Heller
Nature Center

TRAIL HOURS:

  • Every Day
    7:30am - Dusk

BUILDING HOURS:

  • Sun-Mon
    Closed
  • Tue
    11:30am-5pm
  • Wed, Thu, Fri
    10:30am-5pm
  • Sat
    9am-3pm

Adventure is Out There

the opportunities are endless

Heller Nature Center is not only home to 97-acres of beautiful oak-hickory forest, tallgrass prairie, oak savanna, natural wetlands, and three miles of trails, but it is also home to incredible nature programs and adventures. Our Heller staff plans seasonal nature excursions and educational programs, including canoe trips, nature lectures, amazing nature adventure summer camps with rock climbing, and white-water rafting. Every August, you can participate in harvesting over hundreds of pounds of Heller Honey produced by our famous Heller bees. If you are looking for a quiet escape to the woods, enjoy a picnic in our woodlands, visit our nature exhibit, participate in a program, play in Wander Woods, and cross-country ski our trails.  Heller also has a teams course for groups and a self-guided StoryTrail. Heller’s red, green and blue trails are crushed stone and wheel chair accessible. Our yellow trail is woodchipped.

Registration

Spring Session

Heller Honey

2023 Heller Honey is sold out.

Heller Honey is 100% natural and produced in hives at the Heller Nature Center. Heller bees gather nectar from local plants, including bee balm, linden, acacia, honeysuckle and other fragrant blossoms to make this flavorful honey. In addition to producing hundreds of pounds of tasty honey, the bees play an essential role, pollinating many flowering plants.

Heller Nature Center staff and beekeeping volunteers extract the honey in late August. 

We offer public education programs at Heller’s apiary or we can come to you with our new portable observation hive. If you would like to discover more about bees and beekeeping, call us at 847.433.6901.

Wander Woods Nature Play Space

Heller Nature Center’s Wander Woods Nature Play Space is a free play natural area designed to nurture a child’s sense of wonder and discovery.

Wander Woods provides an unstructured play area limited only by the imagination. Nestled in the trees and solitude, children can climb a tree house, create in a mud kitchen, experiment with ramps and much more. Let the creativity and messiness begin.

Notes from the Trail Blog

Rentals & Parties

Reserve a date for your next group meeting, family gathering or birthday party at Heller Nature Center.  The unique, natural, and comfortable surroundings of Heller Nature Center make it a great choice for celebrations!

Art Exhibit

Artwork by local artist Samantha Gallagher will be on display in the Prairie Room from March 1 to April 30 at the Heller Nature Center.

Drawing is a passion of Samantha’s, as well as her love of insects – especially bees. She delights in learning about and identifying as many different bees as she can, and has attended several bee identification workshops in the U.S. Artistically rendering insects melds perfectly with her interest in taxonomy: Both require great care and attention to the finest details and accuracy.

We recommend calling ahead (847.433.6901) to be sure the room is available for viewing, since the room is often used for programs and rentals.

Heller Nature Center is proud to feature artists who explore nature through their work and passion. If you are an artist who would like to display your work at Heller, please contact Cara Wren at 847.579.4181 or [email protected].

Questions?

Contact Us

Meghan
Meredith
Program Manager
847.579.4183
Mark
Bryant
Naturalist Teacher
847.579.4184
Kerrick
Goodman-Lucker
Naturalist Teacher
847.579.4182
Cara
Wren
Office Coordinator
847.579.4181