Environmental Education at the Threshold of the Wilderness

Celebrating high alpine ecology and environmental stewardship, the new Wild Bear Nature Center immerses visitors in the experience of education, discovery and wonder. 

At 9,000 feet above sea level, Wild Bear Nature Center is integrated into Nederland, Colorado’s Mud Lake Open Space recreation area and is designed to be a regional destination for environmental education, inclusive and welcoming for visitors year-round.

The Nature Center building, designed by Arch11, will be carbon emission-free, utilizing passive, energy-efficient design strategies. Metal, wood and stone are used to create a site-specific architecture that functions as a living organism and is seamlessly aligned with both interior and exterior learning environments.

Once degraded by mining and logging, the 5-acre site is currently dominated by a regrowth of lodgepole pine with limited stands of ponderosa and aspen. The proposed landscape design restores the montane ecosystem and enhances biodiversity by welcoming a wide range of birds and insects and a diversity of plant and animal species, including bobcat, coyote, elk, moose and mountain lion.

A nature playscape weaves its way through the trees and around the building, inspired by the surrounding geology and forest. Highly crafted, the playscape incorporates a central sculptural “play wall” that represents the Continental Divide and hybridizes educational and play elements to support Wild Bear’s programming. An outdoor amphitheater adjacent to the Nature Center acts as a flexible and hybrid space for outdoor classrooms and community gatherings of all sizes.

A constellation of “observation stations” connected by trails can be discovered across the larger site. These distributed landscape moments are self-guided and designed to show visitors the multidimensionality of the forest and evoke their senses through connection to soil, canopy and sky.

A full discovery program includes scent stations, art rubbings, wildlife tracking, wilderness survival, bird observation, orienteering, sensory experiences, and education about natural forest processes and climate change impacts.

Collaborators:  Architect – Arch11, Landscape Architecture – Civitas, Inc. & Superbloom