About Bucktoe Creek Preserve

Bucktoe Creek Preserve is a 297 acre privately owned natural area located near Kennett Square, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The preserve is managed to enhance biodiversity and promote sound ecological stewardship through forest, meadow, and wetland restoration. Our primary goals are to provide a stable location for long term environmental monitoring and ecological research, a refuge for threatened flora and fauna, and a site for fostering the education of naturalists of all levels of expertise.

The preserve is composed of a variety of habitats, each with its own set of flora and fauna. Among these habitats are woodlands of younger to older age, upland and lowland meadows, thickets, swamps, marshes, and vernal pools. There are four main streams that flow through the preserve, (in decreasing order of size) the west branch of Red Clay Creek, Bucktoe Creek, Butternut Run, and Gregg’s Run.

Programs offered year-round include weekly botanical and ornithological hikes, as well as seasonal programs through the Delaware Nature Society. In addition, a ten acre arboretum featuring over seventy regionally native trees and shrubs is available for visitation by appointment. To sustain the integrity of the preserve’s extensive trail system and the habitats through which they wander, visitation to Bucktoe Creek Preserve is by appointment or enrollment in one of our guided programs.