With 1,896 acres of park land and a 2,120-acre lake, the park offers year-round access to activities for various seasons: fishing, hunting, hiking, a snowmobile area, bicycling trails and horse trails. Add in two beaches – a 2,400-foot beach for the public and a 400-foot beach for campers and picnic areas and it sets off daydreams of the great outdoors.
“It’s an absolutely gorgeous park,” said John Lewis, the park manager. “The Springfield community really enjoys it. We see people out here every day.”
Lewis said about 80-90 percent of the park’s visitors are locals, adding that it’s not uncommon, giving Hocking Hills State Park in Logan, Ohio as an example of another state park which brings in more people from out of the area than in.
The reservoir and park’s genesis came 51 years ago with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control project on Buck Creek. The Clarence J. Brown Dam & Reservoir is named for the politician who served as an Ohio congressman for several years as well as lieutenant governor. The park was officially opened in 1975.
Lewis said a unique factor is Buck Creek State Park is part of a region of three state parks including Kiser Lake State Park in St. Paris and John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs. Together, they each offer something unique.
Kiser Lake, for instance, doesn’t allow motors on its boats, which is available at Buck Creek, and John Bryan has some of the state’s best hiking trails.
“All have diverse clientele and there’s something for everybody,” said Lewis.
Lewis said one of the best parts of the Buck Creek State Park is the only things charged for are camping, cottage rental or renting a boat dock. This opens a wide variety of things people can enjoy.
The area offers a heavy emphasis on fitness activities, hosting two triathlons each year. Lewis said since there are sufficient areas for swimming, biking and running, it’s a natural place to have these.
The park has also been the home of an annual invitational cross country meet where numerous area high school and junior high teams compete.
Lewis sees people hiking and using the bike trails every day. The bike trails conveniently also connect to the city’s vast network of bike trails.
A sporting trend that has captured a lot of attention in recent years is disc golf, and Buck Creek State Park has an area outlet for it. Lewis said the 18-hole “course,” despite being something of a best kept secret, is open and free to the public to use. Various groups help with the upkeep and several disc golf tournaments go on each year.
Another activity not on many radars is windsurfing, done at the beach’s north side. Lewis said people who have windsurfing equipment are welcome to do so on the water.
For camping enthusiasts, there are 112 campsites, 90 with electric, two shower houses and a dump station. There are also 26 cabins for rent. Lewis said four cabins were completely renovated in 2016 and looks to redo eight more in fall 2017.
“We’re looking to take them down to nothing to add new roof, floor, furnaces,” he said.
The water plant also got its first ever renovation last year. The tower was sandblasted, repainted and five new waterlines were installed.
There’s also history on the grounds. Famous pioneering names in the area including George Rogers Clark and Simon Kenton roamed through here.
A lasting monument to the settlers, the Crabill Homestead was built in 1813 by settlers David and Barbara Crabill of Virginia, where the family remained until the early 1900s. It was later added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The George Rogers Clark Heritage Assn. of Clark County took over the home in 2010 and is in the process of raising funds to update several areas of the historic two-story home. It hosts numerous open houses, activities and events throughout the year.
The reservoir side is also a popular fitness destination with a one-third of a mile trail and another four miles long. A brochure is available at the visitors’ center for what hikers can see.
It also connects to the regional bike trail and the bridge over the dam is used by numerous walkers.
Matthew Palmer, the reservoir’s Supervisory Natural Resources Project Manager, said fitness enthusiasts can expect new exercise options in the coming months.
“We’re really excited. A lot of people use our area and this will give them a lot of new opportunities,” he said.
Several fitness stations will be added. The first is a chin-up bar station for multiple users already in use. It will be joined by stations for step-up fitness, a parallel bar, balance beam, bench dips, push-ups, horizontal chin-up bar and body curl.
Palmer said the hope is to have all of this installed as the year goes on.
The Reservoir area also offers three reservable picnic shelters which are a hot commodity for public use. They are popular for birthdays, graduations, reunions, weddings and other functions.
The reservoir also has small visitors center with a museum and displays. It offers several interpretive programs and other events throughout the year.
There is also a large prairie grassland native to the area which is a habitat for several animals.
“I see deer every morning coming in,” Palmer said. Visitors can also see ducks, birds, hawks, raccoons, rabbits, groundhogs and smaller creatures including dragonflies. Several students can do nature projects in and around the area.
Palmer said he takes pride in the positive feedback from visitors about the area.
“We hear regularly how nice and well maintained it is. That’s very important to us since we want everybody who visits to have a great experience here,” he said.
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