December 9, 2025 • 11 mins
Hueston Woods State Park is hosting the holidays with movies, breakfast with Santa, hikes, and more. Learn more in this episode.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Missy Rentz (00:00):
in today's winter in the Parks episode, we are
talking to Kathryn Connor, thepark manager at Hueston Woods
State Park in Ohio.
Kathryn, welcome to the Parkspodcast.
Kathryn Conner (00:12):
Thank you so much for having me here today.
I really appreciate it.
Missy Rentz (00:14):
Of course.
I love it.
And now that I'm learning moreabout Hueston Woods, I love
talking to you even more'cause Ifeel like you are a Winter
Wonderland Park.
Kathryn Conner (00:24):
We really are, we're really fortunate this time
of year in any season, but we'vegot 3,500 acres of beautiful
forest here for you to get toenjoy.
Whether you're hiking, mountainbiking uh, we have equestrian
trails here, or if you're justgetting out to drive your car to
see the 10 mile loop that wehave that really immerses you in
the woods here at Hueston Woods
Missy Rentz (00:44):
Oh, that's beautiful.
So we did an episode yesterdayon, and we talked a lot about
what's going on in Ohio StateParks, but today I really wanna
talk about more specificallyabout Hueston Woods.
You are located outside ofOxford, Ohio, which for those
who aren't familiar where Oxfordis, it is on the western side of
Ohio.
(01:04):
Can you tell us about HuestonWoods State Park and why you're
a park?
Kathryn Conner (01:09):
Yeah, absolutely.
So we are, so for folks whoaren't familiar with us, we are
a Southwest Park.
We are right on the border ofOhio and Indiana, both in Preble
and Butler County.
And our park is so amazingbecause.
At the center of our park, wehave a nature preserve.
It's called the Hueston WoodState Nature Preserve.
So out of our 3,500 acres, thisis 200 plus acres of mature
(01:30):
forest that has never been cutdown, and it is.
It.
It's honestly like taking a stepback in time, right?
So you get to see these big openspaces, you can actually see the
wildlife while you're walkingthrough this preserve.
And then what makes it sospecial is it was uncut to help
with the production of maplesyrup.
And so here at our park, weactually to still honor that,
(01:51):
have a maple syrup festival inMarch where we tap the trees.
We make the syrup in the sugarhouse that we still have here on
our property.
And so it is such a special tieto show people why we have a
park, why we're here, why wewant you to come out and enjoy
us, and it's a pretty sweetreason.
Missy Rentz (02:09):
And it's a park that has a lot of obviously
natural conservation going on,but you also have a lot of
history.
Kathryn Conner (02:16):
Yes, it is a very historical park.
So not only do we have thatHueston family that kept that
area uncut, but we also have thebuilding of our park was very
historical.
So you have a lot of parks herein Ohio that were built by the
three Cs.
Our park was not like that.
Ours is a true state parkproperty that it was actually
built with the help of someOxford honor labor camp members.
(02:38):
And so those labor membersstayed here on the park
property.
So we had their original bunkhouse.
We have their canning house.
That was our old nature center.
My office has a hump in thefloor'cause it was the
barbershop chair.
But we have a lot of historythat makes us special.
We have that natural feature andthen we are also the only state
operated raptor rehab center.
(03:00):
So we take in injured birds ofprey like hawks and owls and try
to get them healthy enough to goback out into the wild.
And then for the ones thatcan't, we are then responsible
for finding them permanenthomes.
How can they best live out therest of their lives?
And sometimes that is over atour nature center, where we do
have a really large display ofanimals that you get to see when
you're here.
So you can, depending on whatyou like, people love the snakes
(03:22):
and turtles and fish inside, buta lot of people like to see
these raptors up close.
We also have two foxes and abobcat that we take care of.
Missy Rentz (03:30):
That is so cool, and I decided to start this
Winter in the Parks seriesbecause I think winter is a
spectacular time to visit parks,and as we enter the holiday
season, there's so muchhappening in our parks around
the country.
What's happening at HuestonWoods this holiday season?
Kathryn Conner (03:47):
I think winter is the perfect time to get out
into the parks because sometimesthe hust and bustle, you need to
take a step back and see thatwinter is a beautiful time to
get outside because it helpsreset you a little bit, right?
The world has slowed down alittle bit with the cold
temperatures, but we're stillhaving so many things to get you
involved so you don't feel likeyou're by yourself out here in
the wintertime either.
So we've got our naturalistprograms that happen every
(04:10):
weekend and a really specialevent for us is our winter
drive-in.
