List of nature centers in Connecticut

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Connecticut Nature Centers (Hover mouse over pog to popup clickable link)

This is a list of nature centers and environmental education centers in the state of Connecticut.

To use the sortable tables: click on the icons at the top of each column to sort that column in alphabetical order; click again for reverse alphabetical order.

Name	Location	County	Summary
Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center	Ansonia	New Haven	website, town owned and operated 150-acre park and nature center
Audubon Center at Bent of the River	Southbury	New Haven	Part of the National Audubon Society, 700 acres with 15 miles of trails
Audubon Greenwich	Greenwich	Fairfield	website, part of the National Audubon Society, main sanctuary is 285 acres with 7 miles of trails
Barnard Nature Center at West River Memorial Park	New Haven	New Haven	website, operated by the City, partnership with the Barnard Environmental Magnet School across the street, focus is the West River
Barnes Nature Center	Bristol	Hartford	website, operated by the Environmental Learning Centers of Connecticut
Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens	Stamford	Fairfield	Contains 91 acres (37 hectares) of parkland, gardens, landscapes and hiking trails
Bauer Park	Madison	New Haven	website, 65 acre park and former farm
Brookfield Nature Center	Brookfield	Fairfield	website, 16 acre park and former farm with walking trails and brook
Bushy Hill Nature Center	Essex	Middlesex	website, over 700 acres
Chatfield Hollow State Park	Killingworth	Middlesex	356 acres, Oak Lodge Nature Center open seasonally
Connecticut Audubon Society Birdcraft Museum and Sanctuary	Fairfield	Fairfield	Operated by Connecticut Audubon, 6 acres, natural history museum
Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Fairfield	Fairfield	Fairfield	Operated by Connecticut Audubon, 152 acres with 7 miles of trails
Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Glastonbury	Glastonbury	Hartford	Adjacent to the 48-acre town-owned Earle Park, focus is Connecticut River ecosystem
Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point	Milford	New Haven	Operated by Connecticut Audubon, located on an 8.4-acre (34,000 m2) barrier beach and situated next to the 840-acre Charles E. Wheeler Wildlife Management Area
Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Pomfret	Pomfret	Windham	Adjacent 702-acre Bafflin Sanctuary, also hosts art exhibits
Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Trail Wood	Hampton	Windham	168 acres, former home of author Edwin Way Teale
Darien Nature Center	Darien	Fairfield	website, located in 26-acre Cherry Lawn Park
Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center	Mystic	New London	website, maintains 77 acres with 8 miles of trails from the Denison Homestead
Earthplace	Westport	Fairfield	62 acre sanctuary with 2 miles of trails, natural history museum
Eleanor Buck Wolf Nature Center	Wethersfield	Hartford	website, operated by the Town
Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust	Woodbury	Litchfield	Protects 2,000 acres of open space in several towns including seven nature preserves and sanctuaries
Goodwin Forest Conservation Education Center	Hampton	Windham	Operated by the CT DEEP in the 2000-acre James L. Goodwin State Forest
Henry Hamel Environmental Center	Seymour	New Haven	website, operated by the Seymour Land Trust
Highstead Arboretum	West Redding	Fairfield	Over 100 acres and 2 miles of trails, open to members
Hungerford Nature Center	Berlin	Hartford	website, a demonstration farm, exotic animals, trails, and science exhibits; operated by the New Britain Youth Museum
Kellogg Environmental Center	Derby	New Haven	website, operated by the CT DEEP, offers workshops, exhibits, nature activities, and lectures for the general public
Meigs Point Nature Center	Madison	New Haven	Located at Hammonasset Beach State Park, open year round
New Canaan Nature Center	New Canaan	Fairfield	40 acres
New Pond Farm	Redding	Fairfield	website, 102 acres with small working farm
Northwest Park Nature Center	Windsor	Hartford	473 acres, features natural history, geology and meteorology exhibits, adjacent barn with farm animals
Platt Nature Center	Killingworth	Middlesex	website, 9 acres
Pratt Nature Center	New Milford	Litchfield	website, 201 acres
Oak Grove Nature Center	Manchester	Hartford	52 acres, open for programs by the Lutz Children's Museum
Old Quarry Nature Center	Danbury	Fairfield	80 acres
Riverbound Farm	Cheshire	New Haven	Quinnipiac Valley Audubon Society, 23 acres, center open once a month
Roaring Brook Nature Center	Canton	Hartford	website, adjacent to the 165-acre Werner's Woods state preserve, affiliated with The Children's Museum, Connecticut
Rocky Neck State Park	East Lyme	New London	710 acre park and beach, small nature center open seasonally
Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area	Burlington	Hartford	771-acre state preserve, conservation education programs
Sharon Audubon Center	Sharon	Litchfield	1,200 acres, includes a raptor aviary, herb garden, bird and butterfly garden, and a sugarhouse
Sherwood Island State Park Nature Center	Westport	Fairfield	Open seasonally, 234-acre park and beach, tidal wetlands on Long Island Sound
Shoreline Outdoor Education Center	North Guilford	New Haven	website, located on 6 acres of town property
Soundwaters	Stamford	Fairfield	website, education about Long Island Sound, located in Cove Island Park
Stamford Museum and Nature Center	Stamford	Fairfield	118 acres, art, history and nature museum, 10 acre working farm; trails connect to the Bartlett Arboretum
Stratton Brook State Park	Simsbury	Hartford	Nature center is open seasonally
Trumbull Nature & Arts Center	Trumbull	Fairfield	website
Webb Mountain Discovery Zone	Monroe	Fairfield	171 acres, outdoor learning center, owned by the town
Westmoor Park	West Hartford	Hartford	162 acres, self-funded, features demonstration farm
West Rock Nature Center	New Haven	New Haven	website, operated by the City, 43 acres on West Rock Ridge
White Memorial Conservation Center	Litchfield	Litchfield	4,000 acre-preserve, nature museum
Woodcock Nature Center	Wilton	Fairfield	website 149 acres with 5 miles of trails including boardwalks and viewing platforms, preserve and trails open to the public year round, self-funded, public programs, and summer camps

