North Branch Nature Center

North Branch Nature Center North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier, Vermont offers natural history programs for all ages.

If you've ever wondered how rivers work while you're splashing around in them, this workshop might be for you! We’ll exp...
08/27/2026

If you've ever wondered how rivers work while you're splashing around in them, this workshop might be for you! We’ll explore basic concepts in river dynamics to learn how to “read” our streams and interpret their behavior over time. In this hands-on workshop and field outing, we’ll use a stream table to model river dynamics in the classroom, then walk to the North Branch to examine these processes in action. We’ll then apply these tools to understand why Central Vermont is so vulnerable to flooding. Instructed by Alison Spasyk (Lake Champlain Sea Grant) and Sean Beckett (North Branch Nature Center).

📆Offered 9/8 and 9/15
🖇️Link in bio or comment below!

And a big THANK YOU to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) and the Lake Champlain Basin Program!

📢 We're announcing our FREE Fall 2026 Friday Morning Birding Series Locations! If you love birding, add these to your ca...
08/25/2026

📢 We're announcing our FREE Fall 2026 Friday Morning Birding Series Locations!

If you love birding, add these to your calendar:
Sept 4 – Berlin Pond South End – Park along Mirror Lake Road (Location)
Sept 11 – North Branch Nature Center
Sept 18 – S***m Pond – Park at S***m Pond Rd/Adamant Rd intersection (Location)
Sept 25 – North Branch Nature Center

Our bird walks are from 7:30 am - 9:00 am on Fridays, so tell work you're going to be a little late and then show up full of vigor and energized by the power of birding!

Accessibility note: The trails at NBNC are 6’-wide grass paths over compacted dirt. The trails are flat with

We want to give a special thank-you to Front Four Gallery for joining us as our newest Business Partner by supporting ou...
08/22/2026

We want to give a special thank-you to Front Four Gallery for joining us as our newest Business Partner by supporting our DOTY Memorial School campaign!

Thanks to the generous support of our community, DOTY Memorial School in Worcester will get to keep the ECO program for the 2026-27 school year. ECO (Educating Children Outdoors) is a unique collaboration between North Branch Nature Center and 15 area public schools, which pairs our professional teacher-naturalists with classroom teachers.

This is why supporting local businesses matters: because they’re invested in supporting our local communities. Front Four Gallery connects artists from around the world to Stowe, Vermont, exhibiting regionally and internationally recognized artists working in a broad range of mediums. Please join us in thanking Front Four Gallery by popping in and checking out the beautiful art the next time you're on Stowe's Mountain Road.

Again, BIG shoutout to Front Four Gallery for being a first-time business sponsor and generously supporting nature education for children!

Check out their website to learn more: https://frontfourgallery.com/

We're so excited to give a warm welcome to our new Fall 2026 Visiting Teacher Naturalist, Brooke Marie Bridges!🪴More abo...
08/20/2026

We're so excited to give a warm welcome to our new Fall 2026 Visiting Teacher Naturalist, Brooke Marie Bridges!

🪴More about Brooke, the founder of Unearthing Wellness:

Brooke is a vitalist herbalist, somatic CBT coach, and published author of "Wild Healing: Foraging and Wildcrafting for Self-Care". She approaches the natural world as both teacher and co-regulator, believing that restoring relationship between human nervous systems and the living earth is some of the most important healing work we can do.

She spent six years at Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY in roles spanning CSA manager, social media manager, food justice assistant manager, seed keeper, and facilitator of Farming in Relationship to Earth immersions. That time on the land — growing food, keeping seeds, and holding space for people finding their way back to the earth — forms the root of everything she teaches.

She draws on Western herbalism and the ancestral plant traditions of her West African, British, Irish, and Ashkenazi Jewish lineages, growing medicinal plants in her own garden and foraging on the land around her. Her workshops integrate plant identification, somatic body awareness practice, herbalism, and ancestral food and medicine traditions into experiences that are grounded, accessible, and deeply connected to place. She meets participants where they are and lets the land do the rest.

We're so excited for this fall's VTN programming -- stay tuned to learn about this FREE workshop series, with events for kids, teens, and adults!

From the Andes to the Amazon, Ecuador is home to more than 1,600 bird species — nearly 15% of Earth’s avian biodiversity...
08/19/2026

From the Andes to the Amazon, Ecuador is home to more than 1,600 bird species — nearly 15% of Earth’s avian biodiversity! Our 11-day trip journeys from high-elevation cloud forests to the tropical lowlands and back up, encountering a huge range of ecosystems along the way. We’ll stay at a renowned rainforest birding lodge — accessible only by boat — nestled along a tributary of the Amazon River.

