“The river boardwalk trail made it possible for my student with accessibility challenges to experience the wetlands and river in the same manner as his classmates. The CNC team did an amazing job accommodating his needs and making it fun and interesting for the entire class.” – 2nd grade teacher.
Our school education programs reach nearly 44,000 students each year, with approximately 35% of these students coming from Title I school communities where access and exposure to nature are limited.
“Clients at the North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC) Food Pantry make it a priority to visit on the days that CNC delivers their fresh produce!” – NFCC Director of Food Pantry Services
We donate nearly 10,000 pounds of fresh produce each year to the North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC) Food Pantry. This produce is grown from seed to harvest, primarily through the work of volunteers, meeting the needs of almost 200 food-insecure families each day.
“I never knew how many beautiful hawks get injured by human activity until I found one myself. So grateful for the CNC Wildlife Clinic who helps them heal and hopefully return to the wild.” – Facebook Follower
Our Wildlife Clinic assists nearly 800 patients annually with the goal of releasing these animals to their native habitat. Community members rely on our highly skilled and compassionate wildlife rehabilitators, who are licensed by the state and federal government, to give these injured and orphaned animals the best shot at recovery.
“Northside Hospital is committed to creating a stronger, healthier community fabric that extends well beyond our walls; we do this through partnerships with organizations that champion a similar culture of wellness and stewardship, such as the Chattahoochee Nature Center,” said Lee Echols, vice president of marketing and communications, Northside Hospital.
For nearly 50 years, community members have relied on CNC to be a welcoming, safe space to connect with nature to restore and relax. Visitors can engage in trail walking, seasonal canoe trips, bird watching, plein air painting, and a host of active pursuits.
General Public Sale: Friday and Saturday, March 29-30 and April 5-6 | 9AM-5PM
CNC Members Only: Thursday, March 28 | 4-7PM
Presented by Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District
Add native plants to your gardens and containers to grow a more wildlife-friendly greenspace. The CNC native plant sale, with knowledgeable staff and volunteers available for questions, is a unique opportunity for you to shop from an incredible selection of plants native to Georgia. The plant sale will take place outdoors, rain or shine.
All ages. FREE. Parking attendants to direct you. We can assist in loading your car with plant purchases.
Native plants range in price from $5 to $35. Credit cards accepted and CNC members receive a discount.
Friday and Saturday, March 29-30 and April 5-6 | 9AM-5PM
Presented by Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District
Add native plants to your gardens and containers to grow a more wildlife-friendly greenspace. The CNC native plant sale, with knowledgeable staff and volunteers available for questions, is a unique opportunity for you to shop from an incredible selection of plants native to Georgia. The plant sale will take place outdoors, rain or shine.
All ages. FREE. Parking attendants to direct you. We can assist in loading your car with plant purchases.
Native plants range in price from $5 to $35. Credit cards accepted and CNC members receive a discount.
Come help us restore the woodlands or wetlands at the Chattahoochee Nature Center! We will be working to remove invasive English Ivy, Privet, and other non-natives to encourage native habitat restoration. Dates and times are added frequently!
This workday is for ages 13 and up; children ages 13-15 will need adult supervision to participate. No experience or tools are required, although volunteers are encouraged to bring their own gloves.
There is a limit of 25 people per event.
If the date you are interested in is full, please check out the other available dates. Email volunteer@chattnaturecenter.org to sign up.
Session Dates: May 28 – August 1 One and two-week sessions are available
Ages: Rising Kindergarten – Rising 9th graders, plus ½ day 4-year old camp AND leadership opportunities for 10th-11th graders
Camp Hours: 9AM–3:45PM (drop off 8AM-9AM pick up from 3:45PM-4:30PM and paid aftercare until 5:30PM)
Camp Kingfisher has provided a true nature camp experience to thousands of campers over almost 30 summers. Campers are immersed in the outdoor world throughout CNC’s 127-acres, including CNC’s brand new boardwalk! Campers learn about canoeing, native animals and plants, and enjoy hikes along the Chattahoochee River and through our many forest trails. Camp Kingfisher works to help your child develop a love and appreciation for the outdoor world. Summer is right around the corner, so book your sessions early to secure a space for the 2022 camp season. Never been to Camp Kingfisher before? Give us a call, our staff is more than happy to answer any questions!
