The 624-acre site known as Hays Woods is poised to become an official Pittsburgh park.

Legislation before City Council would formally recognize the property — which includes city-owned land in Pittsburgh’s Hays and St. Clair neighborhoods, as well as Baldwin — as a park.

“It’s an amazing space with lots of potential,” said Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, who represents the area. “I look forward to seeing Pittsburgh’s next great park come into being.”

The sprawling wooded area will be the second-largest park in the city, behind only Frick Park.

City officials under former Mayor Bill Peduto’s administration purchased the land from the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority in 2021 for $1 plus costs.

Officials at the time said Hays Woods accounts for about 35% of the city’s woods and is home to more than 90 species of birds, including the Hays eagles and 35 species categorized as “of greatest conservation need” such as Peregrine falcons.

Warwick said the city is working with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy on upgrades to the park, including an effort to use goats to remove invasive plants. Crews also are mapping out more clearly several trails that “are currently deer paths.”

Though Hays Woods has not yet been officially designated as a city park, people already use it as such, Warwick said. The Agnew Road trailhead, which opens at the Baldwin side of the site, is well-used, she said.

It’s unclear what other projects, if any, might be in store for the park.

When city officials first purchased the woods in 2021, they said the plan was to maintain the area in the spirit of a nature preserve, without disrupting the woods to make space for athletic fields or other development.

Warwick seemed to echo those sentiments after the legislation to designate the area as a park was introduced Wednesday. She said she didn’t want to see roads built through the park, and said she plans to introduce legislation that would bar developments in parks unless it was directly related to public enjoyment.

The legislation to recognize Hays Woods as a city park could be up for a preliminary vote as early as next week, with a final vote as soon as the following week.

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