Cox Arboretum MetroPark

This is a review based off attending a wedding at this venue. Servers were nice and helpful. However, technological issues continued to plague the event — songs not playing at correct times, DVD/​picture slide shows skipping and showing lag, poor microphone and speaker quality. Also, kept projector rolling for the entire evening instead of shutting it off so the «input not found» error message was continually displayed. Appetizers were very tasty. Bring your own technology and this would be a fine venue.

Beautiful park with a lovely atmosphere. The Koi fish and pond seems to be very well taken care of and the dog seems to be a hard worker! The workers there really take pride in their work and keep the place in tip top shape, even the trails. This is my favorite hiking spot.

Beautiful park with plenty to see and do!
I suggest stopping in at the really nice visitor center and grabbing a map and talking with a staff about programs that are offered. Looks like they hold some cool lectures and classes.
The ponds are well maintained as well as the gardens and a nice easy walk. The trails for the most part are well kept and marked… but I did find myself off roading on the blue trail and lost to find the actual path. Its fairly early in the season so maybe its not fully cleared. But do recommend checking them all out!

Love this park. we have went here for years. great place to walk around and relax in nature. Theres hiking trails and a butterfly house. butterflies do best in 80 degree or warmer weather. Lots of flowers, birds, butterflies Nice lakes with large orange or white carpe. There are often ducks and geese but I think they try to discourage that with a working dog that chases them off.
This park is just minutes away from Dayton Mall and restaurants. Great place to bring a picnic or take pictures. even formal pics for wedding or graduation. Every season is different and has different things to see. Years ago they added these stone slab waterfalls that are a great photo opp. Lots of free parking. Such a lovely peaceful place.

An oasis in the middle of the suburbs. I really like the butterfly house. I used to live by Cox walk around for hours. .it’s fairly overcrowded now on the weekends. Great place to enjoy nature and relax

I think it is a great Metropark! There is ample parking, grounds are well kept, volunteers are friendly and it truly is beautiful. It is definitely a great place to spend a beautiful Ohio day picnicking or strolling the paths. The tower is pretty cool too. Flowers are gorgeous and everything is very well maintained.
The bummer? The butterfly house. There were no butterflies. Literally. I know that they have no control over that but I mean a butterfly house with no butterflies is pretty darn disappointing. Just be mindful that if you visit the butterfly house there really is a chance that you may not see any. It may be something to share with the kids before their butterfly hopes are dashed upon arrival. Other than that though it truly is a wonderful place to spend the day.

Stunningly beautiful, well-​maintained oasis surprisingly situated in the midst of a metro «desert!!»
Worth a visit any season! You know you’ve hit local gold when you’re barely half-​way through your visit and already plotting (multiple) returns! We had limited time, but can’t wait to come back to walk the grounds more thoroughly and take in all the amazing beauty this great spot has to offer!
Don’ miss it!

I’ve been going and enjoying Cox ever since I was a kid! It is so cool and awesome to see how they are always improving the park. If you love nature and enjoying taking a walk outside then this park won’t disappoint.
They have a garden with fresh fruits and veggies and herbs, a awesome sky tower that overlooks the treetops, ponds with bridges that go over the water, and multiple nature paths to walk on and let’s not forget the butterfly house!
The only con I have is they don’t let you take pets into the park. I understand why it’s more of just a bummer because I love taking Hershey everywhere with me.

A lot of work has gone into making splendid gardens around here.

Still one of the best parks in Dayton. It is a beautiful park that you would not expect to be where it is. The grounds are kept up beautiful. The paths you can walk around are nice and offer nice views. The thing I like the most is the butterfly house. It was so cool to go in and see all these butterflies flying around you. My daughter adores coming here to see the turtles, fish, ducks, and many other animals. She also loves running around the paths and climbing to the top of the treehouse. Definitely a must stop in Dayton!

One of my favorite park in Dayton. I love walk there even during winter when it’s full of snow.

Dayton isn’t really known for its parks. There’s definitely been some nice places for recreation, but nothing extraordinary. At least that’s what I thought until I discovered Cox Arboretum.
Beautiful plant life, huge ponds surrounded by flowers, a shrub maze, a tower to overlook the entire park, hiking trails, butterfly and bird houses… what’s not to love about this place? If you love nature like I do, then you’ll never want to leave. It’s so beautiful and peaceful. A great place to relax and forget about life for a while.
Also, there’s some opportunities for education if you have little ones. The park rents kits for kids to explore nature while at the park. It’ll give them some supplies and activities to do while there. Plus volunteers at the park are usually pretty good about talking to kids about some of the stuff at the park.

Did you know that Cox Arboretum provides science kits for local school children? Any teacher or school official can register and pick up a kit which contains nets, etc, and other environmental activities to do. It’s pretty cool. Of course, you just need to turn the kit back in afterward.

This place is wonderful. If you want to bring a book or lunch or even baseball mitts for some catch, this is the place to go. The gardens are kept exceptionally well and there are running trails and walking trails and everything smells as beautiful as the flowers that grow here. Great photo opportunities, wonderful for dates and family outings, and please climb the tree tower — the view is stunning!
I’ve visited three days in a row, and my visit has varied between 30 minutes and 2.5 hours. You can spend a little time or a lot of time here, and it is open early and late.
Please visit if you have the chance. Don’t bring pets, but bring the kids and friends!

