Glen Helen Nature Preserve
A Living Sanctuary & Laboratory
Ohio’s first educational forest, the beautiful Glen Helen Nature Preserve is immediately adjacent to the Antioch campus. The Glen and the adjoining John Bryan State Park combined provide more than 1,700 acres of protected lands for learning and recreation right at Antioch’s door step.
The Glen is a natural classroom and outdoor laboratory where students engage in ecological and environmental research that helps us better understand the world around us.
The preserve features more than twenty miles of trails, 2.5 miles of the National Scenic Little Miami River, and regionally significant stands of old-growth forest, as well as thee Raptor Center which was also Ohio’s first facility dedicated to the rehabilitation and release of native birds of prey. During a short walk one can view spectacular wildflowers, 400 year-old trees, limestone cliffs with waterfalls and overhangs, and the beautiful yellow spring for which our home town of Yellow Springs is named.
Other colleges have land labs, arboretums, or nature centers. None of them, however, offer the scope, history, proximity, or diversity of Glen Helen.
Antioch College and Glen Helen
The Glen was gifted to Antioch College by alumnus Hugh Taylor Birch in 1929 as a memorial to his daughter Helen Birch Bartlett.
Countless faculty, students, and staff have put energy into the preservation and improvement of the Glen for decades. A vibrant partnership with the Glen Helen Association and its volunteers, starting in 1960, helped sustain these efforts. Over time, the Glen grew from a beloved campus resource into a regional environmental treasure where more than 100,000 visitors come for education and recreation each year.
A major milestone was met in 2015 when the College secured conservation easements on the 1,000-acre preserve, taking extraordinary action to ensure strong legal protection against any development, and permanently protecting the Glen as a nature preserve.
Stewarded by Antioch College for nearly 90 years, the Glen is now owned and operated by the Glen Helen Association. Antioch College has a strategic collaboration and joint programming partnership with the Glen Helen Association which provides access to the College community for academic and recreational purposes.
