(WNY News Now) – Jamestown, N.Y. – Early spring weekend nights at Audubon Community Nature Center will be aglow with a breathtaking half-mile trail of lights through the woods and around the ponds.
This year the popular Audubon Lights happens Friday and Saturday nights from March 22 through April 6, plus Sunday, April 7.
Your walk along a luminary-lit trail passes ponds reflecting the illuminated trees and the stars above. The trails look stunningly beautiful when lit up in the dark, and spring peepers may provide the perfect soundtrack to your nighttime nature walk.
Creative light displays and laser light shows highlight natural features in new ways. Trailside forests and ponds glow with lasers, spotlights, rain lights, animal silhouettes and more.
For additional fun – and to help locate children in the dark – you can purchase LED light gadgets that will make your trail experience even more exciting. Food and light gadgets for sale will be easiest to purchase with cash.
The self-guided walk starts near the parking lot and travels just under half a mile. The path goes over flat terrain with a gravel road and grassy and paved trail.
The trail ends at the Nature Center with a warm fire, hot drinks, popcorn, and other food for sale. Different performers entertain each night.
In-person entertainment includes LED hooping with Brandy Welch, group LED hooping with Mandy Moon, professional fire performance with All Thingz Flow, and music by Brett Turnquist, Miranda Wilcox, and Osborn Nash. To learn which evenings these are featured, go to AudubonCNC.org and click through Events and Programs.
With its indoor nature play area, live animals, and the Blue Heron Gift Shop, you can spend as much time as you’d like in the Nature Center building that opens at 7:30 p.m.
Be sure to dress for the weather. Audubon Lights takes place rain or shine but will be canceled in extreme weather. Entertainment may move inside if it is too cold or wet.
Bringing a flashlight is recommended in case you need it on dark sections of the trail. Parking lots have lights, but there will be an un-lit overflow parking lot used on crowded nights.
Visitors who buy a Nature Center membership at Audubon Lights receive a discount on their event tickets plus four free light gadgets for their family to enjoy.
Event hours March 22 and 23 are 8–10 p.m. With increasing daylight, March 29 and 30 hours are 8:15–10 p.m., and April 5-7 are 8:30–10 p.m.
Many volunteers are needed for this event. If you can help, contact Volunteer Coordinator Emily Nelson at ENelson@AudubonCNC.org or (716) 569-2345.
Admission is $12 for adults, $9 for Nature Center members and children 3–15, and free for ages 2 and under.
Paid reservations are appreciated by the night before. They can be made by calling (716) 569-2345 during business hours or going to AudubonCNC.org and clicking through Programs and Events. Walk-ins are welcome.
Business sponsors for Audubon Lights 2024 include Ahlstrom Schaeffer Electric Corporation, Kwik Fill, Buffamante Whipple Buttafaro, and FSC Systems.
Additional support for Audubon Community Nature Center is provided by 2024 Community Partners that include Carnahan-Jackson Foundation, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, Curt and Susie Westrom, Holmberg Foundation, Hultquist Foundation, Jessie Smith Darrah Fund, Lenna Foundation, Ralph C. Sheldon Foundation, Bob Frucella’s Tax Service, Bush Furniture/A Brand of eSolutions Furniture, Hal and Mary Conarro, Doug and Lemae McCullor, National Fuel Gas Company, Weinberg Financial Group, and Whirley Drinkworks.
Audubon Community Nature Center is located at 1600 Riverside Road, one-quarter mile east of Route 62 between Jamestown, N.Y., and Warren, Pa. You can visit the nearly 600-acre nature preserve, check in on the live birds of prey, enjoy the natural play space, and hike over five miles of trails dawn until dusk daily for free.
The three-story Nature Center building houses interactive displays, a collection of live animals including the Hellbender exhibit, winners of the 2023 Nature Photography Contest, and the Blue Heron Gift Shop. Visitors are welcome Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m., and Sundays, 1–4:30 p.m. Nature Center members and SNAP/EBT cardholders have free building admission daily. Building admission is also free every Sunday for non-Nature Center members.
To learn more about Audubon and its many programs, call (716) 569-2345, find Audubon Community Nature Center on Facebook, or visit AudubonCNC.org. Sunday, July 7 is the deadline for submitting or voting on entries in the 2024 Nature Photography Contest at GoGoPhotoContest.com/
Leave a Reply