Tour Programs

The Shack, a re-built chicken coop along the Wisconsin River where the Leopold family stayed during weekend retreats, continues to serve as the heart of the Foundation’s programs. We now also offer programming at the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center, a LEED ® Platinum certified green building that serves as our visitor center and base of operations. Guided and self guided tours of both the Leopold Shack and the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center are available from mid-April through October. Self-guided tours of the Legacy Center are available year-round. Click here for a current guided tour schedule and rates. All tours are free for members of the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Join today!

Tours at the Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm

Self-Guided Shack Tours
Self-guided tours of the Shack are permitted from mid-April through October, during our public open hours. The Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm is not open for recreational use, and visitors may only access the property on a formal guided or self-guided tour. Visitors must always check in at the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center first for permission to access the Shack on a self-guided tour. The Shack is shuttered and locked during self-guided tours, but you will follow a brochure that uses historic photographs to illustrate the landscape history and connections to A Sand County Almanac on the trails around the property.
All ages: $7 per person / Leopold Foundation Members: free

Guided Shack Tours
The land surrounding the Shack and farm provides a living classroom for exploring dynamic ecological relationships and conservation history. Each year, thousands of visitors are inspired through tours, seminars, and workshops in the same landscape that deeply moved Leopold. Guided tours of the Shack include the history and philosophy of Aldo Leopold, a visit inside the Shack, and a walk through restored prairie and woods. Shack tours last approximately two hours. Reservations are not required, but if you are coming in a group of 10 or more participants, we request that you schedule a separate tour date and time in advance.
Adults: $12 / Children & Seniors: $9 / Leopold Foundation Members: free

Guided Shack Tour Schedule

** Shack Tour routes follow rustic trails which may have occasional obstacles such as tree stumps, exposed roots, or downed branches. The Aldo Leopold Foundation assumes no responsibility for any injury and/or accident to a person or persons while visiting the Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm.

Tours at the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center

The Legacy Center is an educational and interpretive facility near the Leopold “Shack,” located on the very land where Aldo Leopold died in 1948 fighting a brush fire. The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center embodies the philosophy of one of the nation’s great thinkers, the late conservationist and author of A Sand County Almanac. Learn about how features like solar power, geothermal, and sustainable building materials make this one of the “greenest” buildings in the world. It has not only received the US Green Building Council’s LEED® platinum certification, the highest possible level, but it was more highly rated than any other building yet rated in the world. It is also the first building ever to be certified “carbon neutral.”

Self-Guided Legacy Center Tours
During our open hours, visitors can view our photography exhibit "Changes in the Leopold Landscape: Photography Through Time," and take a self-guided tour of the building. Interpretive signage shares information on green building features. There is no charge for self-guided tours of the Legacy Center.

Guided Legacy Center Tours
Walk through the greenest building in the country with one of our tour guides to get in-depth information about how solar power, geothermal, and sustainable building materials help this facility produce more energy than it consumes, and learn how you too can make a difference with your own energy choices at home. Guided tours last about 1 hour.
Adults: $5 / Children & Seniors: $3 / Leopold Foundation Members: free

Guided Legacy Center Tour Schedule

Download a printable map and directions to the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center.