The Huffman Prairie State Natural Landmark is one of the largest prairie remnants in Ohio. Many rare plants, birds and insects make the prairie their home. Indeed, Huffman Prairie hosts one the best displays of Ohio prairie grasses and flowers, as well as impressive populations of rare grassland birds, such as bobolinks, dickcissels and sedge wrens. Other unusual species documented on the prairie include the smooth green snake, thirteen-lined ground squirrel, and more than 200 species of butterflies and moths — including one found only in this prairie.
The 112-acre prairie is on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) and adjacent to the Huffman Prairie Flying Field, where the Wright brothers once tested their planes and now part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Park.
MetroParks has partnered with WPAFB, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service to restore and manage Huffman Prairie. Since 1988, these partners have harvested seed, restored degraded sections of the prairie, conducted controlled burns and coordinated research projects.
It is accessible via the Huffman Prairie Trail, which is part of the statewide Buckeye Trail, connecting Huffman MetroPark with downtown Fairborn.