So we've been doing it now forfour years where it is a true
drive-in experience where youcome out to our beach, we have a
big screen set up and somereally great holiday classics
showing on the screens for you.
We do two movies.
We've got usually some reallygreat food vendors, popcorn, hot
drinks and everything like that.
And this year we've been able topartner with our Hueston Woods
(04:32):
Lodge to make it an all dayevent.
So we've got breakfast withSanta, we've got different
scavenger hunts throughout theday.
We have a winter hike.
We've got crafts and games, andthen it all takes place here in
the park all day long.
You.
End the day at the beach withthat movie.
Start Your Day at the lodge.
So it's really an opportunity tomake, you could even do it as a
(04:55):
all day stay overnight too.
So you could stay at the lodgeor the cabins.
Our campground has winter waterand a heated shower house this
time of year.
So whatever your comfort levelis to get out into the woods,
we've got it here for you.
Missy Rentz (05:09):
And that you bring up the lodge and I think that's
one of the unique attributes ofOhio Parks is many of them have
these incredible movie-likelodges.
Within their parks.
That can create just a differentkind of experience.
What's going on with the lodge?
I'm gonna, I'm gonna postpictures of this lodge.
(05:29):
It is unbelievable how prettythis is.
Kathryn Conner (05:33):
Thank you.
We are big fans of our lodge aswell.
It was actually talking abouthistory, the largest a-frame
building in the entire worldwhen it was built.
Missy Rentz (05:40):
Oh, wow.
Kathryn Conner (05:41):
So it is very impressive when you first arrive
to the lodge.
So our lodge and all Ohio Stateparks lodges are open year
round, so that's a reallyanother great factor for'em.
So any season you can come outand stay, a lot of them have
pools.
So if you're here in the hotsummer, you've got that.
And then even in the cold, we'vegot indoor pools here.
So the lodge is really greatbecause it allows you to have a
(06:01):
restaurant there as well andhave a really nice staycation
there.
And with that large A-framecomes a lot of large windows.
And so you still get to feellike you're immersed in the
outdoors.
A really like you said.
Makes you feel like you're in amovie, like a winter movie,
being out in this rustic lodge,but still being comfortable
because it was recentlyrenovated just a couple years
(06:22):
ago.
Every room has new fixtures andfurniture, and it's a very
modern take to have that rusticfeel.
Missy Rentz (06:28):
And so when you come for the, you talked about
the whole day experience in thelodge what else is the lodge
doing?
You said breakfast with Santa,anything else happening in the
lodge?
Kathryn Conner (06:38):
Yeah, so the breakfast with Santa is
specifically at the lodge andthat's gonna have cookie
decorating and there is a costassociated with that one, but
it's any, you don't have to havereservations, anybody can come
to it.
We are doing our very firstgingerbread house competition,
so we get to display those inthe lodge.
There might be a choir singingthere too to welcome you guys
and we're really excited'causewe also take some of our
(07:00):
wildlife ambassadors from thenature center.
To the lodge.
So while you're walking arounddoing all these really great
activities, you'll get to see ashow from our naturalist over
there and then the lodge and.
All, a lot of the great the OhioState Park lodges do this, but
the Christmas decorations thatyou see here at the lodge are
spectacular.
We have a really wonderfulgarden club that goes all out in
(07:23):
these decorations.
There's different themes, but itjust, not only will the
architecture take you away, butthe decoration and the work
they've put into it will reallyWow.
You.
Missy Rentz (07:32):
Are there key dates that this is happening?
Kathryn Conner (07:35):
Yes, thank you.
It is Decem Saturday, December13th is the day that everything
takes place for you.
But you're welcome to check inon Friday, stay Saturday night,
and then if that weekend justdoesn't work for you.
Like I said, we've got stuffevery weekend.
So you can book with us on youcan go to Ohio State Parks
website to Hueston Woods, andyou can find our lodge cabins
(07:55):
and campgrounds all from thatwebsite.
Missy Rentz (07:57):
And we'll put a link on the episode page so
people can go directly there forsure.
Kathryn Conner (08:01):
Appreciate that.
Missy Rentz (08:02):
As people start to plan their beyond the holiday
season, Ohio parks are busy andI know it can be very hard to
get reservations there likecampground and stuff throughout
the year.
When can people start makingreservations and plans to come
to Hueston Woods throughout the
Kathryn Conner (08:20):
so I think that's a really good thing to
bring up,'cause sometimes peopleget very discouraged when they
can't get booked for some ofthese really special events we
have.
So you can book six months up inadvance.
And a lot of times for some ofthose busy things, like our
Halloween weekends that we have,or the 4th of July, the earlier
you can get that reservation inthe better.
