We often think of nature as a place untouched by humans – high on a rugged mountain top or deep in a remote canyon. But nature is thriving in cities and towns all around us. Filled with immersive environments and hands-on exhibits, Nature All Around Us challenges the notion that urban and natural environments are at odds by showing the many ways they are linked. Exploring such themes as yards & gardens, rivers & streams and urban forests, Nature All Around Us seeks to create awareness and understanding of the many plant and animal species we see every day. From raccoons to pollinators, you don’t need to leave home to find nature!
We hope this exhibit will spark curiosity and learning about planning, designing and nurturing nature in our own communities. Nature All Around Us is a special exhibition from the Science Museum of Minnesota.
Nature All Around Us will run May 24th through August 31st, 2025. Watch this space for more details this spring!
This exhibit is presented in both English and Spanish.
Programs and Events
Please see all of our Nature All Around us programming below. Spanish interpretation may be available upon request. Para preguntas y/o para reservar tu boleto de entrada en español: Correo electrónico: espanol@fcmod.org.
Tuesday Night Live
Join us on select Tuesday nights as we bring in local experts to discuss diverse topics related to the nature that is all around us.
Come and discover our masked prairie bandit that has been brought back to Fort Collins Natural Areas. You might be surprised to find out how they live, hunt and survive in our important grasslands.
Interested in how Fort Collins is tackling air quality and climate change? Join the City of Fort Collins Environmental Services Department and key community partners for a dynamic panel discussion exploring the past, present and future of air quality and climate action in our city.
We’ll share insights, stories, and strategies shaping “Our Climate Future” – and we want to hear from you! Bring your questions, your curiosity, and your ideas as we work together toward a cleaner, healthier Fort Collins.
Join Herb Saperstone for a one-of-a-kind lecture experience that brings Fort Collins’ most iconic landmark—Horsetooth Rock—to life like never before.
Using the immersive power of the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery’s Digital Dome, this virtual field trip will transport you across time and terrain through stunning 360° projection technology. Explore the dramatic geology, topography, and physical features of Horsetooth Mountain Space, spanning the eons from 1.7 billion year-old granite outcrops to today’s climate impacts that continue to shape the landscape around us.
Discover the paths that hikers know so well–and a few hidden from view–all without lacing your boots. You’ll even summit the Rock, virtually, taking in breathtaking vistas while uncovering the earth science behind the landscape. The experience concludes with a reflection of ancestral creation stories imagined by the area’s earliest inhabitants, reminding us that Horsetooth Rock is not just a geologic wonder, but a deeply rooted cultural and social landmark.
While the Nature All Around Us exhibit is almost done, you can continue to bring and keep nature all around you and your community and be a hero for wildlife habitat right here in Fort Collins! Come learn how to support birds, pollinators, and other wildlife in your own yard, patio, and community spaces with the City of Fort Collins Nature in the City program and the Audubon Rockies’ Habitat Hero program. You’ll learn the importance of native plants to create green corridors that link the nature all around you to larger natural spaces that provide wildlife habitat all around and throughout Fort Collins.
Stay tuned for more awesome Tuesday Night Live presentations coming this summer!
Colorado boasts abundant renewable surface water in its rivers and snowpack, but beneath the surface lies a lesser-known treasure: groundwater. Join Bob Raynolds and Ka Chun Yu from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science as they use immersive visualizations and 360°panoramas to show how this critical resource serves both domestic needs and irrigated agriculture. We will discuss strategies and new technologies and explore how we might better manage this finite resource. Join us as we imagine a future where Colorado’s groundwater can remain a legacy for generations to come.
Through immersive visualizations and 360°panoramas, Bob Raynolds and Ka Chun Yu from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science will take you on a tour of the Colorado River. Bob and Ka Chun will be your guides along the 1,450-mile journey, revealing how some of the 50 million people who rely on the river make use of it. Join us as we travel from the river headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park to the southwestern deserts where the river is the lifeblood of the region. Stunning images and thought-provoking stories will give you a new perspective on this vital source of water and its future in a warming world.
Fort Collins recently completed the community’s first ever urban forest strategic plan, Rooted in Community. This plan created a 20-year vision and outlined a set of 7 Growth Strategies to support and build a healthy and resilient urban forest for generations to come. Come interact with Kendra Boot, City Forester, to learn more about the management of the public urban forest, the state of the community’s tree canopy, and learn how you can support tree canopy health going forward.
Use what you grow! Whether it’s grown in the ground, in a pot, or in your yard, there are unique ways to infuse herbs into your everyday cooking to bring creativity to your table. In this cooking demonstration you’ll learn easy ways to brighten up your dishes with readily grown or found herbs and botanicals—and you’ll get to sample the flavors along the way!
