A popular haven for fishing enthusiasts, hikers, and nature lovers, just north of Urbana, will reopen to the public on weekends, beginning January 4 and 5, 2025.
The 225-acre Pointe North Nature Park, on city-owned land at 2200 North U.S. Highway 68, has been closed to the public since May 2020, after some visitors overfished the park’s ponds, dumped trash, and rutted the grounds with four-wheelers.
Since then, a committee of volunteers, led by Dr. Dave Smith, owner of Freshwater Farms, has worked with city officials to develop ways to reopen the park for the public’s enjoyment. Plans have been developed to prevent misuse, with the cooperation of the Urbana Police Department and the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office, who can be notified to assist when necessary.
Beginning January 4, volunteers will unlock the park gate at 7 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, monitor the park, and relock the gate at sunset. As more volunteers are recruited, the park will open on additional days.
A GoFundMe campaign – Help Pointe North Nature Park! – at gofundme.com, is raising funds for operational costs such as insurance, locks, new gates to prevent ATVs and other off-road vehicles from entering, a website, signage, trash cans, and a portable toilet.
Located between Grimes Field municipal airport to the south and Freshwater Farms of Ohio to the north, Pointe North offers a biodiverse environment to explore and treasure. The park features an old-growth forest, miles of hiking trails, and six clear water ponds, or lakes, including a blue hole and a stream, all fed by Champaign County’s abundant aquifers. Youth of all ages are encouraged to discover the natural world in Pointe North Nature Park through hands-on encounters, photography, and smartphone ID apps.
Motor vehicles may be driven only on Dragonfly Drive, the east-west lane, from the entrance on U.S. 68 through Pointe North, and the loop around the lake to the south of Dragonfly Drive.
