ATHENS, OH - Visitors to Sells Park, the new Hawk Woods preserve and neighboring Strouds Run State Park may one day benefit from a cooperative agreement that allows the City of Athens to program and operate the three facilities as one, according to state and city officials.
Representatives of the city and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) are discussing a possible partnership through which the city would assume a growing management role in day-to-day operations at the locally popular state park. Strouds Run lies on the northeast side of Athens and is adjacent to both Hawk Woods and Sells Park. The three properties comprise nearly 3,000 acres and are linked by the Athens Trail system.
Officials on both sides of the discussion said they are approaching the talks optimistically, but with caution.
“With these fine parks in such proximity and with all heavily used by the Athens community, it makes sense to look at managing them as a single operation,” said Athens Mayor Ric Abel. “Naturally, we will move forward only after careful study. We want to make certain this is in everyone’s best interest and in the best interests of the resources these parks protect.”
Dan West, chief of ODNR’s Ohio State Parks division, said it is likely that any city/state partnership would evolve gradually, starting with some joint programming. “We could then move on to give the city greater responsibility for operations and management,” he said. “It will have to make sense economically and in every other way for both the city and the state.”
Strouds Run State Park is a 2,767-acre recreational facility that encompasses the 161-acre Dow Lake. It is home to 15 miles of hiking trails, a 900-foot swimming beach, more than eight miles of bridle trails and an 80-site campground. Boats and motors under 10 hp are permitted on the lake, which is stocked with trout, largemouth bass, crappie and channel catfish.
Sells Park is a 22-acre natural resource facility managed by the Athens Parks and Recreation Department. Trailhead of the Athens Trail is located within the park. Recently, the city acquired the 78-acre COAD property, the 96-acre Riddle property and the 80-acre Hayes property. About 85 acres of woodland located on the Riddle and COAD properties (known as Hawk Woods) is one of the finest tracts of old-growth forest in Ohio.
The city recently expanded the 18-mile paved Hockhocking-Adena Bikeway that begins in Nelsonville and ends at Cook Drive in Athens. The city and Athens County now have approval from the Ohio Department of Transportation to expand the bikeway another .75 miles to Dow Lake Dam. The approval also allows for improvements to the parking lot at Dow Lake.
Talks are ongoing and city officials are scheduled to tour Strouds Run State Park for a more detailed look at operations there. “We expect to reach some initial decisions early in the new year,” Mayor Abel said.