The arrival of spring is cause for celebration!
Join us for a series of free activities, nature walks, regional community science bioblitz, and habitat restoration plantings and projects.
Burlington’s wild and natural areas are amazing places to celebrate the change of seasons! Join us in celebration of these places, experience the rhythms of nature and the diversity of life that surrounds us.
Take part in engaging with the more-than-human world in the greater Burlington area this April and May!
Learn More
City Nature Celebration began in April of 2021 and has become an annual event series coordinated by Burlington Wildways with the support of a variety of community partners.
April, when the leaves begin to emerge, birds return, and the hope of spring fills the air, is the perfect time to celebrate!
Spectacular Nature Day is the big celebration, kicking off a number of events across Burlington.
Pick your own adventure and browse this year's event offerings where you'll get to explore the natural world with others in the wild places of Burlington!
What’s Happening?
All events are free for the community, so come explore and see what you can discover! Join us for our kickoff event, Spectacular Nature Day at the Intervale Center. You can dive into our Bioblitz to help track early-season bees and butterflies as part of a community science effort, or sign up for a guided nature walk to enjoy the best of spring in Vermont.
Spectacular Nature Day
4.26.26 10 am- 2 pm
Intervale Center, 180 Intervale Rd
A spectacular day of fun for all ages! Participate in the bioblitz, help with planting projects, sample foraged foods, enjoy a variety of activities from birdwatching to finding aquatic insects to a kid's activity table, and much more!
The Spring Bees and Butterflies Bioblitz
4/25/-5/31/26
Burlington · Colchester · Winooski
Explore the springtime in Burlington, Colchester, and Winooski by helping make observations of early-season bees and butterflies using the iNaturalist app!
Native Plant Giveaway Series
4/26, TBA, TBA, TBA, TBA
Burlington
You're invited to be a part of a local effort to reconnect the landscape with native plants and support local pollinators! This partnership between Burlington Wildways and the UVM Dept. of Plant Biology is bringing established native plant starts to you for free.
Tree Planting Along the Winooski River
5/1/26
1 Ethan Allen Homestead
The WNRCD will be partnering with the Winooski Valley Park District to plant 1.65 acres along the Winooski River. This 100-foot riparian buffer will include 675 trees to improve water quality, prevent erosion and create habitat.
To sign up, email [email protected]
Memorial Park Cleanup on Greenup Day
5/2/26 12-2pm,
Memorial Park, near 133 Elm Street Winooski
Join for a cleanup, cookout, and guided walk in partnership with the Winooski Valley Park District and the Friends of the Winooski River!
Nature walks & activities
Nature walks with Burlington Wildways and community partners in the wild places of the Greater Burlington area.
Saturday Morning Bird Walks at Rock Point
Every Saturday morning from 8am-10am
Led by local birder and naturalist Lachlan Ziegler, we'll explore the birds of Rock Point together each Saturday. All experience levels are welcome: whether you want to hone your bird identification skills or simply enjoy their beauty and song, join us for this weekly gathering to experience birds together throughout the seasons. Meet at Rock Point Center, located at 20 Rock Point Road. Parking is available outside the Center.
Woodland Wildflowers in Spring
4/25 10:30am - 12:30pm
Ethan Allen Park, 1006 North Ave
Join Burlington Parks Recreation & Waterfront and Alicia Daniel of Vermont Master Naturalist for a morning of woodland spring wildflowers, also known as spring ephemerals! These fleeting plants are some of the earliest blooms on the forest floor in Vermont before the trees have leafed out, and within weeks they’ll be gone.
Ethan Allen Park boasts a diversity of woodland wildflowers. Alicia will describe what makes these beautiful plants so special, how to identify them, find them on the landscape, and why these fragile plants need protection.
Bird Walk at Spectacular Nature Day
4/26 at 10:15am
Intervale Center, 180 Intervale Rd
Join Audubon VT for a morning bird walk during Spectacular Nature Day.
