Welcome


… to the White Mountain Nature Center, located in Lakeside, Arizona. Our mission is to connect people with nature through experiences that inspire appreciation for the natural wonders of the White Mountains, by providing:

  • Close-up and personal wildlife encounters
  • World Class Raptor Training Exhibition
  • Gift shop with local and nature focused items
  • Interactive exhibits
  • Educational programs and presentations, and 
  • Information about other local opportunities to experience nature


White Mountain Nature Center

What to do in the White Mountains

The White Mountain Nature Center offers a variety of resources to help you learn about and connect with the abundance of opportunities to experience and enjoy the nature the region offers, such as:

  • Hiking
  • Bird Watching
  • Biking
  • Exploring
  • Fishing
  • Nature Oriented Community Events
  • Camping

We hope to see you soon!

Get involved! Take a look at our EVENT CALENDAR and join us. Educational events are free to members or $5 for non-members.




Raptor Training Exhibition

Come enjoy a world-class free-flight Raptor Training Exhibition at a state-of-the-art facility. It features Speedy, the Red-tailed Hawk, Azul the recycling American Crow, Astro the beautiful and acrobatic Aplomado Falcon, and other amazing species trained by Certified Professional Trainers to perform natural behaviors on cue. Tickets are available in advance. Prices are $5 for adults, and $1 for children 12 and under.

Days/Hours:

Winter (Nov – Apr) Wednesday – Saturday at 2:45 PM

Summer (May – Oct) Tuesday – Saturday at 2:45 PM



Kids Camps

This year we hosted several weeks of Camp! It was exciting, fun, and perfect summer experience for kids. Camp agendas and curriculum come from the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix, which also handles registration. This affiliation gives us really great content, like space exploration, detective themes, and more. It is inspirational and fun and packed with great information and learning experiences wrapped in fun and adventure.



Get Inspired

Nothing inspires conservation action and appreciation of the nature around us than experiencing it first hand with an expert at your side. Weather it is holding a gigantic Eagle-Owl on a glove, or seeing a dam built by beavers, or watching millions of butterflies leave their cocoons and fly in a gigantic burst of color exploding in the sky above you; we can provide the inspiration if you will simply come to the Nature Center and partake. Like to hike? Trails are all around us, and we have experts to point out the birds, trees, frogs, and sights that you might miss otherwise. We love to pass along our enthusiasm and thrill others, so join us, and learn to love nature that is right here for all of us to enjoy.


RAPTOR SHOW

World-Class Raptor Free-Flight Show


The new Raptor Center for the daily Training Exhibition is directly behind the existing Nature Center with a beautiful indoor mural of the Big Springs Meadow and surrounding forest.

Raptor Show




Meet Our Friends

Learn about our Animal Ambassadors…
Simon and Garfunkel the Eurasian Eagle Owls are our most famous Ambassadors.  RTH Speedwagon, or Speedy, is a Red Tailed Hawk. Azul is an American Crow.  And our amazing Aplomado Falcon, Astro, is one of the most acrobatic birds in the world. We also just added Breeze, an American Bald Eagle and Blossom, a turkey vulture to our show ambassador collection! They are unforgettable once you meet them in person!

Read more





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