Looking to see more stars? Join City of Fort Collins Project and Policy Manager, Ginny Sawyer, for a discussion about the city’s Night Sky Initiative. you will learn more about how light pollution effects our night skies, how we measure it, and how you can make an impact with making smart lighting choices outside your home.
Join The Rocky Mountain Raptor Program as we introduce you to your raptor neighbors and what we can do to help conserve them in the wild! We will learn more about raptor rehabilitation, and explore how these powerful hunters see, fly, and hunt with incredible precision, thus maintaining healthy ecosystems.
Programs Workshops and Talks
5.24, 6.14, 6.28 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Join us in our Animal Encounters exhibit and discover some of the amazing creatures we share this planet with. Animals of all kinds from creepy crawlies, wet and slimy, to soft and furry. Don’t miss an opportunity to make a new animal friend!
Included with museum admission.
1st and 3rd Saturday every month at 9:30 AM*
Come see our very own wild black-footed ferrets, the most endangered mammal in North America!
Join us in the Natural Areas Exhibit to learn about the conservation work being done to return black-footed ferrets to the wild, from the national captive breeding program to new advances in cloning from our partners at US Fish and Wildlife. They will also feed the black-footed ferrets their weekend meal during this presentation. Parental discretion is advised.
Museum admission is not required to attend this event, but space is limited.
*Event is subject to change, please check our events calendar for the most up-to-date information.
Join Dandelion Arts Collective for movement games, music, stories, and artistic exploration as we explore the cyclical and never-ending relationship of growth and decomposition in vegetation and produce through the work of insects and invertebrates. Themes in pollination, soil health, and humus formation will be included. Interactive activities will explore the ways in which insects and invertebrates work through interconnection to continue these cycles. Children and families will explore the movement and work of these invertebrates to connect the essential and ACTIVE role they play in the growth of our food, plants, and wildlife.
Included with museum admission
Stay tuned for more awesome Nature All Around Us themed programing coming this summer!
New to birding? This is the program for you! We’ll walk through how to use binoculars and field guides, learn about bird ID, and discover how birding can contribute to science! Some birds are year-round residents and others have arrived after spending the winter in warmer climes. Hike 1-ish miles with Larimer County Education and Volunteer Specialist, Ellen Harris, to learn about bird identification, habitat, and more.
In partnership with Larimer County Natural Resources
Join Dandelion Arts Collective for movement games, music, stories, and artistic exploration as we explore the cyclical and never-ending relationship of growth and decomposition in vegetation and produce through the work of insects and invertebrates. Themes in pollination, soil health, and humus formation will be included. Interactive activities will explore the ways in which insects and invertebrates work through interconnection to continue these cycles. Children and families will explore the movement and work of these invertebrates to connect the essential and ACTIVE role they play in the growth of our food, plants, and wildlife.
Included with museum admission
At FCMoD, we are always very grateful for our members, so please join us for a night of nature-themed fun to thank you for your support. We invite you and your loved ones to enjoy snacks (limited on a first-come, first-serve basis), drinks, and tons of family-friendly activities. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!
Thursday June 12th 7:00PM-8:30PM
The Colorado River is a water lifeline for the tens of millions of people across the West. Join us for an eye-opening evening with KUNC’s Colorado River Reporter, Alex Hager. He’ll share stories about the challenges, changes, and future of the West’s most important river at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery’s OtterBox Digital Dome Theater. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain exclusive insights and engage in a thought-provoking Q&A session following the presentation.
Fri., June 6, 9 – 11 a.m. at McMurry Natural Area
In partnership with Fort Collins Natural Areas.
Let’s explore nature with a list of 10 things to find and photograph.
Join Dandelion Arts Collective for movement games, music, stories, and artistic exploration as we explore the cyclical and never-ending relationship of growth and decomposition in vegetation and produce through the work of insects and invertebrates. Themes in pollination, soil health, and humus formation will be included. Interactive activities will explore the ways in which insects and invertebrates work through interconnection to continue these cycles. Children and families will explore the movement and work of these invertebrates to connect the essential and ACTIVE role they play in the growth of our food, plants, and wildlife.
Included with museum admission
Nature Photographers All Around Us Photo Contest
Nature Photographers All Around Us is a photography competition hosted by Fort Collins Museum of Discovery to accompany our new special exhibit: Nature All Around Us.
Photographers of all skill levels are encouraged to get outside, discover, and share their local natural world.
Whether it’s the nature of your local creek, or even your own backyard, we believe that great nature photos – and great nature photographers – are all around us!
Want to get more engaged?
Thanks to our supporters
City of Fort Collins Natural Areas
Fiona’s Delicatessen, Bakery, and Catering
City of Fort Collins Nature in the City
Exhibition Created by:
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