A 168-acre property located in Hanover Township between Oxford and Hamilton will soon be open to the public. MetroParks of Butler County is finishing construction on trails at Davidson Woods and plans to open the preserve this fall.
"One of the magical things about Davidson Woods is that it was never really part of the modern agricultural farming movement, so a lot of the forest that you see in the park is old growth," Katie Ely-Wood, MetroParks communications manager, tells WVXU. "We have not, and the people before us have not disturbed it, so it's a really magical place to step back and get a sense of what being immersed in the Ohio wilderness would have been like 500 years ago. It's a pretty spectacular park to see some of that old growth."
MetroParks acquired the property in 2007 but only began developing plans to open it to the public a few years ago. It was previously owned by Hueston Farms, which is run by a descendant of Matthew Hueston, to whom the land was deeded in 1809. You may recognize the Hueston name from the nearby state park, Hueston Woods.
"The land was actually passed down through primarily female descendants of Matthew Hueston, so after he passed, the land came to his daughter, who then deeded it to her son, who then deeded it to his wife, and then it was a female progression of relatives ever since then," Ely-Wood explains. "The last person to own the property was Isabel Davidson, whom the park is named after, and before Isabel passed, she was in talks with MetroParks to turn the property over to the park district in order for it to be publicly opened and conserved."
Through a lease with MetroParks, Hueston Farms continues to operate on 307 acres of the preserve located across Four Mile Creek.
Construction is funded by Clean Ohio grant dollars and American Rescue Plan Act funds from the Butler County Board of Commissioners.
Bald eagles and creek access
Once completed, the park will offer three trails — two primitive and one ADA-compliant trail with a crushed gravel surface.
"The public feedback was to keep it primitive, keep it beautiful, and we really took that to heart and are embracing the beautiful kind of wilderness that you can find in the park," she says.
There will also be access to Four Mile Creek for wading and other water activities. Ely-Wood says people can enter the creek for kayaking or canoeing, though they'll have to carry the boats down a hill from the parking lot; there won't be vehicle access.
The park is also home to some keystone species, including shagbark hickory and sugar maples, spring wildflowers, and plenty of wildlife.
"This is a fantastic park to see bald eagles. Almost every time I've been out here, I've seen them," says Ely-Wood. "Normally, I see them flying up and down Four Mile Creek, but they're a very common sight out here, especially at the overlook."
That overlook is a 10-story bluff that provides 180 degree views of the creek and Hueston Farms across the way.
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