'cause we have so much greatstuff for you to get to take
place of.
(08:41):
But obviously the campground,lodge and cabins, we only have
so much space.
Missy Rentz (08:46):
And what do we have?
I think this is a good thingthat, you know.
Of Mark your calendar or do yourresearch now because Ohio Parks
are incredible and you do needto be refreshing your browser
six months before and make surethat you get a spot beyond
Christmas time.
What do we have to look forwardto at Hueston Woods?
Kathryn Conner (09:06):
Yeah, so that's actually the nice thing about
some of our big events is we tryto make them to where you can
plan for them.
So we know that our Maple syrupfestival is always going to be
the first two full weekends inMarch.
So this year for us in 2026,you're gonna have March 7th and
eighth, 14th and 15th.
You always know that we have ourfireworks display on July 5th,
(09:27):
which take place best viewingfrom the lodge, and that's
always that July 5th, and then.
Just in general I'm sure a lotof your listeners know, but in
2026 it is America two 50.
We have turned 250 years old,and Ohio State Parks are really
taking advantage of that greatcelebration and doing all sorts
of really great programming.
(09:47):
So when you are on our website,take a look and see if there's
any Special America two 50events you wanna take place and
check out which parks have thelodges and cabins and
campgrounds for you.
Missy Rentz (09:56):
That's perfect.
Kathryn, thank you so much forsharing Winter in the parks at
Hueston Woods State Park.
I'd love to invite you back'cause I would like to tell more
of the story about Hueston Woodsand its history and its
conservation.
So hopefully you'll be open tocoming to do a full episode with
us sometime soon.
Kathryn Conner (10:13):
I would absolutely love to do that with
you, and maybe we can bring outsome of our animal ambassadors
to show too.
Missy Rentz (10:18):
I would love that.
Thank you so much.
Happy holidays to you and to thewhole crew at Hueston State
Park.
Kathryn Conner (10:27):
Thank you so much.
You have a wonderful day.
Missy Rentz (10:29):
Thanks to everybody for listening.
If you are in Ohio, plan a tripto Hueston Woods State Park this
holiday season.
And until next time, we'll seeyou in the parks.
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed today's episode,please be sure to like and share
on your favorite podcastplatform.
Music for the parks podcast isperformed and produced by Porter
(10:50):
Hardy.
For more information, pleasefollow us at The Parks Podcast,
or visit our website atTheParksPodcast.com.
in today's winter in the Parks episode, we are
talking to Kathryn Connor, thepark manager at Hueston Woods
State Park in Ohio.
Kathryn, welcome to the Parkspodcast.
Kathryn Conner (00:12):
Thank you so much for having me here today.
I really appreciate it.
Missy Rentz (00:14):
Of course.
I love it.
And now that I'm learning moreabout Hueston Woods, I love
talking to you even more'cause Ifeel like you are a Winter
Wonderland Park.
Kathryn Conner (00:24):
We really are, we're really fortunate this time
of year in any season, but we'vegot 3,500 acres of beautiful
forest here for you to get toenjoy.
Whether you're hiking, mountainbiking uh, we have equestrian
trails here, or if you're justgetting out to drive your car to
see the 10 mile loop that wehave that really immerses you in
the woods here at Hueston Woods
Missy Rentz (00:44):
Oh, that's beautiful.
So we did an episode yesterdayon, and we talked a lot about
what's going on in Ohio StateParks, but today I really wanna
talk about more specificallyabout Hueston Woods.
You are located outside ofOxford, Ohio, which for those
who aren't familiar where Oxfordis, it is on the western side of
Ohio.
(01:04):
Can you tell us about HuestonWoods State Park and why you're
a park?
Kathryn Conner (01:09):
Yeah, absolutely.
So we are, so for folks whoaren't familiar with us, we are
a Southwest Park.
We are right on the border ofOhio and Indiana, both in Preble
and Butler County.
And our park is so amazingbecause.
At the center of our park, wehave a nature preserve.
It's called the Hueston WoodState Nature Preserve.
So out of our 3,500 acres, thisis 200 plus acres of mature
(01:30):
forest that has never been cutdown, and it is.
It.
It's honestly like taking a stepback in time, right?
So you get to see these big openspaces, you can actually see the
wildlife while you're walkingthrough this preserve.
And then what makes it sospecial is it was uncut to help
with the production of maplesyrup.
And so here at our park, weactually to still honor that,
(01:51):
have a maple syrup festival inMarch where we tap the trees.
We make the syrup in the sugarhouse that we still have here on
our property.
And so it is such a special tieto show people why we have a
park, why we're here, why wewant you to come out and enjoy
us, and it's a pretty sweetreason.
