What are the opening hours?

Monday 8:30am - 4:30pm Tuesday 8:30am - 4:30pm Wednesday 8:30am - 4:30pm Thursday 8:30am - 4:30pm Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm Saturday 9am - 5pm Sunday 1pm - 5pm

Northwest Park & Nature Center

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Northwest Park & Nature Center

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Northwest Park, a 473-acre park operated by the Town of Windsor, Connecticut, offering an interpretive nature center, 12 miles of trails, and much more.

11/11/2026

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 — 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 🍂🍁🍃

You don’t need a wild yard to help pollinators. Just leave a small pile of leaves under a shrub, along a fence line, or in a quiet corner, and you’ve made a winter home for native bees, moths, and fireflies!

Those fallen leaves aren’t yard waste — they’re shelter. Many of our local butterflies and bees spend the winter as pupae or adults tucked into leaf litter, waiting for spring. When we rake it all away, we’re cleaning up their nursery. So if you’re tidying up, try leaving one spot untouched. It doesn’t have to be big, just a little patch where the leaves stay.

Small act. Big difference.

11/11/2026

Northwest Park's Nature Center is CLOSED today for Veteran's Day. The Park itself remains open from dawn until dusk. Thank you!

11/10/2026

𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 📖🔥

In many Native traditions, stories aren’t just told, they’re timed to the seasons. Some are only shared in winter, when the land is quiet and listening. One Algonquin story tells of Kee-wakw, the winter spirit, who walks when the snow is deep and the fire is low. It’s a way to teach kids how to move quietly in the cold, how to read the wind, and why you never waste warmth.

That’s the thing: these stories aren’t just about characters, they’re field guides in disguise. A tale about Rabbit might teach tracking. One about the first frost might explain migration. And when elders say “this one’s for winter,” they’re not hiding it, they’re honoring the season it belongs to.

This week, we’re thinking about what stories you still carry and what it means to let the land speak through them. What's your favorite seasonal story? Drop it in the comments below!

11/09/2026

Wee Wanderers' "Winding Down for Winter" series 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲!!
𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 - 𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺!

Registration: windsorct.gov/897/Wee-Wanderers

11/09/2026

11/06/2026

📣 𝐇𝐞𝐲, 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?

𝐖𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭!

More info & to apply:
windsorct.gov/718/Career-Opportunities

11/06/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦, 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, & 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐭, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬!

It offers a focused look at Indigenous food systems in Connecticut, not as history, but as living practice. Participants will learn how seasonal harvesting, planting, and food preservation have long been guided by deep ecological knowledge, particularly through the cultivation of the Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash) and the gathering of wild plants like ramps, sumac, and cattail.

The program is led by educators from Nowashe Village, a collective dedicated to sharing the agricultural and cultural traditions of the region’s Native communities. It includes hands-on elements that demonstrate how foodways are tied to land stewardship, intergenerational teaching, and community resilience. This is an opportunity to engage with knowledge that has been sustained for centuries and continues to inform land-based education today.

Sponsored by the Friends of Northwest Park - link to register: https://www.windsorct.gov/1024/Harvesting-Food-Family-Community

11/04/2026

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐄 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬! 🦫
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰!

Over the past couple weeks, they’ve led “Beavers: Nature’s Engineers” lessons with Windsor students and homeschool groups, showing how beavers shape entire ecosystems, one stick or log at a time. From chew marks on trees to wetland habitats, kids are learning how these animals live in nature and work to build their dams and lodges. Students love experiencing the challenge for themselves, too! Who's dam can hold the most water and what might the best strategy be for building a successful dam with only leaves, sticks, mud, and rocks?

And for later this month, our team will be turning that busy beaver energy toward the November's Beaver Full Moon Hike! This month's golden hour walk will follow the trail of these quiet architects with the Sun's soft glow leading the way. We’ll look for signs of their work, talk about how they’ve shaped this land both physically and through the fur trade, and pause to take in the changes of the season. We can't wait to see you there!

11/03/2026

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥 🌿

This week, we’re highlighting how Northeastern Indigenous communities have used native plants for both nourishment and medicine.

Blackberry root, for example, has long been used in decoctions to soothe digestive upset; a use documented in both oral tradition and early ethnobotanical records. Goldenrod (Solidago spp.), often mistaken for a cause of allergies, is actually a medicinal plant used to support kidney function and ease respiratory symptoms. It’s also still studied today for its anti-inflammatory properties. And sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata), with its vanilla-like scent, isn’t just ceremonial, it’s traditionally grown and braided by hand, and its use is tied to specific protocols around reciprocity and permission.

You’ll find goldenrod along our meadow edges right now. We’re not harvesting them, but we are making space to learn about what they do, and how they’ve been known to the communities that helped shape these lands.

11/02/2026

This November, we’re honoring 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 with our Tuesday Teachings, as a series we’re calling 𝘙𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴. 🍂

It will be a quiet, steady way of recognizing the people, plants, and practices that have cared for this land for generations. Each Tuesday, we’ll share something that’s not just about history, but about presence: the plants that still grow here with purpose, the stories that teach without lecturing, the ways of tending the earth that never went away. This is about letting gratitude be the thread that ties it all together. We’re not just learning. We’re remembering how to listen.

Address

145 Lang Road
Windsor, CT
06095

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Thursday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Friday	8:30am - 4:30pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	1pm - 5pm

Telephone

(860) 285-1886

Website

https://www.windsorct.gov/913/Northwest-Park

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