List of nature centers in Massachusetts

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

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 Region Summary
Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary Easthampton Hampshire Pioneer Valley website, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, 732 acres with 5 miles of trails
Arunah Hill Natural Science Center Cummington Hampshire Pioneer Valley website, 60 acres, 6 miles of trails, focus is astronomy, science and nature education
Blue Hills Trailside Museum Milton Norfolk Greater Boston Operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, interpretive center for the 7000-acre Blue Hills Reservation state park
Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary Mattapan Suffolk Greater Boston website, 64 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, 2 miles of trails, located on the grounds of the old Boston State Hospital
Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary Worcester Worcester Worcester County website, 430 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary Natick Middlesex Greater Boston website, 854 acres with 9 miles of trails, Saltonstall Nature Center, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Camp Nihan Saugus Essex North Shore 65 acres, managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (Massachusetts)
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History Brewster Barnstable Cape Cod website, natural history exhibits, aquarium, steward of 400-plus acres of museum-owned land in Stony Brook Valley and Brewster
Capen Hill Nature Sanctuary Charlton Worcester Worcester County website, 86 acres
Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary Lincoln Middlesex Greater Boston website, 232 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary Marshfield Plymouth Plymouth County 507 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, managed by North River Wildlife Sanctuary
EcoTarium Worcester Worcester Worcester County Natural history and science museum, live animals, 50 acres, tree canopy, planetarium
Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary Edgartown Dukes Martha's Vineyard website, 321 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society on Martha's Vineyard
Great Falls Discovery Center Turners Falls Franklin Pioneer Valley website, 4 acres, interpretive center for the Silvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge, Connecticut River Watershed's natural, cultural and industrial history
Green Briar Nature Center East Sandwich Barnstable Cape Cod website, operated by the Thornton W. Burgess Society, adjacent to the 57-acre Briar Patch Conservation Area
Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary Belmont Middlesex Greater Boston website, 93 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, located 6 miles northwest of downtown Boston
Hitchcock Center for the Environment Amherst Hampshire Pioneer Valley website, located on the 20-acre Larch Hill Conservation Area
Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary Topsfield Essex North Shore Operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, 2,800-acre preserve with over 12 miles of interconnecting trails
Joppa Flats Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary Newburyport Essex North Shore website, 52 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, located near the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and the Plum Island estuary
Lloyd Center for the Environment South Dartmouth Bristol Southeastern Massachusetts 55 acres, focuses on coastal and watershed issues and conducting research on coastal ecosystems and endangered species
Marion Natural History Museum Marion Plymouth Plymouth County website, specializes in the natural history of local coastal and offshore areas
Moose Hill Wildlife Sanctuary Sharon Norfolk Greater Boston 1,984 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, features 25 mile trail system
Museum of American Bird Art at Mass Audubon Canton Norfolk Greater Boston website, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, located on the 124-acre Mildred Morse Allen Wildlife Sanctuary
North River Wildlife Sanctuary Marshfield Plymouth Plymouth County 184 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary Wales Hampden Pioneer Valley About 8,000 acres, maintained by the Norcross Wildlife Foundation
Oak Knoll Wildlife Sanctuary Attleboro Bristol Southeastern Massachusetts website, 50 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary Lenox Berkshire The Berkshires website, 1,142 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Sheep Hill Williamstown Berkshire The Berkshires website, 50-acre former dairy farm with nature exhibits, operated by the Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation
Sherburne Nature Center Tyngsborough Middlesex Greater Boston website, 80 acres, operated by the Town
South Shore Natural Science Center Norwell Plymouth Plymouth County website, located on 30 acres surrounded by 200 acres of town conservation/recreation land
Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary Norfolk Norfolk Greater Boston website, 86 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary Princeton Worcester Worcester County website, 1,011 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary South Wellfleet Barnstable Cape Cod website Archived 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine, 944 acres, operated by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, Esther Underwood Johnson Nature Center contains two 700-gallon aquariums

