Family preserves land for public use
K.C. Grapes has had a lot of good times in her grandfather's woods in North Huntingdon Township, and her family has seen to it that other people can build those memories, too.
The Otto & Magdalene Ackermann Nature Preserve, near Ardara, welcomes the public to 55 acres of pristine forest that's wild like it was when the young couple bought the land in 1937.
"My grandfather died in 1964, and when my grandmother died in 1991, she transferred the land to their oldest daughter, Meccy Ackermann Grapes, who is my mother, and who is president (of the trust), and my father is treasurer," Grapes said. "Now my mother and her four siblings maintain the property in perpetuity as a nature preserve."
In other words, it will never be developed and will always remain in its natural state, which Allen Cohen, director of planning for North Huntingdon, considers an asset to the area.
"When valuable property is preserved by the owner at the expense of developing it, it's a contribution to the community, and helps to add to the character of a community," he said.
The property was opened to the public in 1997 and has been a prize to the people who know about it and a hidden treasure for others to yet discover.
Nature was always important to the Ackermanns, who were German immigrants who met on a hike in Europe. Although they lived on Walnut Street in Irwin in a home that Grapes and her husband, Bob Michaud, now own, they spent a lot of time in their own woods.
Otto Ackermann, an engineer for Westinghouse, loved nature and art, a passion and talent that he passed on to Grapes. He also was an avid collector of butterflies and moths that he often found in his woods, and he was said to have one of the finest private collections in the world.
Grapes has many memories of going into the woods to draw with her grandfather, or to go hiking and picnicking, which she later did with her own daughters, Kestrel and Tansy, now teenagers. The family opened the preserve so that other people can enjoy those things, too, in a setting that's not a typical park.
"This is a pristine forest," Grapes said. "We let it do whatever it wants. We just clear trees along the trails, and in the past, we've had some Boy Scouts come to do that as a community service."
The preserve is entered at a sign marking a trail that leads into the natural stands of oak, maple, ash, elm and dogwood trees. Mountain laurel abounds and has virtually overgrown a path that was the Mountain Laurel Trail. Otto Ackermann dug many of the trails himself.
There are several notable destinations in the preserve. One is No Name Creek, which can be reached by going down the Bridal Trail that Grapes' father dug out for her wedding.
"Bob and I got married down there, and my father walked me down the trail," she said.
The creek, usually 8 feet wide and a foot deep, is easily crossable and draws young explorers in search of minnows and crabs.
"When I was young, my father would dam it up with rocks and it would get about 2 or 3 feet deep, and that was a big deal to us," Grapes said. "It's a perfect place to take little kids to have a picnic and to play in the creek."
People like to picnic in a streamside clearing, and Grapes once found a family camping there, which is permitted. Another trail leads to a quarry that has walls 30 to 40 feet high, where rock climbers have practiced and rescue teams have trained.
"They used to quarry stones that were used all over North Huntingdon and Irwin, mainly in walls," Michaud said. "That was at a time when they got them out with horses and wagons."
Hikers can find a variety of vegetation and wildlife. In the spring, the forest floor is bright with trillium and other wildflowers, and in the autumn, the hardwood trees blaze with color.
Expect to see squirrels, rabbits, woodpeckers and numerous songbirds and game birds. Grapes has seen flocks of wild turkeys, and once she spotted a female wood duck fly out of a nesting hole in a tree. There have even been reports of foxes.
Deer, are plentiful -- too plentiful, which is why the preserve has recently been open to hunters, by permit only, in the two-week hunting season after Thanksgiving.
Hunting is otherwise not permitted, nor are motorized vehicles or horses, which tear up the trails. Dogs are welcome and may be off-leash.
"Anybody can come to hike or to camp as long as they clean up and don't leave anything behind," Grapes said.
All hiking and rock climbing is done at a person's own risk, and quarry visitors are warned that copperhead snakes live among the rocks.
Additional Information:
If you go
To get to the Ackermann Nature Preserve, take Route 993 from Irwin toward Trafford. Just before Ardara post office, turn left onto Leger Road. Cross the bridge over train tracks, then cross a bridge over Brush Creek. At that point, turn right onto Ardara Road. Go to the top of the hill and see a brown sign marking the entrance to the preserve. Parking is permitted on the grassy area at the sign.
Rules of the preserve and a map of the trails and sites are posted at the entrance. For more information, call K.C. Grapes at 724-863-4935.
