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Visit the Leopold Center

April 16 - October 27, 2012:
Monday - Saturday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Off-season (November - April) hours:
Monday - Friday, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Closed some holidays.

Start your visit at the Leopold Center, an educational and interpretive facility near the Leopold Shack, located on the very land where Aldo Leopold died in 1948 fighting a brush fire. Exhibits and guided tours interpret noted conservationist Aldo Leopold’s life and legacy. The Leopold Center itself is also interesting to see. It is among the greenest buildings in the world, featuring renewable energy systems and the use of local and recycled materials. You can learn about Leopold's legacy and our green building on either a self guided visit, or a guided tour. Guided tours for the public are only offered on Saturdays between May 26th and October 20th. Guided tours for groups of 10 or more may be scheduled at other times during our open hours.

What Can I See on my Visit?

The Leopold Shack and Farm

A National Historic Landmark, the Shack is a re-built chicken coop along the Wisconsin River where Aldo Leopold and his family stayed during weekend retreats. It is also the site that inspired many of the essays in A Sand County Almanac. Leopold called the Shack his “refuge from too much modernity,” and this humble and rustic place still inspires many to re-discover their connections to the natural world. Each year, thousands of visitors are inspired through reflection in the same landscape that deeply moved Leopold. Learn about tours.

The Leopold Center Green Building

The Leopold Center serves as both a headquarters facility for the Aldo Leopold Foundation and a Leopold-focused visitor center and meeting facility. The building was constructed to meet the highest standards in green building, to represent Aldo Leopold's concept of a land ethic. 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 United States. It is also the first building ever to be certified “carbon neutral.”

We are closed on the following holidays: Memorial Day (May 28), Independence Day (July 4), and Labor Day (September 5). Sorry, we do not currently have Sunday hours. Limited staff in the office over Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Year's holidays.