Living laboratories

Our sites

Working forest, meadow and woodland where researchers, technologists and land stewards field-test AI, sensing and restoration methods, and share what happens as it happens.

Each site page shows the land in photos and drone video through the seasons, the history of the land and its people, and the data streams available to collaborators. Our California sites are roughly 2.5 to 3 hours by road from the Bay Area.

Active sites

Working land where experiments, deployments and restoration are underway now.

  • Aerial view over oak and pine woodland in winter, with dry meadows in the foreground, a thin plume of smoke rising from among the trees, and steep ridges covered in pines behind.

    Active site Sierra Nevada foothills, California

    San Domingo Arbory

    ~450 acres · 1,440–2,330 ft (440–710 m)

    About 450 acres of oak and pine forest, grazing meadows and seasonal creek valley along San Domingo Creek outside Murphys. This site has multiple ecosystem types and our initial work focuses on restoring access trails, wildfire risk reduction, and invasive species management. The site has a rich cultural heritage from pre-Colonization grinding stones to documented Gold Rush homesteads, and a section of the old Ponderosa Way fire road, built by 1930s New Deal work relief programs.

  • The sun sets behind a tall pine on a hilltop slope, lighting shrubs and open woodland in gold above rolling forested hills.

    Active site Near historic downtown Murphys, CA

    Woodland Hilltop Arbory

    22 acres

    A 22-acre hilltop next to historic downtown Murphys. This land was oak and pine forest until being likely clear-cut during gold rush era mining that ended around 1910. The land grew back largely untouched for generations into a fire-prone thicket of manzanita and toyon. DeepForest has been restoring it toward a mixed pine and oak woodland, with contour swales, targeted thinning, native wildflower seeding, and new access trails and a road so far.

Project site locations

© OpenStreetMap contributors

  • DeepForest sites (approximate)
Site access

Work at our sites

Academic teams, startups and field partners can test methods and equipment on real working forest, meadow and woodland. Work With Us explains what each site offers, which data is available and how site access works.

Work With Us Ask about research access