Nicknamed Winner Woods, the Lois Busch Winner Nature Preserve was established by the Athens Conservancy this spring. I would even call it a little piece of heaven right next door. With 106 sprawling acres of tall Oak trees and tiny Pawpaw trees, the land was donated from the Winner family as a way to honor the benefactor’s late mother, Lois Busch Winner. The land has been in the family for over 100 years, but the family wanted the people to experience the land’s beauty just as they had, first hand. Athens Conservancy Board member Aimee Delach really loved that the place fit true to the trail’s name.
“I really love the big Oak trees,” Delach said.
Eleven miles east of the college town, Athens, lies the Grand Oak Trail on Stewart’s ridgeline. True to the name, the trail is littered with seven different species of these Grand Oaks, which I believe took every student’s breath away.
“Walking down the trail feels really calming,” FHHS student Remi Lenko said, as the class stepped along the trail and stared up into the kaleidoscope of red and yellow. While many of the trail’s steep slopes are also dotted with native wildflowers such as Jacob’s ladder, Solomon’s-plume, dwarf larkspur, and even some four-leaved milkweed. And if that wasn’t enough already, I also heard the tune of a bird and then got to catch a glimpse of a Blue Jay.
Volunteers for the Athens Conservancy are working hard to preserve the trail for generations to come by uprooting invasive species and repairing the trails damaged by ATVs. And to further show their commitment to the protection of the land the conservancy graciously asks to not travel by bicycle, ATV, or anything other than foot traffic implemented as of July 15th of this summer. This is to prevent further damage to the trail, which you can find evidence of further down the Grand Oak Trail as there is much damage from ATVs and other machinery, while also not allowing camping or campfires of any kind on the trails while also asking for you to always keep your dogs or other animals on a leash as well.
So there is nothing I would recommend more than going to Winner Woods in the fall. The smell of rotting leaves is a perfect addition to all of the wildlife and nature to behold on the trail. Delach, who is also a Climate Change Specialist at Defenders of Wildlife, being the generous woman she is, gave FHHS students a great tour of the Grandfather Oak trail. At the moment the only trail that they have is the Grandfather Oak, but they hope to add many more.