Open fields, fence rows and a stately old barn, part of which dates to the Civil War, are evidence of the park’s former life as the Harter Dairy Farm. Other history hides beneath your feet, where coal was mined during much of the 19th century. 

The land has changed a great deal since Summit Metro Parks acquired it in 1966. Thousands of trees have been planted, and the lake house and 50-acre lake – fed by a spring from an old mine near Wall Road – were built in the early 1990s. 

The open fields are home to many bird species, while butterflies flutter among the flowers and grasses. Birds of prey can be seen circling above, looking for meals in the water and grass below, and deer travel among the woods, fields and wetlands. Tall sycamores grow in soggy areas, hickory woods in drier ones, and beech-maple woods grow among spring wildflowers. One of the largest northern red oaks in Summit County – 20 feet in circumference – stands in this park.