FARGO — Jo Ann Miller hasn’t spent much time in the Orchard Glen nature park, but it’s easy to understand why. She and her husband John Miller loved living in the area south of Fargo city limits known for its wildlife and apple orchard. But after repeated floods along the Red River, they and others were chased out of their neighborhood.
The river hit a record high of 40.84 feet in 2009 and a top-five level of 38.81 feet in 2011, leaving the Millers and others to repeatedly patch up their homes.
What were once liabilities, however, have become assets. The Fargo Park District has turned Orchard Glen and three other flood-prone areas into nature parks over the past 10 to 20 years, continuing to make improvements and add amenities. Miller and her husband accepted a flood buyout from Cass County in 2014 and now live north of Moorhead.
As hard as it was to see her former neighborhood disappear, she’s happy Orchard Glen has a new role as a nature park. “I'm sure there are families that really enjoy the opportunity to be out there,” she said. The four nature parks exist in a 4.
5-mile stretch from around 40th Avenue South to 88th Avenue South, east of University Drive and three of them south of city limits. Lions Conservancy Park came first, more than 20 years ago, and is the only one within city limits. Orchard Glen, Forest River and Heritage Hills nature parks followed, listed from northernmost to southernmost.
Craig Bjur, executive director of the Fargo Park District Foundation, said the last three make up more than 120 acres of property. In total, approximately 50 homes in those areas were bought by the county and torn down due to their vulnerability to flooding. Around 2015, the county deeded the land to the Park District to develop and maintain in partnership with the Urban Woods & Prairie Initiative with Audubon Dakota.
“We created something really unique, close to Fargo. It feels like you're in central Minnesota at a state park ..
. very beautiful, quiet, a majestic area for residents to enjoy,” Bjur said. What once drew people to live in those areas south of Fargo are the same qualities that attract people to the nature parks today: the meandering Red River, stretches of prairie grass, heavily wooded areas, and plentiful wildlife, birds and butterflies.
Dave Bietz, deputy director of operations for the Park District, said while people are accustomed to seeing wide open green space, manicured turf, playgrounds, basketball courts and picnic shelters in the traditional neighborhood parks in Fargo, the nature parks offer something different. Park patrons encounter varied terrain with gravel trails rather than asphalt or concrete. “They'll see native grasses and grass that isn't really maintained.
It's pretty natural out here,” Bietz said. Lions Park, 1221 El Cano Drive S., features wooded trails, a single-track mountain biking trail, a rustic concrete amphitheater and a disc golf course that ties into Iwen Park to the south, near 52nd Avenue South.
Ben Parmer, of Fargo, has been playing disc golf with friends for years and is taking part in a tournament this month at Lions Park. “There’s a lot to this game, the discs and what they do and all the different types of throws,” he said, adding, “it’s a challenging course.” A few miles south of Lions Park, just outside city limits, is Orchard Glen Park, 7606 Forest River Road S.
In the middle is a teardrop-shaped apple orchard that’s open to the community for harvest. Apple blossoms in the spring are a big draw for photographers, and the park often serves as a backdrop for senior pictures and prom photos. Just south of Orchard Glen lies Forest River Park at 115 Forest River Road S.
A large patch of prairie grass greets people at the entrance, leading to multiple trails that wind through heavily wooded areas. A kayak launch to the Red River is situated just off the gravel parking lot for people interested in kayaking or canoeing. Steve Peterson, of Fargo, walked his dog Davey through Forest River Park recently, picking up and disposing of stray trash he saw along the way to keep things looking nice.
It’s his favorite of the four nature parks, he said. “We see the birds when we get a chance. We’ve got shade, we've got sun.
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It’s just a great place to come and relax,” Peterson said. Finally, Heritage Hills Park is tucked in at 814 Heritage Circle S., near where the Wild Rice River flows into the Red River.
It offers nature trails, ski trails, woods and opportunities to fish and see birds and other wildlife in a natural setting along the banks of the Red River. All of the nature parks are in a perpetual state of improvement, with new trails and amenities being added. The parks offer a stark contrast to the days of high water, heavy equipment and sandbag dikes built to protect homes.
“It's really the foresight of people,” Bietz said, to turn something that was a tragedy into a benefit for the community..
