Four Mile Creek MetroPark--Antenen Nature Preserve Area

Four Mile Creek MetroPark--Antenen Nature Preserve Area

2385 Treiber Road Hamilton, Ohio 45011

Official Website
Antenen Nature Preserve Area map
Four Mile Creek MetroPark Official Website

Tips for Birding

You will pass farm fields on Treiber on the way to the parking lot. Watch for Wild Turkey, swallows, and other field birds, especially on the left side. Horned Lark have been spotted along the roadside. Also, check the phone wires along the road.

Not formally part of the trail system, you can walk back on a small trail to the far side of the parking lot through some growth to access a different portion of the creek before going back to the lot.  

Walk around the perimeter of the open farmhouse area before heading back past the old canoe storage house and official trailhead. The trail is in and out – no loop. It cuts through an old-growth forest and dry creek bed, before ending at the creek. There is a small side path on the right side to check the open area with wildflowers to look for hummingbirds and other birds. Eagles have been seen from here.

Once you reach the creek, you can go east or west and find waterbirds and swallows, and scan the far side of the creek for Eastern Wood-Pewee, Great Crested Flycatchers, various woodpeckers, and many other species.

There is an old farmhouse on the property but is closed off and there are no plans to restore the building. Metroparks asks that you do not try to enter this building as it is boarded and unsafe. The creek runs north of the farmhouse area, but no access has been cut through the trees for observation of that portion due to the large drop to the creek.

About this Location

Antenen Nature Preserve Area
The Antenen Nature Preserve area of Four Mile Creek MetroPark is a 132-acre park within the Four Mile Creek MetroPark boundaries. This area has picnic tables as well as access to Four Mile Creek by foot. There are no restrooms on this site. It can be accessed from dawn until dusk. Ample parking is available in a gravel lot in front of the old farmhouse. 

History: Jay Antenen and his brother, Dan E. Antenen, created the Antenen Construction Company, which over 32 years constructed commercial and industrial buildings throughout Southwest Ohio. The company donated a farm on Four Mile Creek to the Butler County Metroparks and became the Antenen Nature Preserve.

About Four Mile Creek MetroPark

See all hotspots at Four Mile Creek MetroPark

Four Mile Creek wanders across Butler County and joins Seven Mile Creek to empty into the Great Miami River just north of Hamilton. There are 3 sections of this park open:
Antenen Nature Preserve
Mill Race Preserve
Sycamore Bluffs
From Four Mile Creek MetroPark webpage

Features

  • Restrooms on site

  • Wheelchair accessible trail

  • Entrance fee

  • Roadside viewing

Content from By Sue Parks and Butler County MetroParks Antenen Preserve webpage

Last updated July 25, 2023