Meet your expert guides:
🙋‍♂️Andres De la Torre was born in Quito, Ecuador, surrounded by fantastic mountains and forests, to which he was attracted from a very young age. Andres has been leading natural history trips for over 30 years, and throughout this time developed a love and passion for birds. Andres lives in Quito with his wife and daughter.
🙋‍♂️ Chip Darmstadt is the Birding Ambassador and former Executive Director of North Branch Nature Center. He has guided birding trips around the US and around the world for 25 years, observing over 3,000 bird species along the way.
📅February 17 – 27, 2027
🖇️Link in bio/comments below!

Two Thursday-Friday spaces just opened up in Forest Preschool for the 2026-2027 school year. If you're interested, don't...
08/18/2026

Two Thursday-Friday spaces just opened up in Forest Preschool for the 2026-2027 school year. If you're interested, don't delay, as these slots will get snatched up quickly!

We love fostering kids’ relationships with nature outdoors, and that includes our preschoolers! Our Forest Preschool is an exploratory, nature and play-based program with with both an indoor classroom and the natural landscapes at NBNC as our classroom.🤗

Our program supports the development of the whole child, sparks curiosity and a sense of wonder, and instills a love of learning and connection to place. At the end of each day, parents and caregivers are met by children who have been making sense of their world by delightfully following their curiosity in natural spaces using eager hands, wide eyes, and listening ears. Our program qualifies for Vermont’s Act 166 Universal Pre-kindergarten tuition, and NBNC’s Forest Preschool is a 4-star program with Vermont STARS.

⭐Learn more at the link in our bio: northbranchnaturecenter.org/youth-programs

Email our FPS Director at jenna@northbranchnaturecenter to sign up!

This year on August 17th, we're celebrating National Nonprofit Day, which marks the historic 1894 legislation granting f...
08/17/2026

This year on August 17th, we're celebrating National Nonprofit Day, which marks the historic 1894 legislation granting federal income tax exemptions to charitable institutions! Today, we're reflecting on how much we appreciate our partner organizations, staff, volunteers, donors, and members — it's thanks to all of YOU that we're here, in our 30th year, working towards our mission of connecting people with the natural world. 🌱

P.S. NBNC is a U.S. tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) organization, consistent with IRS guidelines for both federal and state tax purposes, and thus gifts and memberships to NBNC are tax-deductible. Check out the link in our bio/the comments below to learn more!

For the past nine years, we’ve been glad to have Vermont Mutual Insurance Group's support for our mission: Connecting Pe...
08/15/2026

For the past nine years, we’ve been glad to have Vermont Mutual Insurance Group's support for our mission: Connecting People With the Natural World. That’s almost a decade of collaboration! This year, they have continued their tradition of giving by donating to support our ECO program.

More about Vermont Mutual Insurance Group: Chartered in 1828, they’re one of the oldest mutual property/casualty insurers in the United States and have operated continuously since that time right here in Montpelier, Vermont. As a mutual insurance company, Vermont Mutual is owned by its policyholders rather than shareholders.

Thank you again to Vermont Mutual Insurance Group for supporting nature education for kids in public schools in Vermont!

Researchers have found that Vermont is the most outdoorsy state in the US! (In other news, fork found in kitchen.)Resear...
08/13/2026

Researchers have found that Vermont is the most outdoorsy state in the US! (In other news, fork found in kitchen.)

Researchers commissioned by the mountain apparel brand KÜHL analyzed Google search data from August 2024 to August 2025, looking at interest in 14 popular outdoor activities across all 50 states (adjusted per 100,000 residents).

Vermont wasn’t just ranked outdoorsiest of all; we were also were at the top of the list for birdwatching, skiing, and swimming.

Go, us! Celebrate the good news by jumping in a river 🐟

08/13/2026

And just like that, summer is coming to an end! Can’t get enough of us?

✨ Our Forest Preschool has two spots for Thursdays and Fridays this year!
✨ Our Afterschool program is now full, but you can register for the waitlist on our website!
✨ ECO Homeschool is now open for registration — sign up on our website!

Visit northbranchnaturecenter.org/youth-programs or the link in our bio to learn more!

Address

713 Elm Street
Montpelier, VT
05602

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm

Telephone

+18022296206

Website

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