Highlands Center for Natural History, Prescott Arizona

Located in the Prescott National Forest (Arizona) the Highlands Center for Natural History provides the perfect environment for adults and children alike to learn about natural sciences. In fact people come from all over the world to the witness the wonders of natures and how the natural world can be preserved.

Situated on about eighty acres, some six thousand feet above sea level, Prescott, Arizona's Highlands Center for Natural History boasts an exciting array of informational activities for young and old. It focuses on environmental protection and the fascinating world of Mother Nature.

The center sits between the Colorado Plateau and the Sonoran Desert. Visitors learn how to become nature's caretakers, green living, fire safety, water conservation techniques, land revegetation and relandscaping the natural wilderness.

Many programs are available to families, schools and day camp children. Tours are also an option, both of which include field trips, in-house and outside lectures, creative and informative workshops and a host of other things to help expand the mind. Some of these cover such topics as geology, butterflies, botany, astronomy, bird watching, ecology, the local wildlife, adventure expeditions and a musical evening in the center's Kiwanis Theater.

The site is open to the general public year round. Winter hours are from 8am to 6pm. Summer hours are from 7am to 7pm daily. Most of it is wheelchair friendly, including its looping trail. Admission is by donation only. Access to the center is from the nearby highway, though hikers can get onto the trail that leads into its site from other nearby trails.