This is a nice little place, great for kids, tucked in the woods along side Freedom Park, that you might not notice was there. It is part of the Discovery Place in downtown Charlotte. If you have good weather and like the outdoors, then this is the place for you. They have a working behive covered under glass so you can watch the bees, a room with mounted insects, fish tanks and turtle tanks. Theres a play area for really small children, a small planetarium with giant bean bag sacs (very comfortable!), and a large nature hike area outside. They have a butterfly room where you can walk amongst the butterflies, and a patio out back where they bring animals out to share with the kids (and adults). It is small, but theres plenty to do there. You could spend 1-3 hours depending on what you want to get out of it. Weve taken the kids several times.

Great place for young children. I like how they semi upgraded the place. Its great for ages birth to about 6 or 7. Older kids would be bored here. Small walkable place. I just wish it were better maintained. The planetarium was great!

The staff is not friendly at all and extremely unengaged. I took my son here over the weekend for their Fall Festival. I cant believe how rude the staff is. I really dont understand how individuals that dont know how to treat people will choose to work in the public. I was devastated to hear the way a staff member spoke to a little girl who couldnt have been any older than 7 when she was trying to make a toad adobe. This will be our first and final time here. Save your money and go to Freedom Park for free.

Small but 16 month old enjoyed it. Unfortunately the butterfly exhibit is closed and we were not made aware of that....that’s pretty much the reason we wanted to go cause it’s my son’s favorite animal. The butterfly exhibit will be closed until spring or summer 2021 when I asked...

This museum has improved so much over recent years. Our whole family enjoys the planetarium shows, which are included in admission. The nature trails and outdoor play areas are creative spaces. I appreciate being able to have close up viewing of animals at different eye levels, along with different play spaces. The space is definitely designed with young children in mind.

Pretty neat, smaller than I expected. But my daughter loved it. Especially seeing all the different local small critters. And the outdoor trail was perfect for her little self!

It was a fun couple hours, especially if you have a little one who loves animals! The nature trail is pretty, but not good for strollers!

To save yall others some trouble, I felt the need to leave a review to warn others not waste your money or time on this place. Many displays were not showing any animals and we just wish we were warned before purchasing the tickets and now we just wasted our time and drive to the place to see a couple snakes, a turtle, and a bee colony thats it. Very disappointed, especially with our 15 month old son being his first trip to see animals.

A nice little nature center. Perfect to bring the kids or to bring out that kid in yourself. Def a cute little spot. Really enjoyed the small butterfly sanctuary.

This is a wonderful little place to learn and explore! There are so many little spots to enjoy, animals to look at, and areas to climb. The butterfly room was fantastic, with beautiful butterflies fluttering all around us, and even landing on us if we stood really still. We enjoyed a show at the planetarium part, which was really awesome! They have great cushions to lay back on while you watch the show! We were pleasantly surprised to find this little gem hidden away in Charlotte!

This is a beautiful little museum that has so many things to look at, including informative displays and live critters. The butterfly house was a highlight for us. The staff put on a wonderful program for the kids. The gem of this museum is the outdoor play space in the back. I wish the weather had been warmer the day we visited because we could have stayed all day. The location is lovely.

A quaint museum with a couple of animals. Theres a planetarium, but it wasnt playing anything the morning (Thursday) of our visit.Staff was extremely friendly and content oud museum was interesting. However, the primary audience is for kids and although i wouldve loved to visit with mine, they werent with me, and i was looking for more information about the area.

Such an awesome place to take the kids! It was a ton of fun and the kids (both 3) absolutely loved it. We are definitely coming back here again! Beautiful and cute exhibits that are easy to navigate and easy for the kids to see all the animals and what not! Only reason it didnt get 5 stars is because it was a little dated, but still very well kept!

This is a hidden gem of discovery for little ones that are willing to explore. It is located right around the corner from Freedom Park.

I used to come here all the time when I was little. I lived in the Freedom Park neighborhood and I loved coming here all the time. They would let me come in by myself and I would walk around. I loved coming here with my grandma and now that I’m about to graduate high school I am hoping to bring my boyfriend. This really is a great place to bring kids of all ages.

So much to learn. Just wish they had more variety of butterflies

We loved it! I highly reccomend it for young children. We stayed for hours.

This cozy nature center has everything from wild animals, live animal presentations, a nature trail and even a planetarium! A great outing for me and my little one. I’d recommend to anyone!

Although a great way to break thing up and have my 12 month old explore a new place - $8 is certainly the most they could justify charging for the experiences offered. Planetarium would be a great idea but the projector is clearly cheap and the show left a fair amount to the imagination. Staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, and the facility was clearly well managed in terms of cleanliness.Butterfly exhibit was disappointing... except for all 10 of the butterflies (same color/type).Overall, I will most likely be coming back since my 1yo seemed to enjoy himself.

