical collection substation.

📜 Local History Checkpoint: The Legendary Scioto Marsh

As you observe the miles of solar tracking arrays stretching across the Alger and McGuffey areas, you are looking at land with a fascinating past. In the 1800s, this area was the vast, untamed Scioto Marsh—a swampy wilderness of wild cranberries. A monumental late-19th-century drainage project transformed it into an agricultural phenomenon, earning the region global fame as the "Onion Capital of the World." Today, that same deep, rich soil serves a dual purpose: yielding robust crops and anchoring a new kind of harvest—clean energy.

5. Ohio Northern University (ONU) Solar Field

The Story: Welcome to the northwest hub of the tour! The ONU Solar Field is a perfect example of how clean energy can integrate seamlessly at an institutional and educational level. Long before the multi-thousand-acre regional arrays arrived, this pioneer array was built to serve as a live, functional laboratory for students and a dedicated power source for the historic campus adjacent to it.

• Developer: Inovateus Solar
• Owner & Operator: Ohio Northern University
• Power Purchaser: Ohio Northern University (100% consumed on-site)
• Power Generated: 2.0 Megawatts (MW) AC
• Infrastructure Specs: Consists of roughly 8,000 solar panels spanning 11 acres on the edge of campus, featuring advanced single-axis tracking technology.

📜 Local History Checkpoint: The Historic Village of Ada

Take a moment to stretch your legs in the vibrant village of Ada, home to ONU since 1871. Downtown, you can view the beautifully preserved 1887 Ada Passenger Depot—a rare artifact of the Pennsylvania Railroad where a world train speed record of 127.3 mph was shattered nearby in 1905. While exploring campus, you can also view the historic marker commemorating January 11, 1968, the historic day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Ada to deliver an iconic speech to the university community.

6. Hog Creek Wind Farm

The Story: Your final stop brings you to the northeast quadrant, where the Hog Creek Wind Farm showcases localized wind power at its absolute best. This project tells the story of technology harmonizing completely with modern family farms. Instead of closing off large parcels of land, these turbines sit compactly within actively cultivated corn and soybean fields, allowing local families to harvest the wind above while continuing to plant their crops right up to the bases of the steel towers.

• Developer: Developed and built by EDP Renewables North America
• Owner & Operator: EDP Renewables North America
• Power Purchaser: Southern Company Gas
• Power Generated: 66 Megawatts (MW) — Capable of powering 19,000 homes
• Infrastructure Specs: 30 Vestas wind turbines widely integrated across a 7,000-acre active agricultural footprint.

📜 Local History Checkpoint: Dunkirk & The Hog Creek Marsh Reclamation

As you watch the turbines spin near the Dola and Dunkirk corridors, you are parallel to the historic Hog Creek Marsh footprint. Similar to the western marsh, this northern basin was a prehistoric shallow lake. In 1868, utilizing grueling manual labor and early steam dredge scows, workers successfully drained the marsh waters away into the dynamic, high-yielding soybean and corn country you see stretching out before you today.

FOLLOWING THE TRAIL: DRIVING DIRECTIONS 

Ready to drive? Start from our office in downtown Kenton and follow this seamless, counter-clockwise loop around the county.

💡 Insider Touring Tip: While this guide outlines the primary state and federal highways to keep your navigation simple, some of the most spectacular, up-close views of the wind turbines and solar arrays can be found by safely turning down the intersecting County and Township roads along the route. Feel free to explore the rural grid roads, then hop back onto the main highways to continue the trail!

1. START: Exit Kenton heading west/southwest on State Route 67. Drive through McDonald and Lynn townships to experience the Scioto Ridge Wind Farm and the Chief Roundhead/Hull's Trace historic corridor.
2. TURN NORTH: Turn right onto State Route 235 near Roundhead. This carries you directly north through the heart of the massive Hardin Solar Center (Phases I, II, & III) and across the rich soil of the historic Scioto Marsh.
3. TO THE COLLEGE TOWN: Continue north on State Route 235, across State Route 309 and straight onto County Road 35 / Klingler Road. (Tip:  Take a quick detour from the trail by turning right onto County Road 50 / Lima-Ada Road [W Lima Ave] for your midday tour of the Village of Ada!)
4. LUNCH & STROLL: Park downtown to view the Ada Passenger Depot, explore the beautiful campus, and grab a bite to eat at one of Ada's local Main Street restaurants!
5. HEAD EAST: From Ada, take State Route 81 East toward Dola and Dunkirk. This carries you directly beneath the spinning blades of the Hog Creek Wind Farm and through the Hog Creek Marsh Reclamation history corridor.
6. THE RETURN: Turn right onto U.S. Route 68 South at Williamstown/Dunkirk. Enjoy a smooth, straight drive back down through the center of the county, bringing you right back to downtown Kenton where your journey began.

Click here for a virtual map.