Questions? Call: 770-992-2055 x222
Email: camp@chattnaturecenter.org OR kingfisher@chattnaturecenter.org
Activities Include:
Daily swimming
Canoeing (2-4x per week)
Hikes
Animal demonstrations
Science Exploration Activities (SEA)
Half-day 4-year-old program
Archery (rising 4th–7th grades)
Art in Nature (rising 2nd–5th grades)
Survival Camp (rising 4th–7th grades)
Late evening experiences for rising 4th–9th grades
December 16, 2024 – February 28, 2025
Open Daily except for December 24-26 and December 31-January 1
As the chill air stirs and the trees lose their leaves, fairies and gnomes make their journey south and begin preparations to build their whimsical winter homes across the CNC’s property. Bundle up and head out to the trails with us this winter. Stay connected with the outdoors and slow down as you search for magical houses made from tiny natural objects.
>> Hike woodland trails to find fairy houses and gnome homes >> Miniature abodes made of natural objects and tiny treasures line the trails >> Vote for your favorite home at our Family Fun Day, Enchanted Woodland Wonders, on December 15 >> Homes designed by volunteers, donors, and local artists
(Included with General Admission and Free to CNC Members)
The total amount harvested in July was 2,230 pounds and included squash, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, okra, kale, green beans, turnips, basil, and garlic.
Christopher Horacek, Unity Garden and Schools Horticulturist, said, “In July, 7 varieties of tomatoes and 9 varieties of peppers were harvested.”
Horacek shared, “July is a peak harvest month so we were fortunate to have 2-6 volunteers assist with harvesting weekly and some even helped harvest twice in a week. It is awesome to have volunteers helping in the garden again.”
The Chattahoochee Nature Center recently began to allow volunteers to return to the property in limited capacity. Volunteers must meet CNC COVID-19 protocols, based on CDC and State of Georgia guidelines, before returning to the campus, as well as adhere to operational changes while on the property. Social distancing protocols are in place for all programs and volunteers and staff are wearing masks on the property.
DeAnn Fordham, Senior Director of Development and Marketing, said, “Volunteers are critical to the operation and success of the Center. Each year, more than 500 volunteers contribute 27,000 hours helping the Center implement programs and events, handle administrative work and assist our operational team on the grounds. COVID-19 has greatly impacted our ability to work with volunteers, many who are like family, and there service is greatly missed by our team. We are glad to have volunteers slowly returning to the property.”
Children who visit the CNC on Sunday afternoon, 12:00-3:00, July 26 will receive a packet (via QR code) of fun activities related to music, poetry, nature and science, play “Song of the Chattahoochee” hopscotch, and participate in a video recording of the poem “Song of the Chattahoochee” by renowned Georgia poet Sidney Lanier.
Timothy Miller, affectionately known as the “tenor lion” is famous for his rendition of “God Bless America” at Atlanta Braves games. Wanda Yang Temko is known for her thrilling soprano performances in opera and concert. The Meridian Chorale is sponsored by Meridian Herald, a choral arts non-profit that sings to make the world a better place. Combining music, literature, history and science into unique programs Meridian Herald aspires to build community and promote intellectual curiosity, empathy, understanding, and racial reconciliation.
SING! “Song of the Chattahoochee” is part of Meridian Herald’s newest program series Confluence. A confluence means the place where two rivers come together. It can also mean a place where ideas meet and grow.
Meridian Herald’s Confluence is the intersection of the environment and the arts. Produced by the Governor’s Award winning arts and humanities non-profit Meridian Herald and guided by a steering committee that includes 100 Miles, the Chattahoochee Nature Center, the Georgia Council for the Arts, the Georgia Humanities Council, the South Fork Conservancy, the Trust for Public Lands, and individual artists and community volunteers. Confluence will present a series of programs in 2020 and 2021 focused on art of all types—visual, musical and written—created by Georgia artists, amateur and professional, children and adults, who have been inspired by Georgia’s natural beauty and whose works inspire others to preserve and protect Georgia’s environment.
Check out Meridian Herald’s “Bound for the Promised Land,” produced by and recently listed for 2020 Grammy consideration by five-time Grammy Award winning producer Elaine Martone. See a video of the final work from Meridian Herald’s live gala concert, “Bound for the Promised Land,” here.
Written by Larry Strott, Canoe Coordinator at the CNC June 15, 2020
The Chattahoochee River starts as a small spring trickling out of an Appalachian Mountain hillside called Jack’s Knob, located about 10 miles north of Helen in Chattahoochee Gap. The tiny pool formed as water flows out of the ground is inhabited by tiny fish. The spring is also recorded as a reliable water source for hikers on the Appalachian Trail. Right from its modest start, the Chattahoochee River supports both natural and human lives. The water follows gravity down the mountain, across the state of Georgia, and eventually reaches the Gulf of Mexico about 550 miles south. Hundreds of tributaries make up the watershed that converges into the Chattahoochee River until it becomes large enough to support the needs of millions of people in 3 states. If you live in the vicinity of the Chattahoochee, there is a very good chance that the 60% of your body that is made of water, is in fact, Chattahoochee River water. The river is literally our life blood.