What a great way to spend a Saturday morning!!!

Cozy museum just next to the freedom park. Planetarium show is cool. Interesting events for kids. We joined winter walk and witnessed snake feeding. Definitely recommend.

I took my 4 and 1 year old sons today for the first time. I was pretty happy with it. My 4 year old seemed interested in all the live creatures and loved the butterflys the best. I would say that I wish there were more variety in the butterfly exhibit other than the two types we saw. Also it seemed repetitive with only snakes, insects or turtles. I liked the trails but wish there was a playground for the kids since my 4 year old loves to be outside. There is a pond but only a few ducks and not any fish. Over all for a 4 year old, $16 wasnt too bad for us to go ($8 per person, 2 and under free). and he was entertained enough!

My daughter could go here every day and love it just as much as day 1. Lots of animals to observe close up!

Great place to take the family

What a hidden gem!! We have been to Discovery Place science many times, but so glad we found this nature museum too. There is literally something for everyone, with lots of interactive things. I especially love the butterfly garden and the turtle ponds. We will definitely be back again.

This is definitely geared to preschoolers and early elementary school. My 11 year old friend was not impressed. But we did get to pet a possum.

Excellent all around. Anyone with little ones should go explore. Super fun.

I took my son here since I needed to pick up something in Charlotte anyways. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with this place. It was much smaller than I expected and not as much to do.It was pretty wet outside, which limited those activities. There are a good variety of bugs and small animals to see. The butterfly garden was a little small and didnt see many butterflies. There was a woman water everything, which probably hampered things (couldnt this be done before open hours.)The toddler play (underground something) was cool but small. There was a little water feature in this spot and I cant figure out why it featured little rubber animal models of animals that we dont have in North Carolina or North America for that matter...just odd.There seems to be a lot of classroom space which goes unused when there are just daytime visitors coming and going. We went for free since we have a membership to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. One visit is probably all this place will get. My son enjoyed it, but even he (3 years old) was complaining about the stuff we already did.

This is a small place, but fun nevertheless. Lots of reptiles and bugs. Many animal specimens in taxidermy. Some hands on learning for younger children. The planetarium is also small, but it was a nice presentation and the children enjoyed it.

We were so happy to find a place like this while on our road trip to stop off at. We were there for several hours, and could have stayed longer. We really enjoyed the alligator feeding, and also the outdoor hammocks/Park. It was educational for the children, and we enjoyed the butterfly house. I especially liked that it was only $8 a person, and it was the highlight of our trip!

Very nice place. Visited for an event and I need to go back to your the rest of the facility.

Great place to spend the afternoon they had live butterflies in the exhibit as well as other live local animals. Theres also a small indoor playground and plenty of activities for little ones.

Honestly, I was pretty disappointed. We went specifically for the butterfly pavilion and it was a let down - I counted 6 butterflies. At other places advertised as a butterfly pavilion there were so many butterflies they would land on you. This was NOT the case here. Additionally, everything felt run down - and a museum advertised for outdoor play certainly should have had a more kept up area. Things were overgrown and generally in just poor condition. We made the best of it, but not worth the money. Would not go back.

We love bringing our two year old here! Everything is well kept and the staff is great! The free planetarium is an awesome bonus to the admission!

Great play area and storytime. I was surprised to see how many cages/aquariums were empty. Maybe winter isnt the best time to go?

It seems the museum is going down hill. We did have a good time but there was very little to see and do. Lots of very open rooms with nothing to do.

Not a lot of content here. Good for small children, but few others. Some small animals like turtles and snakes, and a beehive. There is an outdoor nature trail, but the city park is right next door with longer and better trails, and its free. Has a small planetarium with show about constellations. Kind of boring for anyone over age 10. We finished our tour in 45 minutes.

Perfect for my five year old. Very hands-on and plenty of variety.

Very cool nature museum, great place for kids.

Attended a birthday party of my friends 5 year old daughter and it was an amazing experience for kids. The museum had live insects and reptiles and there were enough activities to keep the kids busy. Meanwhile the parents were able to take a long walk in the park or go cycling.

I came back recently to visit Freedom Park and stopped over by the what used to be called The Nature Museum and it is now called The Discovery Place Nature Museum. Ive lived in Charlotte for over 40 years and theyve done an amazing job with this place. Great for little kids to see animals and put their hands on things. Great learning experience for kids while theyre having fun. It truly is enjoyable for the whole family.

Very good place for curious kids. Staff is always friendly and helpful. I wish it was bigger, but it looks like theyre doing their best with the resources they have.

