Christmas 2020 we stayed at home due to the pandemic, but for Christmas 2021 we decided to visit my husband’s family out in Illinois. With three kiddos, it takes us two days to get there from our home in Maryland as they can only take so many hours in the car. Pebble, especially, gets antsy after a while. There are only so many episodes of Paw Patrol she can watch before she wants out!
On this trip west, we took the southern route through Ohio and made a pit stop at Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm in Dayton, Ohio. There are two locations that one can start their visit from, the Nature Center or the Farm. The address for Aullwood Nature Center is 1000 Aullwood Road, Dayton, OH 45414, and the address for Aullwood Farm is 9101 Frederick Pike, Dayton, OH 45414. The two locations are connected by over 8 miles of trails, and both are open 9-5 Tuesday through Saturday and 1-5 on Sundays. There is an admission fee. Children 3 and under are free, children 4-12 are $8 apiece, and adults 13-64 are $12 apiece. Active duty military members and seniors over 65 pay $10 each. As of December 2021, masks were required inside the buildings.
Why did we choose this place as our pit stop? I had recently heard about a new exhibition here called, “The Troll that Hatched an Egg,” by Thomas Dambo. Thomas Dambo has troll exhibitions throughout the world, and I badly wanted to see some of his work. The giant trolls at Aullwood are named Bo, Bodil, and Bibbi. There is also a giant troll-sized bird nest. The story that goes along with these trolls is posted inside the Center and at the Farm, as well as on a display board outside at the start of the trail that leads to the trolls. The nest and Bibbi are easily accessed from the Nature Center, and Bo and Bodil from the Farm. When we visited, one could hike from the Nature Center to the Farm, but, as of March 2022, due to the increase in foot traffic from people wanting to see the trolls, maintenance must now be done on the trails so the through trail is closed.
We started our visit at the Nature Center, and went inside the building to pay our admission fee. After paying, we each received a sticker, and then we set off to explore the building. It was a wonderful center! There was a room where one could sit and watch birds on the feeders outside, something my girls definitely didn’t have the patience for! There were also different varieties of snakes and turtles, a hollowed out tree to explore, drawers that opened so one could see and feel a variety of items from animal skins to antlers, and so much more! This was supposed to be a short pit stop on our last leg to Chicago, but there was so much to see and do!
After exploring for a while, we convinced the girls to head outside to find the trail that led to the trolls. We passed the board where the troll’s story was displayed, but the girls didn’t want to stop to read, they wanted to hit the trails. Just a short distance from the Center, the trail to Bibbi took us across a stream. One could rock hop it, or use the long hunk of wood that had been laid across. Pebble and Stormy were thrilled as they both love the challenge of clambering across streams on rocks and wooden boards! Pebble was game for trying to balance her way across the wooden plank, but only if mom held her hand. Once past the stream, we entered a field, and it was impossible to miss Bibbi! She stood tall, hair blowing behind her, wearing a set of wooden wings, poised to start running. It was amazing! I couldn’t stop staring, neither could my husband and the girls! There was a tower nearby that one could climb to get a view of the prairie, so we climbed up for a better view of Bibbi and the prairie.
My girls were hooked now, and couldn’t wait to find the troll nest next! Unfortunately, temps this day were in the high 30’s, so the frozen trails had melted into puddles of mud. The number of people visiting also helped churn nearly every path into a mud wallow. Stormy and I maneuvered our way past some deep mud puddles, and managed to visit the nest. Rainbow and Pebble stayed with my husband because those puddles would have quickly ended our outing if someone got a wet foot! The nest was super cool, and I made sure to take a lot of photos to show Pebble and Rainbow.
Due to the trail conditions, we decided to hike back to the car and drive up to the Farm area to see Bo and Boddil. It was no more than a 5-10 minute drive, but there were a lot less people in the Farm parking lot compared to the Nature Center lot. We wandered past the Farm Discovery Center, and located the trail we needed to hike down to see Boddil. We passed an enclosure full of ducks, then an old Spring House, and a duck pond. The trail was slippery with mud, and we had to watch our footing carefully as the trail went downhill toward the troll. One wrong step could send a person sliding several feet before stopping. It didn’t take long for each child to have mud up their legs!
We had thought Bibbi was amazing, but were blown away by Boddil. She was sitting down on a bank overlooking a stream with one massive hand gently holding a nearby tree. The artist had even crafted a necklace for her! I couldn’t take enough photos, and Stormy wanted to get closer, but I didn’t want her to cross the stream for a better look. With the slippery conditions, I was afraid she’d get down there and not be able to get back up!
After drinking in our fill of the view, we began the trek back up the mud-slick path to the Farm area. Once we moved out of the woods into the Farm area, all 3 girls went exploring… They played for a while on a giant handmade seesaw, Pebble and Rainbow on one side, Stormy on the other. Next, they checked out the chicken house, where the girls all made silly chicken noises for the birds. After that, they found a tractor they could climb on as well as a tunnel set up for them to climb through. They were having a lot of fun, but I wanted to see that one last troll…
We pried the girls loose from their fun, and set out one last time to see one last troll, Bo. He was much closer than Boddil had been, and the trail leading to him wasn’t as muddy, thank heavens. There was also only one other couple at the site. At all of the other troll locations, we’d had to contend with lots of curious visitors to Aullwood trying to get the best view of these gigantic trolls while not slipping in the mud. Bo was kneeling down in a wooded clearing, and we could get a good look at his features. Always a goofball, Rainbow had to whack the troll in the bum, and Pebble followed suit! The girls walked in and around Bo’s arms, taking in the details. These trolls are beyond amazing to see in person, and words can’t begin to describe what an amazing job the artist has done. After seeing these trolls, I would love to one day take a trip to Kentucky’s Bernheim Forest to see their Forest Giants.
The day was slipping away, and we still had many hours of driving to accomplish. We hiked back to the parking lot where I stripped the girls down to their long johns. The outer layers on all 3 were caked with mud. Fortunately, I had a plastic bag in the car to put everyone’s shoes in so the mud didn’t get everywhere. FYI, there were also boot brushes at both the Nature Center and Farm locations for visitors to use. Once I’d dealt with the worst of the mud, we went into the Farm Discovery Center to use the facilities. This Center was much smaller than the Nature Center, but it still had some great children-oriented displays and toys. There was a giant toy farm set up on a table in the middle of the large room, and children could move animals and farm equipment around. There were ride on cows that rocked, wooden ducks on sticks that flapped their wings when they were rolled around, a cow that could be milked, although that was closed off due to Covid, books to read, and more! The girls all scattered to check everything out. We needed a crowbar to get them all out of the Center, and back in the car!
As pit stops go, this will remain one of my all-time favorites! The girls had a blast, and I loved getting the fresh air. Hubby had a great time, too, although he is definitely not a fan of mud! This place was beyond amazing, and those trolls were definitely worth seeing in person! If you are ever in Dayton, Ohio, stop and check out Aullwood Audubon, it is worth it! Happy trails!