Lynchburg College’s 470-acre Claytor Nature Study Center, located at the foot of the Blue Ridge
Mountains in Bedford County, provides unique opportunities for environmental
education programs and research, interdisciplinary study, and seminar and
retreat facilities. With the Peaks of Otter as its backdrop, the Claytor Nature
Study Center encompasses two small lakes, woodlands, wetlands, rare plants,
more than two miles of trails, and a portion of the Big Otter River.
The Claytor Nature Study Center was run as a farm from the late 1700s until the
mid-1990s, when it was given to the college by A. Boyd Claytor III. It is now
managed for environmental conservation and restoration through agreements with
the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and the USDA
’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. Plans are under way to build an
astronomical observatory at the Center, as well as a small-group campground, a
greenhouse and heritage gardens.
The A. Boyd Claytor III Education and Research Facility provides seminar,
laboratory, classroom, conference and retreat space. It includes a Discovery
Room for students in grades K-12 to participate in interactive environmental
science activities including water quality, river ecosystems, wetland
restoration, and the study of inter-relationships among plants, animals, air,
soil, and water.
Dr. Greg Eaton, director of the Claytor Nature Study Center, came to Lynchburg
College from Virginia Tech where he was assistant professor and nursery and
landscape extension specialist in the Department of Horticulture. He received
his Ph.D. in biological sciences from Dartmouth College.
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