History
Ann Arbor's city parks sit on the ancestral and traditional homelands of several indigenous Native peoples. Read a
land acknowledgement from the city and learn more about the early history of the land
here.
Before Hilltop Nature Area was a park space, it was Camp Hilltop, which was owned and used by the Girl Scouts of Huron Valley. In the early 1940s, the land was owned by DTE energy, who allowed the Girl Scouts to use it. The land was purchased by Cone W. Lighthall in 1946 and then donated to the Girl Scouts the next year. A lodge was envisioned and then built in 1948, being
completed and
dedicated in 1949. The Girl Scout troops used the land until April 2006, when
the lodge burned down. Luckily, no one was there, but with all the damage to the lodge, the Girl Scout council decided to sell the property. The
city purchased it in summer 2006 for
$2.24 million, using funds from Ann Arbor’s Greenbelt program. It was officially named “Hilltop” in 2009. If you visit Hilltop Nature Area today, you can still see an old marker and a flag pole from the scout camp.
Girl Scouts dedicating a flag at the Camp Hilltop lodge in 1949 (Source:
AADL)
Read a NAP Newsletter article describing the restoration of Hilltop early after the city acquired the land:
2008 Park Focus: Camp Hilltop by Billy Kirst and Jason Tallant