Nice nature museum. Tons of live animals and tons of cool exhibits. Neat small planetarium with bean bag seating.Parents: Tons of stuff for the younger crowd. Older kids might find less to do unless they are willing to read the description of the animals.

There was so much to do here! My 8 year old is very science oriented and we felt like we went to the zoo, a nature park, a museum as well as a planetarium... all in one place. We were never bored and really enjoyed the day at Discovery Place.

Grandkids loved exploring all the displays of live turtles, snakes, butterfly room, just to name a few. The planetarium show was the finally for us with a 15 minute show on stars in the sky.

We were so happy to find a place like this while on our road trip to stop off at. We were there for several hours, and could have stayed longer. We really enjoyed the alligator feeding, and also the outdoor hammocks/Park. It was educational for the children, and we enjoyed the butterfly house. I especially liked that it was only $8 a person, and it was the highlight of our trip!

What a great place to take children, as well as adults! There are animals, places to explore and climb, and lots of hands-on exploring and playing to learn about nature. And you can explore the outside trail and ponds, check out the eagle, and walk through the butterfly room!

It is hot in the butterfly Pavilion but temperatures this week are above 95°. The bee exhibit is very cool. I always enjoy the free planetarium shows of seasonal constellations

Great place for kids. They enjoyed it a lot. We will definitely be back!

Very pleasant to go through, worth the price, had a very intriguing possum.

We had a great time here. Small but perfect for the little ones and the nature park is a great place to have lunch and let the kids play and eat

Took our 3 year old grandson. Great summer nature spot for kids. I was concerned by the young volunteers handling turtles which I thought was a bit abusive to the poor animals. I did mention this to them.

Nice for the kids. Not a whole lot to do compared to the Discovery Place science. Wish there was more interactive stuff. More like a museum than anything. Kids still enjoyed and staff is nice.

Such a nice and relaxing environment. My husband and I love coming here.

I took my 5 year old and 2 year old here for the first time on Saturday. I didnt realize how small this museum was. It has a nice little play area for small children and my kids enjoyed that. The butterfly room was small and very warm but they enjoyed seeing the butterflies and the dove sitting on its cage. There was a planetarium show about stars that was about 15 mins long which was nice minus the random screaming and hollering from some of the other kids. It was cool to see an owl, lots of turtles, snakes and other insects. It has a walking trail that leads to Freedom park. Overall my kids enjoyed it but wasnt quite what I expected and probably wont go back. Will visit Discovery Place kids next.

Fairly nice. However smaller than I expected I can remember the time when it used to be a free Nature Museum. Be prepared for the possibility of students or summer care coming in during your visit if you dont go during whenever schools in.

Great little nature center even for adults! Knowledgeable staff and nice exhibits.

Neat little museum, slightly too expensive but rounded out the trip to the park. Very much a museum for kids and not adults but I still like animals. A neat little star show too

We had a great time visiting this location, got to see lots of different animals, and nature walk

It doesnt change much. I wouldnt buy a pass for kids of school age. Once a year visit is more than enough.

Great fun for the whole family. Neat place and plenty for the kids to see and do. Highly recommended!

Very small and not alot of animals. I was expecting there to be more animals and more things to see. I should have done more research on the place before driving 30 minutes out of my way to visit.

Not to bad they could give a more details when they do their tours you know make it more interesting for the kids an adults

My granddaughter loves everything Nature! We have a membership so we’ll visit often!

Great place to learn about nature very knowledgeable staff.

Nature center is decent for the family but there is just not a lot to do there and not many activities. Still worth a look if your in the area but not to travel far for. Great price for what you get. I believe it is only 8 dollars. There are many other subsidiaries of Discovery place and they are really cool and worth checking into!

Not bad for kids , kind of small though.

Fun. Small but educational

Be sure to call ahead to find out the movie and when and what animals will be available to touch/pet. Good for young kids. Lots of birthday parties on weekends.

Kinda chintzy. Kinda small. But the work they do here is legit. Definitely geared towards small children with a Sesame Street themed planetarium presentation in what I can only describe as the most adorable little planetarium you ever did see. Brought along grandma who loved the butterfly pavilion. An interesting place for your small child to learn a thing or two before walking in the park.

The grandkids loved all the animals! And made friends on the playground

We had a wonderful visit for the Solar Eclipse. The staff was great and provided a great educational framework for the event.

Such a fun place to visit with the kiddos. This visit we decided to watch the movie in the planetarium. It was a nice treat! My preschooler enjoyed it but my toddler had a hard time sitting still which is understandable. Movie presentation was probably around 30 min. Great displays with insect life cycles, etc. Lots of wildlife to look at and learn about. The tunnels in the play area are a favorite of course! Also, really nice outside play area that helps foster your kids imagination!

