Green Valley in Ohio

This is the second in a series of observational reports on nudist venues. The first report was on Paradise Gardens in Ohio.

Green Valley, an AANR associated club, is located on 47 wooded acres in Richfield, Ohio. Founded in the 1930s, the property was literally cut in half when Interstate 271 was built and the state claimed all the land south of the highway. GV advertises itself as "a family-oriented nude recreation facility", and is a co-op club with 210 full and associate members. The property has over 100 lots for full members, as well as 8 rental lots, 4 rental cabins, and a primitive camping area.

Entrance to the park is through a call gate, so be sure to phone or e-mail GV in advance if you are planning a visit. Once the gate is opened, visitors travel over a paved drive for about a half mile up to the office. Be careful, the road is "humped" in the middle and our car bottomed out a couple of times.

The office is open from 9-5 daily. Our check-in required us to present photo IDs, which were scanned into the office computer, and to fill out short registration forms. With AANR membership, we paid only $24 per couple for the day visit. Take note that we were told that the couples rate extends to man/woman only - same sex couples have to pay the singles rate. We were also presented with paper copies of their web site, specifically the ground rules, the events calendar, and a map of the park.

We were then taken on a golf cart tour of the grounds, which included a not-so-subtle sales pitch for membership. I fully understand that most naturists are not marketing experts, but this little tour, while a good idea, was not handled very well. First of all, it's probably not a good idea to have the tour guide show up smelling of alcohol, or to smoke cigarettes on the tour. It's also not a good idea to keep mentioning "problems" that the club has had in the past with some members. The first impression should be positive and not dwell upon the negative. Our host mentioned a couple of times that the club wants to keep out of the "papers".

We were also told that new members are on "probation" for the first year, and are subject to being "bumped" from their lots by other members with more seniority. Quite frankly, I really don't want to hear about the inner politics of a resort on the first visit. Also, the two guides who were taking the four of us around bickered about where they were going to take us, one noting that the members didn't want to feel like they were in a zoo, and the other insisting that nobody really cared. Save the arguments for later, please.

We were also issued hospital-type neon orange wristbands for the day, which we were required to wear at all times. With the scanning of the IDs, the registration, the wristbands, the reading of the rules, and the orientation tour, nearly a full hour was already gone. On the one hand it's good to know that the club is very careful about protecting its members, but on the other it's a bit disconcerting to be so carefully scrutinized.

Much of the information given to us during the orientation could have been sent to us through e-mail prior to the visit, or posted on their web site. We were told that their current web site is due to be overhauled very soon.

At this point we were pretty hungry, so we stripped down and headed to the clubhouse with our coolers to eat lunch. The clubhouse is spacious and very clean, with microwave, stove and refrigerator for use by all. There are plenty of tables and chairs, as well as a riser for DJs or bands for dances and other events. There is also a very nice outdoor covered patio for eating, drinking and socializing.

There are no food services at Green Valley, so you will need to pack a cooler, or go off property to eat. Several times a year the club does host special food events, but on a typical day all that's available in the office are some snacks, drinks and ice. Alcohol is allowed, but intoxication is prohibited. There is no food allowed at the pool, but drinks in cans and bottles are OK. Beer in cans must be carried in a holder at poolside.

The clubhouse has men's and women's rest rooms accessible from the outside. The women's room also has an indoor shower. There are 4 enclosed showers on one end, and one open shower on the other by the pool. A soap shower is required prior to using the pool or hot tub.

After eating lunch, we wandered out to the pool, which had about a dozen people sunbathing. There are plenty of lounge chairs to accomodate a big crowd. The pool is the centerpiece of the club, with an "L" shape and maximum depth of 6 feet. The water temperature was perfect, and the chlorine level not too high.

There is also a nice hot tub off to the side, which saw very little use on the bright, sunny day.

If you are looking for a relaxing day by a lovely pool, Green Valley is the place. It is very tranquil, the people are very friendly, and we all felt very welcome. The place to socialize in the pool is along one end they members refer to as the "drunk bench", a shelf where you can sit down and enjoy being in the pool without having to tread water or stand on your toes.

After sunbathing and swimming for a couple of hours, we decided to walk around the property. We were warned to carry a towel when hiking the trails just in case a local resident happened to be nearby. Apparently the club had to close off one camping area because a neighbor complained that she could see nude people.

We wandered along the hiking trail for about a half mile. The trail is easy to follow, but is badly in need of weeding. Watch out for poison ivy! At one point we came across a small grotto with a very old wooden bench, perhaps from the club's earlier days. Eventually the trail became so overgrown that we had to turn back.

The permanent campsites are generally all very well maintained, with RVs, trailers, and a few tents. Many have decks, satellite dishes, woodpiles, barbecues, and out buildings. Members take a lot of pride in their surroundings.

Green Valley has a nice playground for children, but while we were there we did not see it get any use. One thing you will notice immediately upon registering at GV is the noise from the highway, which crosses the southern border of the property. The office, parking area, rental cabins and primitive camping area all back up to the highway. Although the vegetation is dense, you can still see trucks whizzing by through the trees. While we were at the pool, or walking around the property, the noise was not so noticeable.

Overall Green Valley is very clean, with no trash in sight. Members appear to be from all ages and backgrounds, and there were several families with children.

Beyond the pool and the hiking, there's not a lot of other activities at GV. Since it is a co-op, it's up to the members to decide what improvements are made to the club. The volleyball court is nice enough but went completely unused while we were there. Same with the shuffleboard court and the petanque pit. We did manage to play a game of horseshoes, but we must have been the first to play for some time because the pits were full of weeds.

The only activity in the clubhouse is darts. We asked about ping-pong but apparently their table was in storage. A pool table would be a great addition to Green Valley.

Wandering around the rest of the property, we came across an abandoned miniten court with no net. There was a storage container with the equipment inside, but the stuff was virtually unusable. There was a run-down basketball net as well as a couple of semi-soft basketballs.

Green Valley has a small spring-fed pond which is clean and well-maintained. The single paddle boat went unused all day. Lots surrounding the pond are apparently the most coveted. On one end is a tether ball pole and which also gets little or no use. If you are walking around the pond, watch out for snakes, we came across a couple.

At about 5 PM it became pretty clear that we were done for the day. A pasta cook-off was scheduled for 6 PM, but we decided to hit the road for the 2 hour trip back to Columbus.

All-in-all we had a very nice time at Green Valley. Every nudist venue seems to have its own personality, and GV appears to be very relaxed with most members choosing to sunbathe by the pool, ride around in their golf carts, or stay on their campsites. My feeling is that the place really comes to life at night, as indicated on their events page, with many dances, night swims, cookouts and more planned for evenings. We were invited to come back on August 23 for the Crooked Creek Country Cookout, and advised to rent a cabin and stay overnight because we would not want to leave in the middle of all the fun.

I am looking forward to a second visit.

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked