Earth Day 2025


In celebration of the weeks around Earth Day and the spring season, enjoy a range of free and low-cost family events! Nature Net’s Earth Day 2025 offers your family a variety of opportunities to enjoy the outdoors, get involved in your local and natural community, and become motivated to make a difference in the health and sustainability of the environment.

Check our events schedule and mark your calendar for a Bouquet of things to do, explore and learn about this Earth Day season.

Nature Net Calendar

2025 Events at Nature Net Sites

UW Arboretum

Volunteer for restoration activities and learn about prairies and savannas. Tools and training provided. Groups welcome with advance notice. Meet at Grady Tract parking lot, southeast corner of Seminole Hwy. and W. Beltline Frontage Rd. Event capacity is limited, please arrive by 9 a.m. More information: (608) 263-3774 or anne.pearce@wisc.edu.

Celebrate the return of spring on a flower-filled stroll through Longenecker Horticultural Gardens’ dazzling collection of 110 magnolia trees. Tour led by David Stevens, garden curator and Magnolia Society International board member. Due to the popularity of this tour, free registration through Eventbrite is required by April 15: uw-madison-arboretum.eventbrite.com. Meet at the Visitor Center.

Learn about the land, plants, animals, fungi, phenology, and ecology. Geared for adults, these longer walks may cover some sloping terrain. Wear sturdy closed-toe shoes and come prepared for weather and insects. Walks canceled for unsafe conditions. Free, no registration required. Meet at Arbor Dr. parking lot, off Monroe St. (No restroom facilities at Wingra Oak Savanna.)

This program is a fun, fascinating way for families with children elementary age and younger to explore the natural world. Nature walk: 1:30–2:30 p.m., activities: 2:30–3:30 p.m. Adults must attend. Wear sturdy closed-toe shoes and come prepared for weather. Walks canceled for unsafe conditions. Free, no registration required. Meet at the Visitor Center.

Horicon Marsh

Help celebrate the earth and your Horicon Marsh!  Bring your family out to the Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center to discover all the incredible wildlife that makes YOUR marsh such a special place.
  • Families can complete a free self-guided scavenger hunt with hands-on activities in and around the Education Center to be entered for a Flyway Gift Shop prize drawing.
  • NEW! Join us at 11:00am for a special book reading and signing by local author Jessica Stremer of her book “Plight of the Pelican”. Books we be available for purchase.
  • NEW! Visit the “Bat Cave” and learn more about this underappreciated animals.
  • Examine animal artifacts, meet hard-to find critters in person, and even take a look under the water as you learn about all kinds of Wisconsin wildlife. You will have the opportunity solve a nature mystery or two, and have the chance to take a selfie with our lovable snapping turtle Marshall.
  • This year, Chef Kylie from Bent Spork, will be back with a scrumptious lunch menu.  Additional cost.
  • We’ll also have Reduced Explorium admission rates of $3 per person all day, children 4 and under free. Join us at the marsh as we explore special creatures in a special place.
Free and no registration required. For more information please contact Liz Herzmann at 920-210-9054 or elizabeth.herzmann@wisconsin.gov.

City of Madison Parks

Celebrate Earth Day with your neighbors and friends by volunteering to clean up your local park! Join this community-wide volunteer effort to help make a difference. Accept the Earth Day Challenge with Madison Parks! We are seeking 900 volunteers at 60+ parks, located throughout the city to assist with trash pickup, raking, weeding, and removing sticks. We supply gloves, garbage bags and rakes. Rakes at each park will be based on the number of volunteers registered. Register for your local park here.

The 2025 Bird & Nature Festival is a free, family-friendly event celebrating Madison Bird City, Arbor Day and Earth Day.  See live birds by Open Door Bird Sanctuary and visit nature displays throughout the day.  Plan 30-45 minutes for your visit anytime between 12 and 4 pm, during this ongoing event.

  • All ages welcome
  • Free admission
  • Restrooms available
  • Free parking

See, Do, Explore!   See birds of prey including a hawk and eagles up close with Open Door Bird Sanctuary!