This was really fun outing with my family and me. When we first went in it very cheap for all of us go get in, when we finally got in and was really cool to see all the animals and extinct ones to. We saw a puppet show and got to a room show and that was in like a Star gazing room but it wasnt, it was even better was got to lay down on a bed like thing and watch a video all about the stars, it was really interesting to see evrythibg. If you want to have a good time with the kids and come to the Discovery Place Nature Museum, and you will leave out with a smile on your face

Great place for the toddler/preschool crowd. Could use some updating but all-in-all a nice way to keep your little ones occupied for a couple hours.

Went with my job now I have to take my son.

The Nature Museum was very very creative with lots of great displays. The displays were not all in the display area but some of them were in classrooms. There were areas around the museum for young families to play. There is a butterfly house it was outstanding. Even though it was winter when we visited and they said that they were not hatching butterflies currently there were some that were flying around. The museum was warm and cold weather. There is an extensive hiking and nature trail outside the museum. The museum is in a park but if you follow the signs that is easy to find.

Best place to bring your little ones. The bug exhibit is the best Ive ever seen.

The kids loved this place. The nature walk outside was clean and safe, and the puppet show was cute.

Excellent learning center for little ones, not too crowded, and easy to navigate. Fun play areas, and live animals makes it that much more interesting. Open year round in cold and hot weather! Little oasis near the heart of Charlotte.

Perfect little nature stop. My eight year old loved it. Toddlers and preschoolers there loved it too. Nice outside space. Bunch of real tiny animals... Did it in an hour.

We are here on vacation and this looked like a fun thing to do with the kids. Unfortunately, it is really geared toward preschool kids. My kids are 7, 9 and 11. We breezed through it in less than one hour. Most of the interactive exhibits are old and broken and the interesting animals are all sleeping:( This was not worth the money for my family.

Loved the animals there. Some seemed to be in too small of an enclosure though, butterflies werent too plentiful, but the animals look healthy. Small place with a bit of a trail in the woods. Good for families. The star show was good and we got to lay on some comfy cushions.

Great that Charlotte has something like this. My kids love it and the other locations

Nice place. It is a bit on the dated side.* Butterfly pavilion is pretty cool (free flying butterflies !)*Toddler area is really nice. Books, blocks, insect toys, puzzles and a few other nature toys to play with.*other indoor play space is nice. Nature inspired water table, tunnels, slide and a few interactive play pieces.*outdoor play space is wood and all natural materials. Pretty boring, very lacking.*indoor interactive exhibits are nice. LOTS of interaction and hands on playing / learning.*animal displays are small but nice.*they do live animal encounters*overall its a good place. $8 is a bit high, but my toddler enjoys it.

Yes its small but my kids were well entertained, parking its free by the way

Really liked the bee room

Overpriced. I felt the place was nice and well kept, however it was very overpriced for what it offers. As a non-member, tickets are expensive. The place is very small, but nice to walk through. The butterflies are great and I was excited to see some of the animals there.

Fun activity for young kids. A lot smaller than Discovery Place, but good number of animals. Exhibits are getting old, but still in decent shape. Parking is free and convenient. There are some outdoor areas to explore and a foot bridge that takes you to the lake at Freedom Park.

This place was depressing and in desperate need of a renovation. The fact that this place is associated with the other Discovery Places reflects poorly on those otherwise excellent destinations. We felt like the Nature Place was overpriced for one. It took us less than 45 minutes to get through all the exhibits. The carpet in some areas was just plain nasty. There were spiders in the corners of the live butterfly exhibit just waiting for their meal. We found a massive cockroach in a hall that might have escaped its exhibit. And the toys they have out for infants to play with are broken and filthy. I really hope this place receives the funds for their proposed renovation, otherwise we will not be back.

Good place for kids with a show in planetarium. Loved the place and a great place to be in Charlotte. Highly recommended and will visit again for sure.

Place is a bit small, therefore the price is affordable) We went on a rainy day so the outdoor part was closed. Will keep a kid busy for a couple of hours, has a water play area with rubber animals and a little stream, and a baby toy area. Has some snakes, turtles, a bee hive live in action under clear glass, a butterfly pavilion. A little of everything.

Great grandkids love it

My youngest loves this place. so we come often.

Plenty of animals for the children to see and lots of hands on activities for the kids. A large outdoor playscape, reading times, etc. My grandson loves this place.

Over all an great place for learning...

Kind of run down but Id you have snap or wic its worth the price. Otherwise Id save your money

I was surprised how small it actually was. It is nice, but there really was not much to it. We took 2 2-year-olds. Not much of it maintained their interest. They liked the play area but just ran passed everything else.

G grandkids loved it! Lots to see!

Great experience and very helpful staff. Our 3 year old absolutely loves the interactive exhibits and play areas both indoors and outdoors.