Sycamore Run Park – Grass Trail
Schedule: Completion in 2025
Location: Sycamore Run Park
Project description: Sycamore Run Park has been dedicated to providing kayakers and canoers access to the Olentangy River, as a put in or take out. In addition to river access, this park is popular with visitors looking for a scenic stop for a quiet lunch. These visitors frequently asked Park Staff to provide a walking trail along the river with its long, beautiful views and abundant wildlife – evident by the deer trails running north and south along the river. To accommodate the requests, a 1/3-mile walkable loop trail was built that allows users to engage with the Olentangy River and experience the park’s picturesque meadows and mature trees.
Deer Haven Park – Primitive Trail
Schedule: Completed in summer 2024
Location: Deer Haven Park, entries along the Bent Tree Ridge Trail
Project description: In Summer of 2022 Preservation Parks purchase 25 acres of dense woodland, expanding Deer Haven Park. Preservation Parks immediately got to work to design and build a one-mile trail through the existing woods. Choosing to implement a minimalistic primitive trail, park staff sought to avoid environmentally sensitive areas while offering visitors numerous scenic views and a varied hiking experience. The addition of boardwalks, bridges, and a stone staircase, has helped make this trail a favorite.
Hogback Ridge Park – Restroom, Braille Trail
Schedule: Complete in spring 2025
Location: Hogback Ridge Park
Project description: Through a $120,000 American Rescue Plan grant from the Delaware County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Preservation Parks was afforded the opportunity to construct a family style restroom at Hogback Ridge Park. The new facility complements the existing architecture of the District office and will provide an accessible restroom with an adult changing table.
In addition to the restroom upgrades, the grant funded the construction of a “braille trail” with four interpretive signs and a bronze casting map of the park, all of which integrate braille. The braille trail will allow park visitors with visual disabilities to engage with the woodland ridge trail in a way that makes it safely accessible. Through a white cotton rope along the edge of the trail, visually limited users will be capable of navigating the trail and explore the natural features of Delaware County.
McCammon Creek Park North – Parking and Trails
Schedule: Trails complete in 2023, Parking lot completed in 2024
Location: McCammon Creek Park
Project description: McCammon Creek Park in Orange Township includes more than 231 acres of parkland with rolling hills of mature woods, restored meadows, and meandering streams. Divided into three areas, McCammon Creek Park promises to be a feature filled park – including a renovated Bicentennial Barn, playground, extensive trail system, adventure zone, hammock area, and more.
In 2023, trails were installed in the northern portion of the park that wind through scenic meadows and woodlands. This trail established the first publicly accessible portion of McCammon Creek Park with more than 1.25 miles of compacted gravel trail and the District’s first hammock area. In 2024, a trailhead parking lot was installed, allowing for easy access to this newest Preservation Park.
Perfect Creek Park Development (Future Park)
Schedule: Ongoing restoration
Location: Perfect Creek Park, Trenton Township (this property is not yet open as a public park)
Click here to see the master concept plans.
Project description: This 478 acre property consists of gently rolling topography, mature woods, two miles of streams, high-quality wetlands, and open grasslands. Major park elements will include the Perfect-Sandel Farmhouse, Perfect Schoolhouse, observation areas, an extensive trail system, operations/maintenance facility, restored forests, shelters, and restrooms.
Wetland Restoration
In summer of 2022 PPDC was awarded a $400,000 H2Ohio grant to design and construct new treatment wetlands along Perfect Creek and Dry Run, located within an upcoming park. Once constructed, the wetlands will encompass almost 7 acres, filtering sediment and treating both phosphorus and nitrogen, before returning water back to Perfect Creek. The wetlands will restore vital ecological habitat in addition to functioning as stormwater retention. Coldwater Creek Consulting was selected to design and engineer the wetlands. Completed in 2024, these wetlands are regularly monitored for water quality to study the effectiveness of the treatment wetlands.
