There is parking at the entrance to the Reserve. Some of the trails are steep and can be slippery in wet or snowy weather. Trails are well-marked, but be aware that these trails are often used as training courses for cross-country runners and skiers.

The Denison University Biological Reserve is located north of Denison on North Street (OH-661).

The Reserve also provides a haven for members of the Denison and Granville communities who enjoy walking in natural surroundings. The Reserve is open to the public from dawn to dusk every day. A well-marked trail system has been established that allows the visitor to explore a variety of habitats and terrain. Hunting, firearms, campfires, camping, horseback riding, and disturbance of natural features are prohibited. Trail bikes are permitted on certain trails during the summer and fall.

Denison’s Biological Reserve was established by the Board of Trustees in 1966 through the efforts of Professor Robert Alrutz, who served as director until his retirement in 1990. The Reserve encompasses 350 acres in three contiguous sections that are within an easy walking distance of campus. Approximately 75% of the acreage is beech-maple/mixed mesophytic forest interspersed with old orchards and former plantations of pine, spruce, sugar maple, and yellow poplar. Late successional habitats are characteristic of those disturbed by grazing over 50 years ago. In the Alrutz Section, three former agricultural fields are maintained in various stages of succession by seasonal mowing. Clay Run, along with four ponds and seven natural springs provides habitats for aquatic organisms. The Reserve provides refuge for numerous amphibians, turtles, snakes, bats, rodents, flying squirrels, white-tailed deer, red fox, and over one hundred species of birds.

Denison University Biological Reserve Trails
The Denison University Biological Reserve has a well-marked trail system of 19 trails.

A description with a map of a 2.2-mile hike using the trails at the Biological Reserve is on the AllTrails website.