Partch Woods Scientific and Natural Area

Welcome to Partch Woods Scientific and Natural Area in Avon, Minnesota. This forest preserve is known as climax maple-basswood and is an ecosystem that is shaped by shade. It is only during the growing season that sunlight makes it to the forest floor but when the leaves are in full bloom the smaller trees may not get enough sunlight to mature.

A local SNA outreach coordinator by the name of Kelly Randall once described this place as "Forests like this really resonate with people; the big trees, the long views. A maple-basswood forest is familiar, part of the culture here in Central Minnesota." The forest itself is named for the local Saint Cloud State University biological professor who purchased the land and gave it to the State of Minnesota, Dr. Max Partch. Partch retired in 1979 and passed away in 2003, but his legacy lives on in this beautiful forest.