The Tucker Run Preserve (49.5 acres) was acquired in 2011. It borders Strouds Run State Park and protects the headwaters of Tucker Run, one of the main tributaries of Dow Lake. It is entirely forested, with rugged topography. The preserve is home to diverse wildlife and plants, including two wildflower species that are infrequent in Athens County but fairly common in this preserve: long-spurred violet (Viola rostrata) and sweet white violet (Viola blanda). 

Access is challenging. There is an unmarked access trail (see map) that enters the preserve from the north through private property (the Conservancy has an access easement) and dead-ends on the stream terrace of Tucker Run. There are no maintained trails beyond there. Off-trail hikers are welcome, but please watch for boundary signs and avoid entering adjacent private properties.

Visitors are welcome to enter this way, but there is room for only one car to park at the trailhead. (Two vehicles that will be departing at the same time can park front to back, but one of them will be blocked in.)  

To reach the trailhead from uptown Athens, take Carpenter Street west (turn left from Court Street or East State Street). Carpenter becomes Lancaster Street. Take this to the stoplight at the top of the hill and turn right on Lancaster Street, which becomes Columbia Avenue and then Strouds Run Road. After crossing US-33 on an overpass, turn left on Peach Ridge Road and follow it 2.8 miles. Shortly after passing a house at 11777 Peach Ridge Road, turn right on a small, dead-end dirt road (named Hashman Road, but there may be no road sign). About 50 feet after turning right, look for the trailhead on the right. You can park on the beginning of the trail but don’t block the dirt road, which serves as the driveway for two homes.

Alternatively, adventuresome hikers who are comfortable bushwhacking and have a phone app that shows property boundaries can reach the preserve from the dead-end of the Beaver Pond Trail in Strouds Run State Park. The trailhead for Beaver Pond Trail is on State Park Road a short way north of the park maintenance headquarters. There is a pulloff at the trailhead.

Use iNaturalist to help document plants, mushrooms, insects, birds, mammals, and more in the Tucker Run Preserve!

Volunteer Preserve Steward: Joe Brehm