Hobby Park was developed for flying model airplanes, running model cars, and mountain biking. The annual Soap Box Derby is held here. Birding also is a great hobby! Take Stratford Road south to Hanes Mall Boulevard at I-40 and continue 2.3 miles southwest to Clemmonsville Road. Turn left and the entrance is 1.8 miles on the left. From Silas Creek Parkway South, take Ebert Street 2.8 miles south then turn west on Clemmonsville Road. The park is 0.7 miles down on your right up a steep hill.
Past the large picnic shelter and toilets there is a long field surrounded by thick woods. Because of the high use and noise of this park, very little birding has been done here. The best spots for birding are the trails that start near the large circle airplane and car pads on your right as you park at the end of the parking lot. From here you can explore the trails.
Birding can be excellent in spring migration. One of the best sections is along the creek after the second small pond. In the hot spring afternoons birds will come down to the creek to bath. To get there keep working your way to the left as you enter the woods and head downhill. Hobby Park backs up to Archie Elledge.
There is also a pond across from the Derby track to the left, and two ponds down in the woods across the big field. Beyond the second pond you can enter a field on the high bluff above Archie Elledge. Canada Geese use the ponds with a few winter ducks, occasional Pied-billed Grebe, summer Green Heron, and frequent fishermen.