Brauer Field Station

Summer Season: May 1-Oct. 15

Situated approximately 8 miles southwest of Albany, the Brauer Memorial Field Station at William H. Parks Family Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education is housed in a modern, log building. Situated on a 33-acre wooded tract of land, Brauer Field Station is open from May through October.

The main lodge features a large stone corner fireplace that can be used for socials, dining and instruction. The remaining interior space has a fully equipped kitchen, toilets and bath facilities, as well as sleeping accommodations.

A covered veranda is attached to the south end of this building. The bunkhouse, a separate building, is a log structure that offers sleeping quarters. There is neither water nor a bathroom in the bunkhouse.

Brauer Field Station is located near the base of the Helderberg Escarpment, the dominant natural landscape feature southwest of Albany. About 80 percent of the property is wooded; the remainder is a former meadow exhibiting a moderate to advanced stage of forest encroachment.

The woodland is a mixture of hardwood and conifer. There are also two small marshy wetlands. Fossil-bearing Devonian limestone forms two prominent cliffs and numerous small outcrops on the property.

On the northwestern corner of the Brauer tract, a fossilized small stromatoporoid reef is located on the east side of Old Quarry Road.