WildWoods & Fernbank Forest
WildWoods
WildWoods is the 10-acre woodland area immediately behind the museum and accessible from the museum terrace. In this area, you can explore a variety of nature experiences, including a canopy walk, outdoor exhibits, walking trails, nature play areas and more. The paths and experiences in WildWoods are ADA-accessible.
Fernbank Forest
After passing through WildWoods, you will find Fernbank Forest, a 65-acre old-growth forest. While exploring the forest, you can observe stunning seasonal transformations and native plants and wildlife, including a variety of native birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals!
Outdoor Exploration
Enjoy the wonder of nature in the heart of the city!
Fernbank offers all-season nature experiences for all ages, including direct access to Fernbank Forest.
You’ll discover something new each time you visit. You don’t have to drive north to enjoy the fall colors — Fernbank Forest and WildWoods come alive with dramatic yellows and oranges as the leaves change each November. In the winter, the evergreen trees and shrubs are the standouts. Once the temperatures begin to rise, wildflowers bloom throughout the spring and summer, from trilliums to native rhododendrons.
While exploring outside at Fernbank, you are surrounded by a diverse ecosystem, which includes wildlife, plants, fungi and more. Look up into the trees as well as all around you. Listen for the hooting of our resident barred owls or the screech of a red-shouldered hawk. You never know where you will find the next fantastic flower or fascinating spider.
Recommended by Smithsonian Magazine as one of the Seven Places to Get Outside This Summer.
Outdoor Programming
WildWoods and Fernbank Forest are open daily* for self-guided walks. If you are interested in learning more, we offer several guided outdoor programs and walks.
- Meet A Ranger programs are 30-minute drop-in programs for all ages, located in the Kendeda Pavilion in WildWoods. Visitors may learn about the life cycles of a frog, how trees process sunlight, what dinosaurs have been found in our region, and many other topics.
- Family Nature Walks are a 30-minute tour through WildWoods with a Fernbank Educator. Guests will explore plants, wildlife and more while walking.
- Guided morning or evening forest walks are available throughout the year and include themed walks focused on birds, native plants, nocturnal animals and more.
- Private guided Fernbank Forest tours can be booked for a fee. These tours are led by a Fernbank Ranger and can be 1-2 hours. They can focus on the Forest overall or have a more specific theme relevant to your group.
More information about each program and upcoming program dates can be found on our Calendar of Events.
*Please note that Fernbank Forest closes at 4:30 p.m. daily to ensure time to return to the museum before it closes at 5 p.m. In the unlikely event of inclement weather, we may need to temporarily suspend access for your safety.
Champion Trees
Fernbank’s campus is home to a variety of champion trees and shrubs, including an eastern hemlock, pignut hickory and northern red oak.
Champion trees are the biggest individual specimens of a species in a city, region or state. These are some of our oldest and most majestic specimens and worthy of a visit as well as ongoing protection. Fernbank’s champion eastern hemlock is over 99 feet tall, and one of our champion loblolly pines is over 148 feet tall!
Trees Atlanta maintains the list of champion trees for Atlanta, including an interactive map.
Citizen Science
Fernbank Museum participates in and supports many research projects. While many of these projects are done in conjunction with academic institutions or similar organizations, we also engage in citizen science projects.
Scientific research that recruits help from the general public is considered as citizen science. These projects can be done by anyone who has an interest in science, nature, research and more. Experience is often not needed, but you will learn by participating. Citizen science projects increase the data pool available to scientists and can lead to new and unexpected discoveries.
Every April, Fernbank Museum leads the Atlanta City Nature Challenge. This is a global research project in the form of a bioblitz and is open to everyone in the metro Atlanta area.
Caterpillar Count! is a citizen science project that measures the seasonal variation and abundance of arthropods like caterpillars, beetles and spiders found on the foliage of trees and shrubs.
SciStarter is an excellent resource for finding local citizen science projects both at Fernbank and beyond. This is a global site used by researchers, communities, organizations and companies to answer real-world research questions.
For ongoing citizen science projects, you can use iNaturalist and Merlin at any time. They are excellent free apps to start learning more about nature in the Atlanta region or anywhere in the world.
Volunteer Opportunities
Fernbank has several volunteer opportunities to assist with restoration projects in our outdoor areas.
Questions?
Questions regarding WildWoods and Fernbank Forest, including forest restoration and volunteer opportunities and internships, should be directed to Forest@FernbankMuseum.org.
Make more possible with a gift to the Annual Fund.
Fernbank is a nonprofit natural history museum, giant screen theater and old-growth forest, and is not affiliated with Fernbank Science Center, which operates as a division of DeKalb County Schools.
