Strouds Ridge Preserve

Strouds Ridge Preserve
Strouds Ridge
Turtlehead Cave, Strouds Run State Park
Location within Ohio Strouds Ridge Preserve (the United States)
Location	Athens County
Nearest city	Athens, Ohio
Coordinates	39.345°N 82.066667°W / 39.345; -82.066667
Area	333 acres (135 ha)
Established	2002
Governing body	City of Athens

The Strouds Ridge Preserve is a project of Athens, Ohio, to create a greenbelt buffer and trail system on the outskirts of the city. This effort began in 2002, and has so far involved five parcels of land, for a total of 333-acre (135-hectare), in three discontinuous tracts. All these properties, which include the pre-existing 22-acre (89,000 m²) Sells Park, are contiguous with Strouds Run State Park.

Property acquisitions

One of the acquisitions was subsequently dedicated as the Dale and Jackie Riddle State Nature Preserve, and is otherwise known as Hawk Woods, an 85-acre (340,000 m²) old-growth forest. One of the tracts, the Della Drive Tract, was acquired by Athens County, not the city. Also nearby are the 75-acre (300,000 m²)-acre Blair Preserve, the 49-acre (200,000 m²)-acre Tucker Run Preserve, the 283-acre (1,150,000 m²)-acre Mary Beth Zak Lohse Preserve, the 441-acre (1,780,000 m²)-acre Canaan Preserve and the 269-acre (1,090,000 m²)-acre Baker Preserve of the Athens Conservancy.

Trails

The trail system is known as the Athens Trail system, and connects with the trails at the state park. The trail system centers around the Athens Trail, currently 3.2 miles (5.1 km) but slated to be a full-loop trail around the City of Athens, and the Rockhouse Trail, a 2.7-mile (4.3 km) scenic trail.

Preserve Lands around Strouds Run State Park

External links

• U.S. Geological Survey Map at the U.S. Geological Survey Map Website. Retrieved November 5th, 2022.