Activities

  • On-going walkthrough live raptor show and display
  • Exhibits & hands-on activities by nature organizations
    • Nature Conservancy, Friends of Cherokee Marsh, Wild Warner, and more!
  • Arbor Day Bush Planting and Walk
  • Earth Day Warner Beach Walk
  • View a local eagle’s nest by telescope
  • Food carts: Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Truck & Kona Ice

Volunteer Opportunity: Interested in assisting? We have various volunteer roles available to make this event a success! To learn more please contact Parks Volunteer Coordinator.

For more information about the event and to exhibit, call Paul Noeldner (608) 698-0104

Dane County Parks at the Lussier Family Heritage Center

Join Dane County Parks staff for an Earth Day Extravaganza! Stop by the Lussier Family Heritage Center for some fun activities, including:

  • Heritage Oak Tree Sapling Giveaway (while supplies last) – Dane County Tree Board
  • Rainfall Simulator Demonstration
  • Healthy Parks, Healthy You Initiative
  • Native Plant Seed Ball Making

We will also offer volunteer shifts for a number of activities including tree planting, native plant transplanting, mulching and more. Please sign up in advance if you would like to help with one of these volunteer activities. An outdoor wheelchair will be available for use by volunteers with an advanced sign up. Use the volunteer signup form to register for a wheelchair spot and also a volunteer spot. Families with younger children are invited to help us make native plant seed balls in the activity area (no sign up required).

This event is a part of the Healthy Parks, Healthy You program, an initiative led in partnership between the Foundation for Dane County Parks, Dane County Parks, Dean Health Plan by Medica, and SSM Health. Healthy Parks, Healthy You engages youth, seniors, and their families in improving their mental, physical, and emotional health through the use of our beautiful Dane County Parks system.

Aldo Leopold Nature Center

Interested in helping restore and maintain ALNC’s prairie, pond, and woodlands?

Join us the second Saturday of the month, April through October, to help control invasive species, seed with native plants, get dirty, and have some fun! Volunteer work days will focus mainly on land management and other projects as needed. Work days may be cancelled or planned activities modified due to inclement weather. Pre-registration is not required but strongly encouraged. This month’s project is a family-friendly clean-up! Put on your favorite brightly-colored clean-up clothes to help us pick up trash throughout the greenspaces of Aldo Leopold Nature Center, Edna Taylor Conservation Park, and Woodland Park. Groups comfortable in doing so, can also pick up trash along Femrite Drive.

Join Get Kids Outside for their spring event! Spring is here and it’s time for spring flowers to pop up. One of the first flowers of spring is bloodroot and we will learn about this pretty little flower and then take a short hike looking for spring birds. Afterwards, the kids will enjoy a warm fire and a snack. Join us for this free, fun adventure! Learn about spring ephemerals like bloodroot and look for spring birds with a hike around Aldo Leopold Nature Center.

Cave of the Mounds

Join us for a one-of-a-kind Spring Celebration and Earth Day experience at the breathtaking Cave of the Mounds! This special event invites guests to enjoy an enchanting evening inside the cave with live music resonating through the limestone chambers, capturing the essence of nature’s beauty.

Each guest will receive a souvenir photo to commemorate their adventure, plus a complimentary drink and an array of delicious appetizers. To honor Earth Day, guests can take home a small bag of native seeds to plant, fostering new life in their own outdoor spaces.

Celebrate the arrival of spring and the beauty of nature in an unforgettable setting! Tickets are available for $45 a person and include all of the above amenities.

 

Join These National Programs

Don’t Miss This!

April 25 – April 29 UW Madison Earth Fest

Earth Fest is for all members of the Badger community: from students to alumni, faculty to friends, and seasoned experts to future Badgers. Dive into groundbreaking research or dig in the dirt as you pot your own plant. Sift and winnow the latest research or sort and filter recyclables. Make career connections for your future or master sustainable techniques for your home.

Learn more about the Earth Fest Kickoff Celebration

Check out the Schedule of Events

Let Us Know How You Celebrate!

Post comments and photos of your Earth Day 2025 experiences on Nature Net’s Facebook page.

Upcoming Events

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