Oliver's Woods Nature Preserve

A nature preserve within reach. The volume of dedicated space for outdoor recreation is really a hidden gem in Indiana. It's so easy to add in an outdoor activity when also planning to run errands in the same day. This place was recommended to us. From the parking area, just a few paces takes you into forest trails where you can walk river side. Mostly shaded trails making it a nice walk when it's hot outside. It's about 3 miles of trails.

It's a little bit rare that I discover a spot previously unknown to me, however, this was the case today when I visited Oliver's Woods Nature Preserve. I was between tasks near Castleton and decided to do a Yelp search to see if I could snag a review or two during my free time. As is often the case for me, I searched for "parks" and Oliver's Woods popped up along with a review from the always dependable Nicole S. It's amazing to me that I've driven by this preserve many times without realizing its existence. In fact, even while looking for it today I drove by it a couple of times before realizing the place where I needed to turn. It's not particularly well marked from River Road. As it turns out, this is part of its charm. Oliver's Woods Nature Preserve is a 56-acre preserve owned by the Central Indiana Land Trust. It includes 16 acres of woods, 37 acres of prairie-savanna restoration, and a mile of White River frontage. As is true for most preserves under Central Indiana Land Trust, Oliver's Woods is fairly light in development but a fairly nice effort toward some ADA accessibility is noteworthy. It's not perfectly accessible but, let's be honest, nature seldom is perfectly accessible. As Nicole S. notes, this is a rather sublime weaving together of urban and nature. In fact, I really expected this to be more like a pocket park considering it's situated so close to an office park, apartments, and a nearby shopping center along with the highway. Remarkably, this is simply a well preserved area of nature amidst it all. In terms of accessibility, the accessible parking is by the Daugherty house. Oliver Daugherty, who passed away in 2009, donated the property to Central Indiana Land Trust and some unexpected funding received allowed for increased development of it in 2017. The accessible parking spot allowed for access to a .6 mile trail made of crushed gravel. I'm a wheelchair user and had no issues with it. However, it's worth noting that parking in the usual parking lot is more difficult because the gravel isn't quite as crushed. While the preserve is open daily, there are specific times when a volunteer docent is available to give a tour of the preserve. There is a canoe launch available for any craft legally allowed on the water in the city of Indianapolis that you can carry to/from the river from the drop-off area in front of the Daugherty House.The southern half of the Town Run Trail Park also runs through this property with an agreement that was made between Indy Parks and Daugherty himself. Volunteers have helped plant native trees and plants and to remove invasive species. "This special care is allowing native species like wild ginger, Virginia bluebells, waterleaf, wild hyacinth and trillium to flourish," according to the CILT website. Because this is so wooded and you are along White River, seeing wildlife is also a strong possibility. This is not a "recreational" preserve other than the ability to launch a canoe. This is a wonderful preserve for enjoying nature, appreciating White River, and enjoying a short but nicely done trail. There are signs around the preserve explaining the preserve (including at the Daugherty House). Quite honestly, I'd have loved living here. I saw one other vehicle while I was here, though I never saw the person associated with that vehicle. I did hear traffic and the highway, though on a warm and sunny Fall day it all felt really perfect. Now that I know this is here, there's no doubt I'll return!

I've lived in this area for around 2 years now and never thought about this park! It is the prettiest little park I've ever seen and includes plenty of bike trails. As well as trails to walk on. If you don't mind getting your feet wet, you will have tons of fun relaxing at the creek. Be careful biking or walking in the area where the sign says the direction of trail switches. I'm assuming you'll run into someone if you don't pay attention to that. This is now one of my favorite parks and plan to faithfully come back.

Oliver's Woods Nature Preserve is truly an urban oasis. You can see and hear the vehicles roar by from I-465, just a short distance away. You walk through tall grasses as you walk past billboard signs. I love the city and I tolerate nature, so this place is a great combination of both for me.There are hiking trails here, but they're not clearly marked, so as we were walking and enjoying nature, we encountered several mountain bikers who raced past us. There must have been some sort of mountain biking thing going on, because there were a lot of bikers at the park. We must have been on the biking trail, because we didn't see any other walkers, just bikers. The path is super slim, so we had to duck into the brush whenever we saw a bicycler, which was every three to five minutes. Eventually, we headed back and found an actual walking path. All this to say: If you find a dirt path that is jutted, it's probably not the walking path -- it's the biking path. Once we found the walking path, it was very pretty and peaceful. The hiking / walking path will take you to the boat launch, where you can take your boat out onto the White River. It will also take you to the Daugherty House, which is a house that belonged to the original owner of the property, Oliver Daugherty. You can't go inside the house, but you can look at the outside, and there are signs and QR codes that give you more information about it. We found a lot of native plants here, including wild raspberries that were ripe and ready for picking. We also saw a beaver (!) and trekked across a stream that fed into the White River. This is such a cool place, and it's a true Indianapolis hidden gem.

Lovely and unexpected spot in the middle of the Keystone urban sprawl. Plentiful parking, informative signs, and easy-to-follow trails. Access to the River for anyone looking to boat. Truly a hidden gem. The noise from the highway and mall are a bit off-putting, but I'd rather have this area exist than another strip mall or office building! If I worked nearby, I'd be here taking a walk and eating my lunch in nature every day, and we did see a few people doing just that.

As a Castleton area resident, I've come to really enjoy this greenspace. It stretches north and south of I-465 along the White River and adjacent wetlands and lakes. Several different trails weave in and out of the area. I love exploring here, in part because it's an underutilized space and we rarely see more than a couple folks on the trail. There is a new access point that was recently built off of River Road but there are also several access points behind the River Bend and Autumn Woods apartments off Allisonville just north of 465 and behind the Montage event center. Most of the entries to the trails are unmarked unfortunately. But great views of the River at points, very secluded and not heavily trafficked like so many other trails in the area.

One of my favorite local spots. Quick and easy hike, with a beautiful view! The staff was super friendly as well.