Missy Rentz (02:09):
And it's a park that has a lot of obviously
natural conservation going on,but you also have a lot of
history.
Kathryn Conner (02:16):
Yes, it is a very historical park.
So not only do we have thatHueston family that kept that
area uncut, but we also have thebuilding of our park was very
historical.
So you have a lot of parks herein Ohio that were built by the
three Cs.
Our park was not like that.
Ours is a true state parkproperty that it was actually
built with the help of someOxford honor labor camp members.
(02:38):
And so those labor membersstayed here on the park
property.
So we had their original bunkhouse.
We have their canning house.
That was our old nature center.
My office has a hump in thefloor'cause it was the
barbershop chair.
But we have a lot of historythat makes us special.
We have that natural feature andthen we are also the only state
operated raptor rehab center.
(03:00):
So we take in injured birds ofprey like hawks and owls and try
to get them healthy enough to goback out into the wild.
And then for the ones thatcan't, we are then responsible
for finding them permanenthomes.
How can they best live out therest of their lives?
And sometimes that is over atour nature center, where we do
have a really large display ofanimals that you get to see when
you're here.
So you can, depending on whatyou like, people love the snakes
(03:22):
and turtles and fish inside, buta lot of people like to see
these raptors up close.
We also have two foxes and abobcat that we take care of.
Missy Rentz (03:30):
That is so cool, and I decided to start this
Winter in the Parks seriesbecause I think winter is a
spectacular time to visit parks,and as we enter the holiday
season, there's so muchhappening in our parks around
the country.
What's happening at HuestonWoods this holiday season?
Kathryn Conner (03:47):
I think winter is the perfect time to get out
into the parks because sometimesthe hust and bustle, you need to
take a step back and see thatwinter is a beautiful time to
get outside because it helpsreset you a little bit, right?
The world has slowed down alittle bit with the cold
temperatures, but we're stillhaving so many things to get you
involved so you don't feel likeyou're by yourself out here in
the wintertime either.
So we've got our naturalistprograms that happen every
(04:10):
weekend and a really specialevent for us is our winter
drive-in.
So we've been doing it now forfour years where it is a true
drive-in experience where youcome out to our beach, we have a
big screen set up and somereally great holiday classics
showing on the screens for you.
We do two movies.
We've got usually some reallygreat food vendors, popcorn, hot
drinks and everything like that.
And this year we've been able topartner with our Hueston Woods
(04:32):
Lodge to make it an all dayevent.
So we've got breakfast withSanta, we've got different
scavenger hunts throughout theday.
We have a winter hike.
We've got crafts and games, andthen it all takes place here in
the park all day long.
You.
End the day at the beach withthat movie.
Start Your Day at the lodge.
So it's really an opportunity tomake, you could even do it as a
(04:55):
all day stay overnight too.
So you could stay at the lodgeor the cabins.
Our campground has winter waterand a heated shower house this
time of year.
So whatever your comfort levelis to get out into the woods,
we've got it here for you.
Missy Rentz (05:09):
And that you bring up the lodge and I think that's
one of the unique attributes ofOhio Parks is many of them have
these incredible movie-likelodges.
Within their parks.
That can create just a differentkind of experience.
What's going on with the lodge?
I'm gonna, I'm gonna postpictures of this lodge.
(05:29):
It is unbelievable how prettythis is.
Kathryn Conner (05:33):
Thank you.
We are big fans of our lodge aswell.
It was actually talking abouthistory, the largest a-frame
building in the entire worldwhen it was built.
Missy Rentz (05:40):
Oh, wow.
Kathryn Conner (05:41):
So it is very impressive when you first arrive
to the lodge.
So our lodge and all Ohio Stateparks lodges are open year
round, so that's a reallyanother great factor for'em.
So any season you can come outand stay, a lot of them have
pools.
So if you're here in the hotsummer, you've got that.
And then even in the cold, we'vegot indoor pools here.
So the lodge is really greatbecause it allows you to have a
(06:01):
restaurant there as well andhave a really nice staycation
there.
And with that large A-framecomes a lot of large windows.
And so you still get to feellike you're immersed in the
outdoors.
A really like you said.
Makes you feel like you're in amovie, like a winter movie,
being out in this rustic lodge,but still being comfortable
because it was recentlyrenovated just a couple years
(06:22):
ago.
Every room has new fixtures andfurniture, and it's a very
modern take to have that rusticfeel.
Missy Rentz (06:28):
And so when you come for the, you talked about
the whole day experience in thelodge what else is the lodge
doing?
You said breakfast with Santa,anything else happening in the
lodge?
