Community Calendar

💚 Join us for a very green, Grinch-mas Saturday evening! 💚

Celebrate the season in your favorite green or Grinch gear for a ticket to enter our free raffle.

❄️ 'Tis the season for some holiday cheer, you won't want to miss this merry show! ❄️

Enjoy some fun for the whole family, just $12 a person gets you a ticket to the show, dessert, and a beverage of your choice!

🎟️ Get your tickets now - https://centerstagetheatre.ludus.com/

GENERAL ADMISSION - This event is being held at Connections Community Church, 11500 US-131, Schoolcraft, MI 49087

Secrets of Trees in Winter

Saturday, December 20 at 2 pm

Have you ever wondered what our local trees get up to during the harsh Michigan winter? Join one of our naturalists to learn about the ways our flora has adapted to survive the cold season and learn how to identify trees even without leaves. We’ll be outside, so be sure to bundle up!

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; drop in program

Audience: All Ages
Meet: Visitor Center front desk

Saturday, December 27, 10 am – 3 pm

Audience: Families

Meet: Visitor Center Classroom

Shake off the holiday cabin fever and join us for a relaxing art day at KNC! We’ll have craft and art supplies available in the Classroom, so drop by and flex those creative muscles.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; drop in program

Birds and Coffee
Saturday, January 3, 10 am – 12:30 pm

Audience: Adults

Meet: Visitor Center Main Lot

Without the leaves on the trees, winter is an excellent time for birding. Come ring in the new year by getting out for a guided bird walk at 10:30 am and buy a piping hot drink from Emergency Coffee Rescue to keep warm on the trails.

Local partners will also be on-site with hands-on gear demos and expert advice. Stop by the tables from Norman Camera and Wild Birds Unlimited to try out equipment, compare birding essentials, and chat with folks who know the best tools to support your birding passion.
Start your year outdoors, caffeinated, and surrounded by community.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; drop in program

Getting Glacial
Saturday, January 3 at 2 pm

Audience: All Ages
Meet: Visitor Center front desk
Have you ever wondered about the striking topography found at KNC and across the Kalamazoo area? Come along for a hike through some of our most beautiful natural features and learn about the intense glacial forces that shaped this area into the place we know and love. This program has a flexible end time to accommodate for hiking time.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; drop in program

Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome.

We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early).

January 15, 11 am – 1 pm

Audience: Geared for Adults 50+, but all are welcome

Meet: Front desk inside the Visitor Center

Join Mike Ricco of Sea Michigan and hear about his journeys exploring the beautiful shorelines of Lake Michigan, or as Mike calls it, “Sea Michigan”!

Bring your lunch! We will eat together after the program. Part of the Silver Maples Series: NatureCenter.org/SilverMaples

Fee: Member $16, Non-Member $20 Please register.

The Greens of Winter Walk
Saturday, January 17 at 2 pm

Audience: All Ages
Meet: Visitor Center front desk

We might think of Winter as a season dominated by whites and browns, but our hardiest green photosynthetic life clings on all year round! Take a tour of the mosses and lichens of the woods and learn how these radically different organisms survive and thrive. This program has a flexible end time to accommodate for hiking time.

Fee: Included in regular KNC admission; drop in program

Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome.

We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early).

Please join us the first Saturday of each month at 9 AM (barring special events or bad weather which will be announced on our Facebook page), for "Beginning Birding Walks," led by experienced birders from the Audubon Society of Kalamazoo. This event is free and open to the public. Meet at the second parking lot at Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery in Mattawan, just off SR 43. All skill levels are welcome.

We will enjoy nature while typically identifying 20-40 species of birds, plus butterflies, frogs, etc. Over 200 bird species have been sighted at Wolf Lake, which offers a variety of habitats and easy walking trails. Annual highlights include colorful songbirds like orioles, warblers, tanagers, hawks and eagles, kingfishers, Great Blue and Green Herons, and over 20 species of waterfowl. Eastern Bluebirds can be found year-round! Children accompanying adults are welcome. The focus is on birding fundamentals, and extra binoculars are always available. The walk typically takes about 2 hours (but feel free to arrive late or leave early).