Strouds Run State Park provides nature, practice site
By Maria Fisher, Staff Writer
September 28, 2006 | 6:09 p.m.
The town of Athens -- love it though we may -- can get noisy. Cars, cell phones and loud-talking blondes often dominate all sound waves from Richland Avenue to South Green Drive, but hidden nearby, a patch of earth exists that offers peace and quiet.
A lot of Ohio University students don’t seem to know that this escape-from-it-all resource even exists -- much less within their reach. But about 4.5 miles down U.S. Route 50 East, its existence becomes undeniable.
Strouds Run State Park covers roughly 2,500 acres. Waters of the man-made Dow Lake fill 161 of those acres. The land is home to 15 miles of hiking trails and nine miles of trails specifically for horseback riding. Walking or riding these trails offers a historical perspective. Much of the nature here has been relatively untouched since the days of the early Ohio settlers in this region in 1796. Prior to 1795, however, Strouds Run was home to the Shawnee Indian Nation.
But being a historian isn’t a requirement to enjoy Strouds Run. The park offers a variety of activities, such as fishing, swimming, camping and hunting, permitted in designated areas. Several areas for picnicking, including tables and three shelters, can also be found in the park. The shelters are on a first-come, first-served basis, but can be reserved. Swimmers can take advantage of the 900-foot beach on Dow Lake from sunrise to sunset in the summer. The park also has a volleyball court, a basketball court, boating rentals, playgrounds and camping equipment.
“[It’s] definitely a great place to be,” Cory Fritz, OU junior and men’s crew team member, said. Both the women’s and men’s crew teams visit Strouds Run on a daily basis for practice on the lake. They travel to many schools for competitions throughout their seasons, but “Strouds is different than all the other races,” he said.
Fritz said that many of OU crew teams’ competitors, such as the team from Ohio State University, cite Strouds as one of their favorite race sites. The park is a home for a competition -- known in the crew world as a “regatta” -- every spring. Not many of the lakes used by crew teams at other schools are as beautifully isolated, Fritz explained.
“The lake is a little over two kilometers, which is just long enough for our spring races,” said women’s crew team president Katie Wichmann. Standard crew races are five kilometers during the fall season and two kilometers in the spring.
“Realistically, [the lake] has to meet our needs as a team,” Wichmann said. “Anything bigger is too far away to use.” She remains grateful for the just-barely-big-enough lake. “If it didn’t exist, OU wouldn’t have a crew team.”
Tom Tesar, OU director of Outdoor Pursuits, is similarly appreciative of the resource value of the park.
“It would be hard to run an outdoor pursuits program without a place to take it to,” Tesar said. Outdoor Pursuits is a faction of Ohio University Campus Recreation and has a headquarters at Ping Center, where it also houses its climbing wall. The group sponsors canoeing and wilderness training activities at Strouds Run.
“We use the section of the woods by the dam every December for our Wilderness First Responder class,” he explained. The course, Rec418W, which is given for credit, is a quick lesson in emergency medicine in the wilderness. The park “is a really good site where we can stimulate a wilderness experience,” Tesar said.
The park is also currently undergoing somewhat of a custody battle. Its operation and ownership is potentially transferring from the hands of the state to the city of Athens, but that really won’t change much in terms of OU’s involvement with the area, Tesar said.
The park is also used by many other OU clubs and groups. Meredith Barnett, an OU sophomore, recalled visiting Strouds on a camping trip with the Honors College Advisory Council at the beginning of her freshman year.
“It was a bonding thing,” Barnett said. “We went hiking and camping, and it was October, so the leaves were changing, and it was gorgeous,” she said. “It’s so pristine and clean, but I think people forget it’s there. I’ve never seen it busy.”
Strouds Run State Park doesn’t have to remain a mystery to anyone who’s not a crew team member or an outdoor pursuit adventure-seeker. It’s a glimpse into history, nature and beauty that welcomes any and all Bobcats seeking the smell of fresh air.