HOGBACK RIDGE PRESERVE: PRESERVATION PARKS CROWN JEWEL
2656 Hogback Road, Sunbury
Within seconds of turning onto the long, narrow lane from Hogback
Road, you notice something different about the woods.
They unfold from the very edges of the track, unkempt and crowded,
as woods are meant to be. The continual murmur and hum of civilization
somehow suddenly vanishes behind you.
You feel a need to be quiet.
There is a clearing at the end of the lane just large enough for
a house and an equipment barn, and the woods shelter it. Whoever
built here intended to reside as a visitor, not a master. Whoever
lived here came to observe the forest, not to tame it.
This is Hogback Ridge Preserve and the Mary Barber McCoy
Nature Center, a gift to Preservation Parks of Delaware
County from a woman with a deep respect for nature. Mrs. Mary
McCoy died in 1997.
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Her wish in bequeathing the 32 acre property, house and barn
to Preservation Parks was to have it endure as a county
nature center. With the passage of the .4 mill levy in November
1999, the property can become as impressive and useful to the
community as any established state park facility. 
“She was always interested in conservation,” her longtime
friend, Melvin Rheins, told The Delaware Gazette in 1998 “And
she cared about animals.”
The 4,000 square foot house serves as a nature education center,
retreat site and community meeting place. A protected deck the
length of the house will serve as a comfortable, ideal observation
post . . . a “Window on Wildlife.” The site has already
become the Preservation Parks main office.
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The property had been unoccupied for several years, and needed
cleaning, painting, interior renovation and grounds grooming.
Members of the Kiwanis Club of Delaware, Boy Scouts and an Ohio
Wesleyan sorority and environmental club all worked to make the
house fully functional, meet initial ADA requirements and achieve
OSHA compliance.
Outside, the parking lot trail was cleared and mulched as an Eagle
Scout project. The half-mile, level hiking trail leads walkers
to spectacular views of the park’s densely wooded ravine
system. An expansion of the trail system is planned.
“It’s a peaceful, magnificent setting,” said Rita
Au, Director of Preservation Parks. “I think people
will fall in love with it.”
Schools have a secure, interesting destination for field trips.
Families have a secluded place to gather. Civic groups and nature
clubs have quiet meeting surroundings. Hikers can be close to
peace of mind among the tall trees.
And, thanks to the voters of Delaware County, Hogback Ridge
Preserve and the Mary Barber McCoy Nature Center were
opened to the public in 2002. Mary B. McCoy, at last, has her
wish.
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