Kalamazoo Nature Center

Calling all nature lovers and environmental heroes! We need YOUR help to pull invasive species at the Kalamazoo Nature Center as part of our Garlic Mustard Games on April 25 and April 26! This fun, hands-on event helps protect our local ecosystems and ensures that native plants thrive. We’ll have prizes and serious bragging rights for individuals and teams that pull and bag the highest totals of these pesky plants. Visit the event calendar on our website to sign up!

Calling all nature lovers, we're hiring at the Kalamazoo Nature Center! Applications are now open for camp counselors, outdoor adventure educators, lifeguards, inclusion educator, health officer, art educator, and more! We are also hiring a conservation stewardship crew member and a visitor services host. Visit our website to see a list of all available positions.

Check out this NowKalamazoo interview with KNC's new CEO Heather Graves!

Do you have kids that are looking for something to do over spring break? Sign them up for the Kalamazoo Nature Center's Spring Break Camp! Campers will head out on epic hikes, make friends, play games, and develop a bond with the natural world.

After one month of hard work, the visitor center has new flooring throughout! The most durable, affordable, and sustainable solution for KNC was a refinished concrete floor, which has been hiding below the old laminate. A cement grinder with a diamond faced wheel removed the top 1/8 inch of cement from the Exhibit Hall floors along with the lower level. The grinder exposed the aggregate below of black, red, white, umber, ochre, green, and topaz native stones. They vary in size, and came from a nearby gravel pit in the early 1960s. They beautifully reflect the same glacial landscape found on KNC’s property. We are still working on finishing up the trim work and touching up some paint. Thank you so much for your patience while we were closed in January!

The DeLano Farms Summer CSA shares are now available to purchase! Shareholders will learn how to select and harvest their own share of herbs, vegetables, and flowers with guidance from farm staff. Payment plans are available.

Chris Chosa, KNC Grants Manager and an Ojibwe descendent raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is undertaking a groundbreaking experiment to revive early maple sugar production methods lost to history. With over two decades of experience in the sugar bush and academic research from Michigan Technological University, Chris is on the verge of recreating a process unseen for more than 500 years. You can see the process LIVE at this year's Maple Sugar Festival, offering visitors a rare chance to witness history in the making. Check out the process and talk with Chris in the Arboretum from 10 am - Noon and 1-3:30 pm. Visit our website to get your discounted early bird tickets to MSF.

Here's a sneak peek at the upcoming events in February at the Kalamazoo Nature Center! We have the Candlelight Night Hike happening on TWO nights, an Apple Tree Pruning Class, a Winter Tree ID Class, and Maple Sugar Festival on March 8!

The Visitor Center is still closed but we wanted to share an update with you on our flooring project. The old linoleum has been pulled up and the concrete beneath it has been polished to perfection. We can't wait to have the flooring project finished so you can see it in person! Please remember our trails are OPEN with a reduced admission fee. See you soon for a winter hike!

In the dark winter months, we all need something to look forward to. Mark your calendars for the Valentine's Candelight Night Hike on Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15. This event has become so popular, we've moved it to TWO nights!