Where can you find world-class fossil beds, an old-growth forest, a native-grass prairie, and miles of hiking and horseback riding trails combined with some of the most stunning natural vistas in the area? Oakes Quarry Park has all of this and more. The 190-acre park, formerly a rock quarry, features one of the world’s largest and most diverse collections of marine organism fossils from the Silurian age—a time more than 425 million years ago when the area was covered with warm, shallow seas.

• Two preserved coral reefs teeming with fossils of reef-building organisms.
• Glacial grooves, polishing, and other rock formations were created as Ice Age glaciers moved through the area.
• Some of the world’s largest crinoid fossils. More than 29 species of spiny-skinned organisms have been documented through research conducted at the park.
• Spoil piles available for guests to uncover and keep their own ancient fossil finds.

This site was originally surface mined in 1929 for limestone to make cement by Southwestern Portland Cement Company and Southdown Inc., before being sold to the Oakes family in the 1990s. The family donated the land to the City of Fairborn in 2003.

Oakes Quarry Park is the second largest park in Fairborn. The park includes foot trails and horseback trails that cross ancient limestone fossils exposed by the mining activity that formed the quarry. Conservation work here is developing prairies and wetlands once common in the area and the northern edge is nice woodland.

Clean Ohio Conservation Fund assisted with the development of the park including invasive species removal and reforestation of 8,000 trees.