Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center
Hours of Operation
Monday – Saturday: 9 am – 4 pm
Sunday: Closed
Address: 300 Tower Road, Naples, FL 34113
Dogs are not allowed in the building or on the nature trails.
General Admission
Adults: $5
Children Ages 6-12: $3
Children Under 6: FREE
Friends of Rookery Bay members: FREE
Association of Nature Center Administrators Reciprocal Program Members: FREE
Blue Star Museum Program: Military personnel and family (up to four) FREE from Memorial Day through Labor Day
Groups and Private Tours
Enjoy a personal tour led by a volunteer or staff interpreter. Neighborhood communities, scouts and camps are welcome to visit as groups, with advance notice. If you would like a private tour or your group consists of ten people or more, contact the Visitor Services Department for more information.
SO MUCH TO DISCOVER AND EXPLORE
Cultural Richness
There’s even a “Today and the Future” area that provides an overview of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and sea level rise, and how they might affect various forms of life in southwest Florida. The exhibits include an interactive guessing game dispelling myths about climate change, a touchscreen carbon calculator which gives people an opportunity to see how their personal choices measure up on an international standard, and a demonstration of ways people can make a difference in their homes and daily lives.
Mangrove Aquarium
In the 2,300-gallon mangrove aquarium centerpiece, a 14-foot sculpted tree soars up through an open atrium into the Center’s second story. A climb-in “bubble” provides visitors with close-up views of mangrove prop roots that provide shelter for fish inhabitants. Interactive and hands-on exhibits provide opportunities for visitors of all ages to explore and expand upon their knowledge of Florida’s estuaries.
Estuary Encounter Touch Tank
The “Estuary Encounter” exhibit houses more than a dozen species of marine animals for guests of all ages to discover during regular visiting hours. Observe and interact with a pygmy sea cucumber, horseshoe crab or lightning whelk.
Art Gallery
Current Exhibit: Art of the Holocene on display August 13 - October 31
Created Exclusively for the Rookery Bay Environmental Learning Center
The exhibit hall is graced by a 120-foot long habitat frieze called “The Continuum of Life” by local artist Kathy Spalding, who painted 30 individual prints and stitched them all together to illustrate the connections between habitats from uplands out to the Gulf of Mexico. Prints and notecards are available for purchase in the store. Above the stairs, visitors can enjoy Gaskin 8, a 22-foot tall framed photograph donated by renowned black-and-white landscape photographer Clyde Butcher.
Kathy Spalding’s 70-foot Continuum of Life watercolor, executed as a 124 foot original at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is a vivid portrait of the wildlife that is one of Southwest Florida’s greatest treasures. Beginning in the skies of the Gulf to Keewaydin’s barrier island, it flows – like nature itself – across the sand, into the shallows around red mangroves creeping into the mudflats and finally up to the high lands and swamps. All along the way are the birds, fish, plants and animals that create a living symphony here.
Observation Bridge
As the bridge begins to slope down to meet the ground, visitors experience a brief trek through tangled mangroves, palms and oaks. Resurrection ferns, bromeliads, and even orchids can be seen growing along the furrowed cracks of oak tree bark. Looking up it is easy to see the pockmarks of pileated woodpeckers and other insectivores in the upper reaches of expired pine snags.
Nature Trails
- An old homestead dating back to post-Civil War times when squatters began to farm this rugged terrain.
- A primitive swale system designed to drain the land during driving summer rains
- Sanseveria (an ornamental plant commonly associated with early homesteads)
- A cement rainwater storage cistern that collected rainwater running off the old home’s roof and stored it through the dry winter months, when it could be used for cooking and watering livestock.
Picnic Area
Rookery Bay Nature Store
