Howell Nature Center

I’ve organized a few company offsites here and I love working with the Howell Nature Center! Sally and team are really easy to work with, and very accommodating with fitting in a group that can change frequently and has many requests. Jessa has led our group activities and she can really help adults understand how the activities they’re doing have an impact in their professional lives. I love sending our teams there to spend a day having fun and getting outside of their daily office routines! I’m excited to continue to work with the Howell team in 2016 and beyond.

True story. One day my husband is driving along with the window open, and a dead possum lays in the middle of the road. Too late to roll up (potential stink, yuck) he hears a tiny little noise coming from the nearby brush. After some investigating and giving up, he meanders away on his merry way to wherever he was going.
Half an hour later while on the phone with myself, he can’t let go of the noise and tells me about it. He picks me up and we go investigate some more. Well, a tiny little baby possum the size of a small mouse is crawling around, crying for his mommy. Of course this happened on a Sunday and of course we have no idea what to do. Leaving it seems sad — so I start Googling.
Eventually I find *this* place, and they tell us to go ahead and bring him in. We make a little possum bed out of a large Tupperware bin and a towel we find in the trunk, and off we go on our way to Howell. We arrived and dropped off «Dot» the possum in the capable hands of the staff.
They rehabilitate stray wildlife to the point where in the near future it can once again be released into the wild. Attached to this area is a nice nature trail, as the center is in a wooded area.
A cool plus is that along this trail they have numerous animals indigenous to Michigan for viewing. All these animals have been rescued and are for whichever reason not capable to be re-​released into the wild. There are plenty of birds such as owls, hawks, etc (even a bald eagle), deer, raccoons, and so many more along the trail.
This would be a nice place to take your family, go for a walk, check out the animals, learn a thing or two and maybe enjoy a picknick. Since most of our day was ‘shot’ because of this little excursion to Howell, we were unable to stick around for too long. We spent about an hour perusing the grounds but could have easily spent double that time if we took our time doing the trails.
Entrance is free, but donations are highly recommended.

First of all, the state’s official groundhog, Woody (actually a girl), is housed here. Cool, right? Also, lots of other little critters are here too!
My toddler loves visiting here and looking at all the animals and walking around. It’s the perfect spot to spend a summer day hiking (there’s a small loop and two other trails that are around 4 miles I believe), picnicking and watching animals. Mega bonus? It’s FREE, but I strongly suggest a donation. We need to keep this gem open!
There’s also an AMAZING kid’s play area, complete with a massive water fountain, sand box and more. Such an awesome spot to spend some time.
One item to note: If you have a baby, wear him/​her, or pack a jogging stroller. The dirt paths aren’t the most stroller-​friendly. With that said, regular strollers can be used, you just may be getting a nice workout in the process!
The staff is super sweet and wonderful and the grounds are gorgeous, too. Enjoy!

I took my 2 year old nephews here and they loved it! They got to get up close to native Michigan animals and hike outside! We were especially lucky that many of the animals were very active on the day we were there. It’s a great place to take kids, hike and see animals and have a picnic. I will definitely return in the future!