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Bicycling
Birding
Cross-country Skiing
Hiking
Historical Features
Nature Study
Outdoor Play
Picnicking
Walking
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The programming at Hills & Dales offers a variety of opportunities for people of
all ages to rekindle their experiences with nature.
Nature hikes covering a variety of topics are offered throughout the year, including
bird walks, wildflower walks, tree identification hikes, night hikes, and owl prowls.
Parent & Preschool Programs give a place where kids 3-5 years old and their caregivers
can meet and play games, build crafts, sing songs, and explore nature together.
Whether pretending to be raccoons, using nature to teach colors, or learning how
to safely explore your own backyard, these programs redefine ‘quality time’ with
your preschooler. These programs are offered monthly April-October.
Seasonal Strolls for Adults offer a time for escaping from that asphalt coated schedule
we call life. Participants meet new friends, discuss points of interests, and explore
nature together. These strolls take place the first and third Friday mornings April-October,
starting at various locations throughout the park.
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John H. Patterson, chairman of National Cash Register Company, believed that education
and outdoor exercise were the pillars of good health for not only himself, but also
his employees. He began a relationship with the Olmsted Brothers in 1894 after
developing a strong appreciation for their “natural school” of landscaping gardening.
Hills & Dales Park must have been a novel experience for most Daytonians when it
opened in 1907. With its carefully designed meadows, water and woods, it was meant
to recreate in gardens the perfection found in nature. It was intended to provide
a place for city dwellers to conveniently enjoy beautiful natural scenery and obtain
relief from the nervous strain of urban life.
In its early days, park goers could take a short ride from the city and be immersed
in nature. They strolled walking paths on foot or horse. They picked blackberries,
wild strawberries, May apples, walnuts and hickory nuts and ate them on the grounds.
They lingered near wading pools and picnicked in Adirondack camps.
Since then, the original character of the site has been transformed by years of
vegetation growth and the addition of new park features, including a Patterson memorial
and a golf course in what was once a series of open meadows and a Polo course.
The park became a MetroPark in 1999, and is currently in the middle of a massive
master plan improvements intended to bring the tract of land back to its former
glory.
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