The University is committed to the ecological restoration and stewardship of the DePauw University Nature Park to serve the purposes of education, research, reflection and recreation for the members of the University and neighboring communities.

Both the Prindle Institute for Ethics and the Reflection Center are located within the Nature Park. In fall 2003, DePauw received 450 acres of an abandoned quarry site through a gift and a long-term lease from Hanson Aggregates. DePauw purchased some adjacent farmland and woodlands to make the total property 500 acres. The DePauw University Nature Park consists of woodlands and fields adjacent to Big Walnut Creek as well as ephemeral and permanent ponds.

Between 1917 and 1977 the Nature Park was the site of a limestone quarry, where rock was blasted from the quarry walls, crushed into limestone aggregate and then transported off-site by rail. Limestone rock in the quarry began formation approximately 350 million years ago from the remains of animals living on the bottom of an inland sea that covered this area. The layers of remains are the basis of the rock layers observed in the quarry walls.

The various trails in the Nature Park take visitors through the bottom of the quarry and around its high wall, through the surrounding woodlands, along what was once the quarry’s rail line, and the banks of Big Walnut Creek.

The Ian and Mimi Rolland Welcome and Activities Center serves as a trailhead building for groups visiting the park, where they can receive orientation to the park and plan their activities. The building also provides office space for the Park ranger staff.

The Manning Environmental Field Station provides on-site lab and teaching space facilitiates for geoscience and biology classes on topics such as environmental science, environmental biology, and ecology. Designed for 20 to 24 students, the building includes three separate greenhouses and several research laboratories in addition to a multipurpose teaching facility. Adjacent to this building are experimental gardens and plantings as well as designated plots for careful monitoring. This building is available for summer research, summer camps, and outdoor education for community school groups.

The Reflection Center, adjacent to the Prindle Institute for Ethics, provides a place for individual and group reflections in a quiet, natural setting. The two buildings are joined by a series of waterfalls and streams of water. The Reflection Center complements the Institute by offering a space conducive to meditation and contemplation.