The transformation from the small trickle in the north Georgia mountains, to the beautiful river that flows past the Chattahoochee Nature Center, happens over many miles, growing in size from the many smaller tributaries along the way. The Chattahoochee Nature Center’s transformation from its own modest grassroots beginning back in 1976, to today’s 127-acre facility that touches the lives of more than 130,000 people each year, happened over many decades, thanks to thousands of members, sponsors, and volunteers, building a strong foundation. The river brings life-giving water to nourish our bodies and the Chattahoochee Nature Center provides unique natural experiences to enrich our minds. The Chattahoochee Nature Center Canoe Programs allow people to experience the natural world of the Chattahoochee River up close. In 2019 we had over 900 participants join us on the water through the CNC canoe programs!
Like many people here in Atlanta, the Chattahoochee Nature Center brought me together with the Chattahoochee River as a child back in 1979, when I took a canoe class on Kingfisher Pond. A decade later, still as a young man, I took a naturalist class at the Chattahoochee Nature Center. By this time, I had explored nearly every inch of Bull Sluice Lake in my canoe. My wife and I had our first date at Island Ford, sitting on a rock overlooking the river. We married on the same spot, and after which, I paddled my new bride 3 miles downriver to the Roswell River Landing where we held our reception. Not too many years later we would bring our own children back to the Chattahoochee Nature Center to let them start on their own path of natural discovery. Now I have come full circle and returned to the river and the Chattahoochee Nature Center, as a Canoe Guide. My journey with the Chattahoochee Nature Center has taken me down our amazing river for over 40 years. It has shown that the Chattahoochee Nature Center is not a resource just for children, but an invaluable source of natural experiences for all ages.
Unity Garden staff work hard to maintain garden without volunteer support
By Tracy Begley, Website and Marketing Specialist, and Julie Hollingsworth-Hogg, Horticulture Manager
As CNC begins the process of reopening to the public, we are happy to have visitors back on the property. There were too many quiet days, and we have enjoyed hearing kids laughing and enjoying the grounds the past week. The ticketing and reservation system, plus operational changes, will allow us to provide an outdoor, natural area for our guests to enjoy and also feel like we are taking their health and safety into consideration.
During our closure we still had many things happening around the property. The Operations Department worked hard on improvement projects, such as replacing decking and painting all of the metal railings. The Wildlife Department is providing care for the 100 resident animals that you see on exhibit, and those used for educational purposes. The Horticulture Department is still maintaining the native gardens and greenhouses, and the Unity Garden continues to provide fresh produce to the North Fulton Community Charities on a weekly basis.
Operations at the CNC has 3 departments – Maintenance, Horticulture, and Wildlife, and all 3 departments rely upon weekly volunteers to help with various tasks that support our mission at the nature center.
The Unity Garden has a group of dedicated volunteers that show up each week to help plant, weed, and harvest the 1/4 acre garden. In 2019 the horticulture department, which includes the Unity Garden, had 504 volunteers that provided 4,300 hours. The support of volunteers has been missed greatly. The largest obstacle over the last few months in the Unity Garden has been harvesting. It takes a considerable amount of time for Unity Garden Horticulturist, Christopher Horacek, to harvest alone each week, even with other horticulture staff helping him out.
I talked with Julie Hollingsworth-Hogg, Horticulture Manager, to find out what is currently happening in the Unity Garden.
What is being harvested right now?
The month of May will finish out the cool season crops. Lettuce, greens, carrots, and turnips will finish their growing and harvesting this month.
What is currently in the garden?
At this moment we still have lettuce, greens, carrots, turnips, radishes, and sugar snap peas, but the summer crops are going in. Tomatoes, peppers, carrots, green beans, eggplants, squash, and cucumbers have all been planted or will be going in soon.
How much has been harvested and donated to North Fulton Community Charities in 2020?
We have donated just over 1.5 tons of produce to North Fulton Community Charities to support their food bank for 2020. Last year we donated just over 4 tons. As you can imagine summer will produce larger harvests and donations, which is why it is so important right now to continue preparing the Unity Garden for summer crops even without the help of volunteers.
Just this last week Christopher took over 338 pounds of produce that included 5 varieties of lettuce, mustard greens, turnips, broccoli, and kale. North Fulton Community Charities is serving over 100 families right now. They supply food and personal needs and the families are very appreciative of the fresh produce, and the garden staff has planted specific crops to meet there preferences throughout the seasons.
Until we have volunteers return to the CNC the Horticulture Department and Unity Garden, staff will continue to take care of the garden and make sure that as the needs of families remain in Fulton County the Unity Garden at the Chattahoochee Nature Center will be there to provide fresh produce.