Resources

Connecticut Outdoor and Environmental Education Association

External links

Map of Connecticut nature centers and environmental education centers

v t e Protected areas of Connecticut
National Park Service	Weir Farm National Historical Park
National Wildlife Refuges	Silvio O. Conte Stewart B. McKinney
National Trails	Appalachian Trail New England National Scenic Trail Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
Wild and Scenic Rivers	Ashaway River Eightmile River Farmington River Green Fall River Housatonic River Pawcatuck River Salmon Brook Shunock River Wood River
State Parks	Above All Air Line Beaver Brook Becket Hill State Park Reserve Beckley Furnace Industrial Monument Bennett's Pond Bigelow Hollow Black Rock Bluff Point Bolton Notch Brainard Homestead Burr Pond Camp Columbia Campbell Falls Chatfield Hollow Collis P. Huntington Connecticut Valley Railroad Dart Island State Park Day Pond Dennis Hill Devil's Hopyard Dinosaur Eagle Landing Farm River Farmington Canal Fort Griswold Battlefield Fort Trumbull Gardner Lake Gay City George Dudley Seymour George Waldo Gillette Castle Haddam Island Haddam Meadows Haley Farm Hammonasset Beach Harkness Memorial Haystack Mountain Higganum Reservoir Hop River State Park Trail Hopemead Hopeville Pond Horse Guard Housatonic Meadows Humaston Brook Hurd Indian Well John A. Minetto Kent Falls Kettletown Killingly Pond Lake Waramaug Lamentation Mountain Larkin State Park Trail Lovers Leap Macedonia Brook Machimoodus Mansfield Hollow Mashamoquet Brook Mianus River Millers Pond Minnie Island Mohawk Mountain Mono Pond Moosup Valley State Park Trail Mooween Mount Bushnell Mount Riga Mount Tom Old Furnace Osbornedale Penwood Platt Hill Pomeroy Putnam Memorial Quaddick Quinebaug Lake Quinnipiac River River Highlands Rocky Glen Rocky Neck Ross Pond Salt Rock State Campground Satan's Kingdom State Recreation Area Scantic River Selden Neck Seth Low Pierrepont Sherwood Island Silver Sands Sleeping Giant Southford Falls Squantz Pond Stillwater Pond Stoddard Hill Stratton Brook Sunnybrook Sunrise Talcott Mountain Tri-Mountain Trout Brook Valley Wadsworth Falls West Rock Ridge Wharton Brook Whittemore Glen Windsor Locks Canal State Park Trail Windsor Meadows Wooster Mountain
State Forests	Algonquin American Legion Centennial Watershed Cockaponset Enders James L. Goodwin Housatonic Massacoe Mattatuck Meshomasic Mohawk Mohegan Nassahegon Natchaug Nathan Hale Naugatuck Nehantic Nepaug Nipmuck Nye-Holman Pachaug Paugnut Paugussett People's Pootatuck Quaddick Salmon River Shenipsit Topsmead Tunxis Wyantenock
Wildlife Management Areas	Aldo Leopold WMA Assekonk WMA Babcock Pond WMA Barber Pond WMA Barn Island WMA Bartlett Brook WMA Bear Hill WMA Belding WMA Bishops Swamp WMA Black Pond WMA Candlewood Hill WMA Cedar Swamp WMA Charles E. Wheeler WMA Cromwell Meadows WMA Durham Meadows WMA East River Marsh WMA East Swamp WMA Eightmile River WMA Franklin Swamp WMA Goshen WMA Great Harbor WMA Higganum Meadows WMA Housatonic River WMA King's Island Coop WMA Kollar WMA Larson Lot WMA Little River Fish and Wildlife Area Lord's Cove WMA Maromas Coop WMA Meadow Brook WMA Menunketesuck WMA Messerschmidt WMA Newgate WMA Nod Brook WMA Nott Island WMA Pease Brook WMA Plum Bank WMA Quinebaug River WMA Quinnipiac River Marsh WMA Ragged Rock WMA Raymond Brook Marsh WMA Robbins Swamp WMA Roger Tory Peterson Wildlife Area Roraback WMA Rose Hill WMA Ross Marsh WMA Salmon River Cove and Haddam Neck WMA Sessions Woods WMA Simsbury WMA Skiff Mountain Coop WMA James V. Spignesi WMA Stanley Works WMA Suffield WMA Talbot WMA Tankerhoosen WMA Wangunk Meadows WMA Wopowog WMA Zemko Pond WMA