Spring Wildflowers and Geology
4/29 6-8pm
Rock Point, 20 Rock Point Rd
Join ecologist Leslie Spencer for a guided exploration of Rock Point’s spring wildflowers, using the “bedrock to birds” approach to reading the landscape. Discover how ancient geological events have shaped the plant life we see today. Along the way, we’ll also keep an eye out for early-season pollinators. This will be a leisurely ~2 hour walk, following Rock Point’s trails at a meandering pace, with some rocky inclines along the way.
Footprints in the Floodplain: A Walk Through Spring Flora and Forgotten Fields
5/3 10:30am
Saint Michael’s College Natural Area campus trailhead, 35 Knight Hl Rd, Colchester, VT 05439
Join Saint Michael’s College biologist Declan McCabe for an immersive journey through a stunning slice of the sandplain delta. Spanning 365 acres in the lower Winooski Valley, the Saint Michael’s College Natural Area is a hidden gem where upland slopes meet rich riparian habitats blending old-growth forest remnants with the history of former farm fields. The walk will take approximately 2 hours and pass a vernal pool, and a constructed wetland, visit active beaver ponds, and maps will be provided as you are encouraged you to return often to take advantage of the self-guided interpretive trail!
Birdwatching with Taj Schottland at Red Rocks Park
5/5 7:30am
Red Rocks Park, 4 Central Ave, South Burlington, VT 05403
Join an engaging early-morning spring bird walk with Taj Schottland! Taj is a lifelong birder who enjoys sharing his passion and expertise with others. He began his career as an avian biologist before shifting to focus on climate change and conservation more broadly, but his love of birds never diminished. He has birded extensively across the U.S. and Central America and has seen nearly 1,000 species, including more than 300 here in Vermont.
Nature Journaling at Rock Point
Wednesday, May 13, 10am-noon (and every second Wednesday of the month)
Nature journaling is a great way to slow down, look closely, and become familiar with the phenology of our local landscapes. In this monthly drop-in series, we'll spend an hour at a sit spot observing and journaling throughout the seasons. Led by artist & naturalist Lorna Dielentheis. Meet at Rock Point Center, located at 20 Rock Point Road. Parking is available outside the Center.
Insect Pollinator Walks at Rock Point
Saturday, May 16, 10:30am-12:30pm (and every third Saturday of the month)
Led by naturalist Lorna Dielentheis, this monthly event is like a bird walk-- but for insects! Bring your insect nets, cameras, binoculars, or even just your smart phone. We'll explore various natural communities around Rock Point and look closely at their insect inhabitants, with a special focus on pollinators. We'll document what we see and submit observations to community science efforts such as VCE's Vermont Butterfly Atlas and Pollinator Interactions on Plants project. Meet at Rock Point Center, located at 20 Rock Point Road. Parking is available outside the Center.
Ephemeral Beauty: Spring Wildflowers at Rock Point Center
Exhibit runs from April 10- May 31
Rock Point Center. Open hours: every Thursday-Saturday, 10am-2pm
Rock Point Center's spring exhibit focuses on ephemeral wildflowers. Come watch a film on the wildflowers and natural history of Rock Point, browse the exhibit, and take home a checklist of spring wildflowers to find at Rock Point!
More events to be announced!
Check back soon for nature walks and other ways to get involved.
In the meantime, follow us on Instagram @burlingtonwildways to hear about event announcements.
Speakers Series
View recordings from the 2021-2024 speakers series made possible by the Main St. Landing Performing Arts Center and the Media Factory.
Community science: discoveries from the world of birds, butterflies, & plant-pollinator interactions
Slimy, scaled, and spectacular: a peek into herpetology in Vermont
The Bees of Burlington
Spiny Softshell Turtles of Lake Champlain
Mammals in the Queen City: The Top of Burlington's Food Chain?
City Nature Celebration & Tracking the Seasons
Insects and Pollinators
