Our field reserves
The KU Field Station is made up of 11 distinct reserves in three different areas in Douglas, Jefferson and Anderson counties in Kansas. Each reserve is described below. Those in the Core Research & Operations Area, just north of the City of Lawrence, are listed first, followed by the reserves that make up the Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve, and the Anderson County Prairie Preserve.
Core Research & Operations Area
Reserves listed in this section are part of the 1,654-acre Core Research & Operations Area about 15 minutes' drive north of the City of Lawrence.
Fitch Natural History Reservation
![Stone wall with embedded plaque](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/Fitch%20trailhead%20sized.jpg)
John H. Nelson Environmental Study Area
![Group of people in small boat on lake](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/1803397_AW_EVRN%20Class%20at%20Cross%20Reservoir-1583_2048px.jpg)
Rockefeller Experimental Tract
![Woman writing notes in field](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/380%20edited.jpg)
Robinson Tract
![Wildflowers in field](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/RobinsonTract%289-10%29IMG_057902.jpg)
Suzanne Ecke McColl Nature Reserve
![View of rammed-earth Roth Trailhead structure from side angle toward woodland](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2023/DSC_0014%20sized.jpg)
Native Medicinal Plant Garden
![Crowd at garden area](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/IMG_7104_0.jpg)
Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve
Reserves listed in this section are part of the 396-acre Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve, about 20 minutes' drive southeast of the City of Lawrence. The entire Preserve is protected as a sensitive research area, but public tours are given twice a year and will be announced on the KU Events Calendar, the KU Field Station Facebook page and Instagram page, and elsewhere.
Breidenthal Biological Reserve
![Closeup of violets](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/Birdfoot%20violet%20at%20Baldwin%20Woods%20Forest%20Preserve.jpg)
Rice Woodland
![Group of people and cars along woodland road](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/Baldwin_Woods_04282018_001.jpg)
Wall Woods
![Close-up of green leaves in forest](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/Baldwin_Woods_04282018_013.jpg)
2015 Expansion
![Group of people in autumn woods](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/Baldwind_Woods_10272018_025.jpg)
Anderson County Prairie Preserve
The 1,200-acre Anderson County Prairie Preserve, about an hour's drive south of the City of Lawrence, is held by The Nature Conservancy and managed by the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research as part of the KU Field Station.
Anderson County Prairie Preserve
![Wildflower meadow](/sites/biosurvey/files/images/2022/DSC_0324%20edited.jpg)