This place is pretty great, actually. The new observation tower makes it worth the visit, or revisit if you’re like me and hadn’t been here in a while. Too bad the Butterfly House doesn’t open until July, but I guess I have to blame nature for that and not the people that run this place.

This was a first time, and I’m not sure how things have changed before the «MetroPark» part was added.
Remember that this is a park for people, not pets, and that you should keep your children on a leash. There are plenty of hazards for children, including a pond or two.
Today, the parking lot was almost full in mid-​afternoon. It was about 78 degrees F when I arrived, so it was a good time to be walking around the place. It looked as though some were getting a lot of exercise just walking to the educational building, which also houses a store of some sort.
They had some quilts near the entrance. I didn’t see any displays that would make me consider the building was used for education at all. They had a conference room toward the south end of the building.
Outside, toward the back, I noticed a couple of people with loads of photographic gear taking photos of the potted flowers. I couldn’t imagine that the tulips were so inspiring to cause someone to monopolize an area, but to each his own.
While I had some photographic equipment of my own, I took a more reserved approach, not wanting to bother or inconvenience anyone. Walking the grounds, I found the walking trails, a red cedar tower, and a number of trees and other plants. I’m still not sure, was this the arboretum or was it out where the trails went?
It seemed far too civilized for the natural growth of an arboretum but it was pleasant, and loads of people were enjoying it.

Ok, seriously… is it ok to be in love with a place? I mean love at first site? Do they have a name for such an ailment? A very sweet guy drove me up here for a nice surprise because I’m a nature nerd. He had planned on taking me when the weather was nice, but I beat him to the punch by suggesting that we go somewhere «pretty.»
He turned to look at me, and then looked outside at the big fat clouds of gray, that were just waiting to dump the rain on us. Still, I insisted. we can walk around until it starts raining. He knew just the pretty place to take me.
We drove for a bit as it started to sprinkle, and he checked to make sure I still wanted to go despite the angry looking clouds that loomed above us. I nodded like a kid being asked to go to a candy store. As we pulled into the driveway, it closed out the road behind us with trees and lush fields of grass.
As we got closer I saw a pond, and some beautiful greenery and some other interesting things. I wasn’t sure, what mysteries they held just yet. We parked the car, and walked up to the welcome center. He strolled around and took my hand in his as we walked up there, and I tell you what, my heart about melted right there.
What a backdrop to start to fall for someone in…
There wasn’t much to the welcome building so we walked out the back door and hanging there were two porch swings next to an outdoor fireplace!!! If the fire had been lit, I don’t know much more that could have made this place perfect. We walked over to the pond, and I’ll be the first to tell you, I am a self proclaimed nerd… I about jumped out of my shoes with excitement as I saw a large flicker of orange lazily swimming by. I ran to the waters edge to see a coy that was the length of my leg!!!
Followed by him were more flecks of orange and white. I ran back and forth as it started to down pour on us and I didn’t have a care in the world. I snuck over to a pair of sleeping ducks and snapped a picture before moving on to the next pond with a bridge. When we got to the second bridge I almost got a close encounter with it because my flip flops were slippery from the rain… YES, I still have on my flip flops on a rainy day in fall… and I stumbled over the bridge to see some TURTLES!!!
There were so many walking trails at this place, and I’m sure we would have explored them all had it not been raining so hard, but we did find a children’s maze made of bushes, a third pond with benches lining it, a waterfall, a butterfly house, and what appeared to be a vineyard or some orchards… I’ll have to find out about that one.
But in my opinion, the coolest part of all, was this amazing tower that they had just built. It was made of a beautiful wood, and it twists up to the top. So you run or walk up this amazing spiral staircase and have a complete view of everything in the park! Or, in our case it provided a momentary shelter for two giggling and soaked dorks.
I felt like I was in a fairy tale, even with the rain. I reverted back to a child for a bit as I ran through the puddles and just stopped thinking about real life for awhile. Nothing else mattered while I was at this place because I was totally captivated by how beautiful my surroundings were, and I was lucky to have some nice company as well. :)
It’s a great place for anyone of any age, and if you can let go for even a bit, this place will sweep you away. I will definitely go back! Hint to any guys out there wanting to sweep some lucky lady off her feet… this is your place to do so! :P

Beautiful scenery and great hiking trails. Loved the tower!

Great Park. Check out the Tree Tower that’s scheduled to open Oct 2012.
Great place to hike and to take the kids. Decent paths, a few small ponds, a small waterfall and a butterfly habitat.
Apparently, this is the place for all amateur, wannabe photographers take non paying clients to build a portfolio. It’s sometimes annoying because you feel you can’t go to some areas of the park because some douchebag is monopolizing an area by doing a photoshoot. I swear, d-​bag photographers were everywhere shooting engagement photos and senior pictures.

Beautiful park, perfect for trail running. walks, or bird watching. Ponds with HUGE Koi fish, a butterfly house too. Well maintained and free to enter! Great fall colors now (Oct 26^th) may not last much longer!