Resources

  • Massachusetts Environmental Education Society

External links

  • Map of nature centers and environmental education centers in Massachusetts
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National Historical Parks
National Historic Sites
Other National Park Service Units
National Wildlife Refuges
Wild and Scenic Rivers
Other Protected Areas
Parks
Reservations
Other
Wildlife
Management Areas
  • Agawam Lake
  • Agawam Mill Pond
  • Ashby
  • Ashfield Hawley
  • Attitash
  • Ayer Game Farm
  • Baddacook Pond
  • Bakers Pond
  • Bay Circuit Trail
  • Bearse Pond
  • Becket
  • Bennett
  • Birch Hill
  • Black Brook
  • Blackstone / West River
  • Bolton Flats
  • Boxboro Station
  • Brayton Point Salt Marsh
  • Breakneck Brook
  • Brewer Brook
  • Bullock Ledge
  • Burrage Pond
  • Canoe River
  • Catamount
  • Chalet
  • Chase Garden Creek Salt Marsh
  • Childs River
  • Chockalog Swamp
  • Church Homestead
  • Clapps Pond
  • Clinton Bluff
  • Concord River
  • Connecticut River
  • Cook Pond
  • Copicut
  • Coy Hill
  • Crane Pond
  • Cummington
  • Cusky Pond
  • Dartmoor Farm
  • Darwin Scott Memorial
  • Day Mountain
  • Deerfield River
  • Dogfish Bar Beach Coastal
  • Dolomite Ledges
  • Dunstable Brook
  • E. Kent Swift
  • Eagle Island
  • East Mountain
  • Eastham Salt Marsh
  • Elbow Meadow
  • English Salt Marsh
  • Eugene D. Moran
  • Facing Rock
  • Fairfield Brook
  • Farmington River
  • Fish Brook
  • Fisherville Pond
  • Fisk Forestdale Lot
  • Fisk Meadows
  • Five Mile River
  • Flagg Swamp
  • Flint Pond
  • Four Chimneys
  • Fox Den
  • Fox Island Salt Marsh
  • Frances A. Crane
  • George L. Darey Housatonic Valley
  • Glen Echo Lake
  • Gosnold
  • Grassy Pond (Dennis)
  • Grassy Pond (Plymouth)
  • Green River Access (Franklin County)
  • Green River (Berkshire County)
  • Greenfield River
  • Halfway Pond
  • Hamilton
  • Hancock
  • Harlow / Cooks Pond
  • Haskell Swamp
  • Hauk Swamp
  • Hawksnest State Park
  • Hawley
  • Head Of The Plains
  • Herman Covey
  • High Ridge
  • Hinsdale Flats
  • Hiram H. Fox
  • Hockomock Swamp
  • Hog Pond Lot
  • Honey Pot
  • Hoosatonic River
  • Hoosic River
  • Hop Brook
  • Housatonic River
  • Hubbard Brook
  • Hunting Hills
  • Hyannis Ponds
  • Ipswich River
  • John J. Kelly
  • Joint Base Cape Cod
  • Jug End
  • Jug End Fen
  • Kampoosa Fen
  • Katama Plains
  • Knops Pond
  • Konkapot River
  • Lackey Pond
  • Lake Lorraine
  • Lake Rohunta
  • Lake Snipatuit
  • Lake Warner
  • Lanesboro
  • Lawrence Brook
  • Lawrence Pond Lot
  • Leadmine
  • Leyden
  • Lilly Pond
  • Little Alum Pond
  • Long Sought For Pond
  • Maple Hill
  • Maple Springs
  • Martha Deering
  • Martin H. Burns
  • Mascuppic Lake
  • Mashpee Pine Barrens
  • Mashpee Pond Lot
  • Mashpee River
  • Mckinstry Brook
  • Meetinghouse Swamp
  • Merrill Pond
  • Miacomet Heath
  • Mill Brook Bogs