Reservoirs	Aspetuck Reservoir Barkhamsted Reservoir Beaver Dam Lake Candlewood Lake Easton Reservoir Far Mill Reservoir Hemlock Reservoir Hop Brook Lake Lake Lillinonah Mansfield Hollow Lake Means Brook Saugatuck Reservoir Trap Falls Reservoir West Hartford Reservoir West Pequonnock Reservoir Lake Zoar
Private	Aspetuck Land Trust Aton Forest Audubon Center at Bent of the River Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens Bear Mountain Beckley Bog Branford Land Trust Case Mountain Cathedral Pines Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Fairfield Connecticut College Arboretum Devil's Den Preserve Earthplace Great Mountain Forest Higby Mountain Highstead Arboretum Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust McLean Game Refuge New Canaan Nature Center Peter's Rock Pine Mountain Reserve Saltonstall Mountain Stamford Museum & Nature Center Steep Rock Association Weantinoge Heritage Land Trust White Memorial Foundation Woodcock Nature Center Yale-Myers Forest
Trails	American Legion State Forest Trails Aspetuck Valley Trail Blue-Blazed Trails Chatfield Trail Hancock Brook Trail Housatonic Range Trail Lillinonah Trail Mattabesett Trail Menunkatuck Trail Metacomet Trail Narragansett Trail Natchaug Trail Naugatuck Trail Nehantic Trail Nipmuck Trail Paugussett Trail Pequot Trail Quinnipiac Trail Regicides Trail Salmon River Trail Shenipsit Trail Tunxis Trail Westwoods Trails Whitestone Cliffs Trail Zoar Trail
Nature centers	List of nature centers in Connecticut
Local Government Forest/Parks	Bear Mountain Reservation Beardsley Park Burr Farm Protected Open Space East Rock Park Gurski Farm Protected Open Space Happy Landings Protected Open Space Lighthouse Point Park Lillinonah Woods Mill River Park Old Bridge Sanctuary Pleasure Beach Roosevelt Forest Salt Meadow Park Seaside Park Webb Mountain Discovery Zone Webb Mountain Park
Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

v t e Nature centers in Connecticut
Fairfield County	Audubon Greenwich Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens Brookfield Nature Center Connecticut Audubon Society Birdcraft Museum and Sanctuary Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Fairfield Darien Nature Center Earthplace Highstead Arboretum New Canaan Nature Center New Pond Farm Old Quarry Nature Center Sherwood Island State Park Soundwaters Stamford Museum & Nature Center Trumbull Nature & Arts Center Webb Mountain Discovery Zone Woodcock Nature Center
Hartford County	Barnes Nature Center Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Glastonbury Eleanor Buck Wolf Nature Center Holcomb Farm Indian Rock Nature Preserve Northwest Park Nature Center Oak Grove Nature Center Roaring Brook Nature Center Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area Stratton Brook State Park Westmoor Park
Litchfield County	Flanders Nature Center Pratt Center Sharon Audubon Center White Memorial Conservation Center
Middlesex County	Bushy Hill Nature Center Chatfield Hollow State Park Platt Nature Center
New Haven County	Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center Audubon Center at Bent of the River Bauer Park Connecticut Audubon Society Coastal Center at Milford Point Henry Hamel Environmental Center Kellogg Environmental Center Meigs Point Nature Center Riverbound Farm Shoreline Outdoor Education Center West Rock Nature Center
New London County	Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center Rocky Neck State Park
Windham County	Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Pomfret Goodwin Forest Conservation Education Center