It is good to realize that if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever.

- Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States

In addition to university level use, the reserve has forged a partnership between UCLA and K-12 education in the greater Los Angeles area. Thousands of such students visit Stunt Ranch annually as part of a formal program coordinated by the Cold Creek Docents, a division of the Mountains Restoration Trust (MRT). 

The three-hour school programs focus on chaparral and fire ecology, geology, and early local Native American and homestead history. When students arrive, they are led on a 1.5 mile hike on the Stunt High Trail. Once in the educational zone of the Reserve they take part in a rotation of interactive activities including viewing a mural of Chumash village life, taxidermied animals native to the area, acorn grinding, "cave wall" painting, playing of Chumash games and demonstrations of tool making. Students bring brown bag lunches and return to their vehicles by trail with more interpretation along the way.

The reserve is accessible by prior permission only. Teachers who want to book Cold Creek Docent led tours of the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve should call the MRT office at 818-591-1701 extension 130. The Cold Creek Docents charge a nominal fee, which in some cases is waived, to cover their supplies and services. The reserve itself does not charge for its use.

TEACHER PACKET AND CURRICULUM GUIDES: Produced by the Cold Creek Docents

Field Programs for Student Groups

Field Trip Program  Information

Chaparral, Plant, and Animal Communities

Early Chumash and Tongva Cultures

SCIENCE AND ART LESSONS FOR KIDS: Produced by the Stunt Ranch Reserve

"DRAWING FROM NATURE" - Los Angeles Times

How and when do children decide what they want to do when they grow up?  What unforeseen impacts or twists of fate lead one child to become a scientist? Another to become an artist?  Another a writer?

What path will today’s children follow?  Whatever they decide, society will need them to become informed citizens able to make valid choices across a range of personal and policy issues. The “Drawing from Nature” series, written and photographed by Carol Felixson which ran from April 2001 to December 2006 in the Los Angeles Times Kids Reading Room Page, made significant contributions to the education and training of this next generation of leaders.

Each article in the series introduced children to a different subject from nature and a related art technique. The children then applied what they learned in an illustration. Photos recorded both the children’s work in progress and their final art project. The nature subjects were chosen from animals or plants found at the UCLA Stunt Ranch Reserve or in the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA.

Young readers learned about and illustrated mule deer, hummingbirds, yucca plants, desert cottontails, palm trees, rattlesnakes, and other living things, big and small.

The columns were a win-win for the kids, their parents and educators, and for the Reserve and Garden’s mission of education and outreach into the community. “Drawing from Nature” helped bridge the gap for kids who might be strong in art but not in science, and vice-versa.  It validated kids who had a concern and close attachment to nature. And it provided a means for encouraging an interest in kids who, for whatever reason, felt detached from nature.  

UC NRS Transect article on the "DRAWING FROM NATURE" series