Cayuga Nature Center facts for kids
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| Established | 1981 |
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| Location | 1420 Taughannock Blvd, Ithaca, New York |
| Visitors | 25,000 |
| Ithaca Discovery Trail | |
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The Cayuga Nature Center (CNC) is a cool place where you can learn all about nature and the environment. It's located on the west side of Cayuga Lake in Tompkins County, New York. Imagine exploring forests, seeing amazing animals, and discovering how our world works!
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Discovering the History of the Cayuga Nature Center
The Cayuga Nature Center has a long and interesting history! It started way back in 1914 as the Cayuga Preventorium. This was a special summer camp for kids who had been around people with tuberculosis, a serious lung illness. The camp helped these children stay healthy.
As fewer people got tuberculosis, the Preventorium started helping children with heart problems. In 1936, a kind person named Ernest T. Paine gave 75 acres of land for the health of kids in Tompkins County. The big, 10,000 square foot Cayuga Preventorium Lodge was built there in 1939. It was built by the Works Progress Administration, a government program that created jobs during a tough time. The summer camp ran until 1942, when it closed because of fewer tuberculosis cases and World War II. The lodge is so important that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2021!
After the war, Cornell University used the lodge for students. In the 1960s, it became a place for meetings all year round. Later, a group called BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services) started using the site for outdoor education. Because these programs were so popular, the Preventorium officially opened as a Nature Center in 1975. Four years later, it was named the Cayuga Nature Center, and in 1981, it became a private non-profit organization.
In January 2011, the Cayuga Nature Center joined forces with the Paleontological Research Institution. This merger helped both organizations continue their awesome programs.
Exploring the Cayuga Nature Center's Facilities
The Cayuga Nature Center is located about three miles south of Taughannock Falls State Park. It's right on the west shore of Cayuga Lake. The main building, the CNC Lodge, is heated by a special furnace that uses natural materials. Inside, you'll find cool exhibits with live animals, mounted specimens, and fossils. These exhibits teach you about the amazing plants and animals that live in the Cayuga Basin area.
What else can you find at the Cayuga Nature Center?
- Smith Woods: This is an old-growth forest, meaning it has very old trees that have been growing for a long time.
- TreeTops: Imagine a six-story tree house! The students from Ithaca High School built this incredible structure in 2000.
- Animal Collection: The center is home to about 30 different animals.
- Butterfly Garden: During warmer months, you can visit a beautiful garden filled with butterflies.
- Turtle Pond: A peaceful pond where you might spot some turtles.
- Hiking Trails: The center has a huge 120-acre campus with five miles of trails for you to explore!
Discovering Smith Woods
Henry A. Smith Woods is a 32-acre old-growth forest near Trumansburg, New York. It used to belong to a businessman named Henry Atterbury Smith, who used it as a summer home. In 1909, his sons gave the forest to the Village of Trumansburg to be a public park. In 2007, the Cayuga Nature Center took over the care of Smith Woods. It's still a special place for learning and enjoying nature.
Programs and Learning at CNC
The Cayuga Nature Center used to offer fun day camps during the summer and school breaks. They also had programs and classes all year long. These programs focused on important environmental topics and natural history. Due to funding challenges, the future of the Cayuga Nature Center and its parent organization, PRI, is currently being determined.
When programs are running, they are available for all ages! You can have exciting animal encounters and join outdoor education programs. These programs teach you about survival skills, how ecosystems work, and even geology (the study of Earth's rocks and land). The center also offers special seasonal programs. You can learn about making maple syrup, pressing apples for cider, observing butterflies and moths in the Butterfly Garden, and exploring winter ecology.
The Ithaca Discovery Trail
The Cayuga Nature Center is an important part of Ithaca’s Discovery Trail. This trail connects the center with seven other amazing educational places in the area:
- The Museum of the Earth
- The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- The Cornell Botanic Gardens
- The History Center
- The Johnson Museum of Art
- The Sciencenter
- The Tompkins County Public Library
