First public trail at Baldwin Woods set to open April 25

LAWRENCE — The public is invited to the opening of the Rice Woodland Trail at the Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve, which is managed by the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research as part of the KU Field Station. 

The event, scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon April 25, will begin with a ribbon-cutting and a performance choreographed by Shannon Stewart, KU assistant professor in the Department of Theatre & Dance, and choreographer Tahni Holt with Óskar Trujillo. After the performance, visitors may explore the trail at their own pace and talk with ecologists and foresters stationed along the way.

The 396-acre Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve, a fire-dependent forest shaped by both ecological processes and human management, is one of the best remaining examples of eastern deciduous forest in Kansas. For many years, the Kansas Biological Survey has hosted guided tours of this protected research area.

After years of planning, prescribed fire was reintroduced to the Rice Woodland in November 2023 in collaboration with the Kansas Forest Service. Intentional fire is an important traditional management tool in fire-adapted hardwood forest systems. Just as in grasslands, fire can help build resilience through fuel reduction, opening areas that encourage hardwood recruitment and promoting healthy native plant community and soil dynamics.

Building on the excitement surrounding the reintroduction of fire to the Forest Preserve, Sheena Parsons, KU Field Station manager, saw an opportunity to connect science-informed stewardship and education. 

“Providing access to the woods gives people the chance to experience the impact of woodland burns firsthand,” Parsons said. “We hope that the trail project will help to broaden understanding of the role that fire plays in Kansas landscapes.” 

In 2024, support from the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council made it possible to begin the development of the new trail, which is the first public access trail at the Forest Preserve. The trail runs through the entire 80-acre Rice Woodland tract and will support the broader educational and public programming of the KU Field Station. The trail is constructed along watershed boundaries to support future research opportunities and to serve as a permanent firebreak to enable sustained fire stewardship, in addition to providing recreational and educational value.

The parking area at the trailhead was constructed on a previously disturbed site that was clear-cut then farmed until the late 1950s. Left fallow, this area became overgrown with a dense stand of eastern redcedar. This previously disturbed site was cleared to add parking with minimal further effect on the surrounding woodland.

During the process of clearing, eastern redcedar logs were harvested and milled. The material will be used along the trail and also has been distributed to community members in anticipation of a juried art competition and exhibition, “An Ode to Eastern Redcedar,” which will be held at the Lumberyard Arts Center in Baldwin City in connection with the trail opening. 

The Rice Woodland entrance is at 1727 North 500 Road, Baldwin City, just east of East 1700 Road. (See the Facebook event with map.)

Rice Woodland is one of several tracts of the Baldwin Woods Forest Preserve that are held by KU Endowment, the official independent, nonprofit fundraising and fund management foundation for KU. Other preserve lands are held by KU as the state’s first Legacy Forest, designated as such by U.S. Forest Service and the Kansas Forest Service at Kansas State University through the Forest Legacy Program.

The Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, which holds dual status as a KU designated research center and a nonregulatory state agency, houses a diverse group of programs in ecological research and remote sensing/GIS. It also manages the 3,200-acre KU Field Station, a resource for study in the sciences, arts, humanities and professional schools.