Kathryn Conner (06:38):
Yeah, so the breakfast with Santa is
specifically at the lodge andthat's gonna have cookie
decorating and there is a costassociated with that one, but
it's any, you don't have to havereservations, anybody can come
to it.
We are doing our very firstgingerbread house competition,
so we get to display those inthe lodge.
There might be a choir singingthere too to welcome you guys
and we're really excited'causewe also take some of our
(07:00):
wildlife ambassadors from thenature center.
To the lodge.
So while you're walking arounddoing all these really great
activities, you'll get to see ashow from our naturalist over
there and then the lodge and.
All, a lot of the great the OhioState Park lodges do this, but
the Christmas decorations thatyou see here at the lodge are
spectacular.
We have a really wonderfulgarden club that goes all out in
(07:23):
these decorations.
There's different themes, but itjust, not only will the
architecture take you away, butthe decoration and the work
they've put into it will reallyWow.
You.
Missy Rentz (07:32):
Are there key dates that this is happening?
Kathryn Conner (07:35):
Yes, thank you.
It is Decem Saturday, December13th is the day that everything
takes place for you.
But you're welcome to check inon Friday, stay Saturday night,
and then if that weekend justdoesn't work for you.
Like I said, we've got stuffevery weekend.
So you can book with us on youcan go to Ohio State Parks
website to Hueston Woods, andyou can find our lodge cabins
(07:55):
and campgrounds all from thatwebsite.
Missy Rentz (07:57):
And we'll put a link on the episode page so
people can go directly there forsure.
Kathryn Conner (08:01):
Appreciate that.
Missy Rentz (08:02):
As people start to plan their beyond the holiday
season, Ohio parks are busy andI know it can be very hard to
get reservations there likecampground and stuff throughout
the year.
When can people start makingreservations and plans to come
to Hueston Woods throughout the
Kathryn Conner (08:20):
so I think that's a really good thing to
bring up,'cause sometimes peopleget very discouraged when they
can't get booked for some ofthese really special events we
have.
So you can book six months up inadvance.
And a lot of times for some ofthose busy things, like our
Halloween weekends that we have,or the 4th of July, the earlier
you can get that reservation inthe better.
'cause we have so much greatstuff for you to get to take
place of.
(08:41):
But obviously the campground,lodge and cabins, we only have
so much space.
Missy Rentz (08:46):
And what do we have?
I think this is a good thingthat, you know.
Of Mark your calendar or do yourresearch now because Ohio Parks
are incredible and you do needto be refreshing your browser
six months before and make surethat you get a spot beyond
Christmas time.
What do we have to look forwardto at Hueston Woods?
Kathryn Conner (09:06):
Yeah, so that's actually the nice thing about
some of our big events is we tryto make them to where you can
plan for them.
So we know that our Maple syrupfestival is always going to be
the first two full weekends inMarch.
So this year for us in 2026,you're gonna have March 7th and
eighth, 14th and 15th.
You always know that we have ourfireworks display on July 5th,
(09:27):
which take place best viewingfrom the lodge, and that's
always that July 5th, and then.
Just in general I'm sure a lotof your listeners know, but in
2026 it is America two 50.
We have turned 250 years old,and Ohio State Parks are really
taking advantage of that greatcelebration and doing all sorts
of really great programming.
(09:47):
So when you are on our website,take a look and see if there's
any Special America two 50events you wanna take place and
check out which parks have thelodges and cabins and
campgrounds for you.
Missy Rentz (09:56):
That's perfect.
Kathryn, thank you so much forsharing Winter in the parks at
Hueston Woods State Park.
I'd love to invite you back'cause I would like to tell more
of the story about Hueston Woodsand its history and its
conservation.
So hopefully you'll be open tocoming to do a full episode with
us sometime soon.
Kathryn Conner (10:13):
I would absolutely love to do that with
you, and maybe we can bring outsome of our animal ambassadors
to show too.
Missy Rentz (10:18):
I would love that.
Thank you so much.
Happy holidays to you and to thewhole crew at Hueston State
Park.
Kathryn Conner (10:27):
Thank you so much.
You have a wonderful day.
Missy Rentz (10:29):
Thanks to everybody for listening.
If you are in Ohio, plan a tripto Hueston Woods State Park this
holiday season.
And until next time, we'll seeyou in the parks.
Thanks for listening.
If you enjoyed today's episode,please be sure to like and share
on your favorite podcastplatform.
Music for the parks podcast isperformed and produced by Porter
(10:50):
Hardy.
For more information, pleasefollow us at The Parks Podcast,
or visit our website atTheParksPodcast.com.
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