The wetlands are a minute remnant of the former Glacial Lake Tonawanda that dominated this region 11,000 years ago.

A portion of the park was formerly a small municipal dump for the Town of Amherst from the 1920s to the 1960s; it was remediated and repurposed as parkland in 1989.

Billy Wilson Park provides boardwalks and trails for viewing nature within Amherst, which is a well-developed suburb of Buffalo.

The majority of the property (260 acres [110 ha]) protects shrub swamp and emergent wetlands, with the remainder covering grassland and brush.

[2] The area was acquired by NYSDEC in 1989, and has since been improved with a 1,300-foot (400 m) boardwalk which connects with Billy Wilson Park.