Did you know that Auburn’s campus has four miles of hiking trails and boardwalks? Although it is not located close to the concourse, the “Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve” is considered part of Auburn’s campus and has proved to be a useful “outdoor classroom.”

The Preserve is an expansive four-mile piece of land containing various hiking trails. All of the trails are marked with memorable names, which make for easy navigation. “Reptile Rest” leads to “Wildflower Loop” and the “Tree Walk” flows into “Canopy Way.”

There is also a pond with a few small boardwalks and benches which are perfect for a picnic. In the north section of the land there is a butterfly garden and a barn for anyone’s enjoyment.

The Preserve is free for all students since it is considered part of campus. For anyone in the community who wishes to come to the land, there is a yearly fee of $35. The Preserve depends solely on donations and the small membership fees for 90percent of all of its expenses.

There is only one officially employed staff member, Jennifer Lolly. Everyone else involved is a volunteer.

The School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences uses the Preserve as an environmental learning laboratory. However, it is meant for all students.

Louise Kreher was an education professor at Auburn University until the mid 1970s. She and her husband, Allen Turner, wanted to donate land that had been in the Kreher family for generations to the university. They dedicated the land as a forest ecology preserve to Auburn in 1993.

The main facility where the office is located was made possible because of a grant from the “Alabama Forest Forever Foundation” in 2004. It features a large covered area with several benches and restrooms.

Almost every issue of the magazines, “Audubon” and “Birds and Blooms,” is available for anyone to read. There are several guides for how to bird watch, and there are also available binoculars to rent for the afternoon.

Another great attraction is the amphitheater. It has several rows of seating built into a hill and made of stones with a stage in the middle. The amphitheater is a great place for any outside performance.

The mission of the Preserve is “to provide programs, experiences, nature trails and natural habitats for education study and relaxation while creating an atmosphere of discovery and stewardship toward our natural world.”

In the summer, the Preserve provides several small sessions of a day-camp for younger children. They are taught to appreciate nature and everything that it has to offer. They also receive hands-on experience with different species from Madagascar hissing cockroaches to tarantulas.

“I am a member of the Outdoor Adventure Club, and I came to check out the Preserve for our next hike,” said Lindsay O’Neal. “This seems like a great untapped resource that students should really start taking advantage of.”

“The trails were easily marked, which is helpful when you are trying to plot a course in a new area,” said O’Neal. “This is a perfect location for the most skilled hiker or someone less experienced who just wants to spend an afternoon outside.”


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