Wehr Nature Center is a place where everyone belongs. Open year-round, we offer accessible buildings, trails, and park features designed for visitors of all ages and abilities. Wander our more than five-miles of trails traversing five distinct habitats all within a five-minute walk. Enjoy universally designed exhibits, comfortable restrooms, and hands-on unique programs that bring people together through nature all year round.
Save the Date!
July 26 @ 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Join us for an inclusive Open House celebrating Wehr Nature Center’s commitment to equitable access to the outdoors for people of all ages and abilities. This free community event invites everyone to explore nature through accessible experiences, adaptive recreation, and meaningful connections with local accessibility partners.
August 22 @ 4:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Discover the plants behind your favorite beverages at this leisurely, fun, and educational evening at Wehr featuring local coffee, tea, craft beer, and other purveyors. Live music, food trucks, and more!
All Ages and Abilities
10:30 am – 11:30 am
12:00 am – 11:59 pm
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
9:00 am – 10:00 am
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Featured Program
Unplug, slow down, and de-stress from your daily routine. Inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, a certified forest bathing guide will lead you through a series of sensory-based invitations designed to relax, restore, and deepen your relationship with the natural world.
Wehr Nature Center inspires all generations to explore and value the plants and animals of our natural world through experiential education, accessible trails, native landscapes and natural areas.
April – June Newsletter
Bluebirds are furnishing nest boxes, pussy willows are blooming, and wood and chorus frogs are singing at the ephemeral pond.
In this issue of the Spring Wehr Words Newsletter, we hope you’ll enjoy learning about wild turkeys, Wehr’s new focus on native bees, and updates on projects at Wehr.
One bird’s mess is another bird’s meal! Wehr’s Wild Turkeys will gladly clean up the stray seed thrown to the ground by busy birds at the feeders. It’s quite a sight to find cardinals, doves, and sparrows eating right alongside these giant turkeys.
See why Wehr Nature Center is “a place for all seasons, a place for everyone.” Explore more than five miles of nature trails through woodland, wetland, prairie and oak savanna on 220-acres of protected land in Whitnall Park at Wehr Nature Center.
This is without a doubt, the best place to birdwatch and see wildlife in the Milwaukee metro area. The nature center is fantastic. The staff is welcoming and the trails are extremely well-maintained. Always something exciting to see!
We still have room for our Friday Afield: McGovern Park program on June 26 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm. You can find more details here: www.wehrnaturecenter.com/event/friday-afield-mcgovern-park/It is also Pollinator Week and we want to do a little highlight on Monarch Caterpillars and Milkweed as the theme for this year is Life on a Leaf. 🌿Did you know that milkweed contains toxic compounds called cardenolides in the form of the sticky sap. When caterpillars eat the leaves, they store these toxins, making them poisonous and unpalatable to predators like birds. 🐦To bypass the sticky sap, larger (fifth instar) monarch caterpillars crawl to the main stem or the base of a leaf and sever the major veins. This depressurizes the leaf and stops the flow of sap to the tip. Once the flow is safely diverted, the caterpillar can eat the leaf without getting its mouth glued shut. 🦋
Celebrate Pollinator Week June 22nd through June 28th! 🎉The 2026 theme this year is ""Life on a Leaf: Celebrating Host Plants." What is a host plant? Host plants are specific plants or groups of plants that an organism (most commonly a butterfly, moth, or other insect) relies on for food, shelter, and reproduction. Probably the most famous group of host plants are those are the many species of Milkweeds, which help support the Monarch Butterfly. 🦋In honor of "Life on a Leaf: Celebrating Host Plants we want to share a creature feature on the Fawn Sphinx Caterpillar as seen in the photo. They are native to Wisconsin and have been found in Milwaukee County. The caterpillar of the Fawn Sphinx (aka Laurel Sphinx) eats plants such as Laurel (Kalmia latifolia), lilac (Syringa vulgaris), fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus), privet (Ligustrum), ash (Fraxinus), poplar (Populus), mountain holly (Nemopanthus mucronatus), and northern bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera). Sphinx moths are also known as hawk moths because they are strong and fast fliers. They sometimes hover over flowers when sipping nectar; many fly in the late afternoon and are mistaken for small hummingbirds, and some night-flowering plants are pollinated by sphinx moths. Some sphinx moths are important pollinators of members of the Orchid family. The hornworms (as in the notorious Tomato hornworm) are Sphinx caterpillars. For the most part, every member of the Sphinx moth family will have a caudal horn as a caterpillar. Seeing a caterpillar with a horn on their hind end does NOT automatically make them a Tomato or Tobacco Hornworm, and are more often than not a friend and not a foe. One way we celebrate Pollinator Week is to learn more about our local pollinators, to support them by planting native plants, using fewer chemicals, and sharing with others what you have learned. You can find out more by visiting: www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week 📸: Wehr Nature Center#wehrnaturecenter #milwaukeecountyparks
Enjoy member perks like free parking, discounts on select programs and events, and more!
Quick question!
English 
Español de México