  • Mill River
  • Millers River
  • Mine Brook
  • Montague
  • Montague Plains
  • Moose Brook Access
  • Moose Brook
  • Moose Hill
  • Mossy Pond
  • Mount Watatic Reservation
  • Mt. Esther
  • Mt. Toby Highlands
  • Mt. Toby
  • Mt. Tom
  • Muddy Brook
  • Muddy Pond
  • Mulpus Brook
  • Nashua River
  • Natty Brook
  • Nemasket River
  • Nissitissit River
  • Noquochoke
  • Nordeen Marsh
  • North Brookfield
  • North Shore Salt Marsh
  • Northboro
  • Oakham
  • Olivers Pond
  • Orange
  • Otis
  • Packard Pond
  • Palmer
  • Pantry Brook
  • Pauchaug Brook
  • Peru
  • Peterson Swamp
  • Phillipston
  • Podunk Marsh
  • Poland Brook
  • Popple Camp
  • Popponesset Spit
  • Poutwater Pond
  • Powell Brook
  • Prince River
  • Provincetown Route 6 Corridor
  • Purchade Brook
  • Quaboag
  • Quacumquasit
  • Quag Pond Bog
  • Quashnet River
  • Quashnet Woods State Reservation
  • Quinapoxet River
  • Quinsigamond Marsh
  • Quisset
  • Raccoon Hill
  • Rainbow Beach
  • Red Brook
  • Richardson
  • Robbins Pond
  • Rochester
  • Rocky Gutter
  • Rowe
  • Salisbury Salt Marsh
  • Salisbury Salt Marsh WMA
  • Sandwich Game Farm
  • Sandy Pond
  • Satan's Kingdom
  • Savage Hill
  • Savoy
  • Sawmill River
  • Scorton Creek Coastal
  • SE Mass Bioreserve
  • Sevenmile River
  • Shattuck Brook
  • Sheperds Island
  • Shubael Pond
  • Sibley Brook
  • Sly Pond
  • South Barrier Beach
  • South Meadow Pond
  • South Shore Salt Marsh
  • South Triangle Pond
  • Southampton
  • Southwick
  • Spectacle Pond
  • Springhill Lot
  • Sputtermill Pond
  • Squannacook River
  • Stafford Hill
  • Sudbury River
  • Sunderland Islands
  • Taconic Mountain
  • Taunton River Access
  • Taunton River
  • Tekoa Mountain
  • Thad Ellis
  • Thayer Pond
  • Three Mile Pond
  • Townsend
  • Townsend Hill
  • Trapfall Brook
  • Triangle Pond
  • Tully Brook
  • Tully Mountain
  • Tully River
  • Wakeby Pond
  • Wales
  • Walnut Hill
  • Ware River
  • Warwick
  • Wendell
  • West Meadows
  • Westboro
  • Westfield River
  • Westfield
  • Weymouth Back River
  • Whately Great Swamp
  • Whately Ponds
  • Whately
  • Wilbraham Game Farm
  • William Forward
  • Williams River
  • Williamsburg
  • Winimusset
  • Wolf Swamp
Wildlife
Sanctuaries
  • Billingsgate Island
  • Carr Island
  • E. Howe Forbush
  • Egg Rock
  • Grace A. Robson
  • J.C. Phillips
  • Knight
  • Penikese Island
  • Ram Island (Mattapoisett)
  • Ram Island (Salisbury)
  • Susan B. Minns
  • Tarpaulin Cove
  • Watatic Mountain
  • Black Pond Bog
  • Boat Meadow
  • Francis Newhall Woods
  • Grassy Pond
  • Greene Swamp
  • Halfway Pond Island
  • Hawley Bog
  • Hockomock Swamp
  • Hoft Farm
  • Homer-Watcha
  • Katama Plains
  • McElwain-Olsen
  • Miacomet Moors
  • Reed Brook
  • Roger and Virginia Drury
  • Sandy Neck
  • David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail
  • Stacy Mountain
  • Tatkon
Other