Unique features include restored tallgrass prairie areas totalling 2,000 acres (810 ha)[3] that house a group of 10 American bison,[4][5] a large nature center with exhibits about the exceptional biodiversity of Big Darby Creek, and a Fort Ancient mound.

Detached parcels of the park extend along Darby Creek to the village of Harrisburg (into Pickaway County).

[6] In the 1960s, the US Army Corps of Engineers began making plans to construct a dam on Big Darby Creek to provide flood control in the Big Darby Creek Watershed, the Scioto River Basin, and the Ohio River Valley.

The project was riddled with issues including the discovery of an underground hole, construction delays, rising costs, and public opposition.

[7] Recognizing the need for conservation, Metro Parks wrote a proposal to the Board of Trustees of the Battelle Memorial Institute Foundation requesting a grant to acquire 2,440 acres of land.