🌿Nature CenterPaid admission

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

2430 N Cannon Dr

About

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum sits in Chicago's Lincoln Park, surrounded by the park's greenery and adjacent to the Nature Museum's own restored prairie and urban garden plots. Opened in 1999 in a building designed by Perkins & Will to maximize natural light and blur the boundary between indoors and outdoors, the museum focuses on the nature of the Midwest—Illinois ecosystems, Chicago's waterways, and the natural history that shaped the landscape now covered by one of North America's largest cities. The Judy Istock Butterfly Haven is the museum's most beloved space: a 2,700-square-foot greenhouse filled with plants native to tropical and subtropical regions, within which 75 or more live butterflies representing 40 species fly freely. Visitors walk among monarchs, painted ladies, swallowtails, and dozens of other species, observing feeding, courtship, and at-rest behavior up close. The seasonal Illinois butterfly garden outside extends the experience with native plantings that attract migratory butterflies through the fall. The Wilderness Walk immerses visitors in a recreated Illinois landscape, from prairie grasslands to wetlands and woodlands, with native wildlife and plant specimens at each stage. The Hands-On Habitat lets young children interact with live turtles, frogs, and insects in naturalistic enclosures. The RiverWorks gallery examines the Chicago River—from its ecological history to its famous reversal in 1900 and its current restoration—as a case study in urban environmental engineering. The museum offers free admission on certain Illinois Resident Days and discounted admission through the Museums for All program. Education programs include school field trips, summer nature camps, and family weekend workshops.

Subject Areas

🌿 Nature & Environment🔬 Science🐾 Animals & Wildlife

Best For

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 All Ages👶 Early Childhood (0–5)🎒 Elementary (6–10)👨‍👩‍👧 Families🏫 School Groups

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Hours of Operation

Daily 10am–4pm

Hours change seasonally — verify before visiting.

Admission

Paid admission

IL resident: Adult $15; Senior (65+)/Student $10; Child (1–12) $8; Infant (under 1) free. Non-IL resident: Adult $17; Senior/Student $12; Child $10. Butterfly Haven add-on $5. Museums for All: $1 with EBT card. Free Illinois Resident Days offered periodically.

ASTC

ASTC Travel Passport Program

Members of the Association of Science and Technology Centers' Travel Passport Program offer free or discounted admission to members of other participating institutions. Over 300 science centers worldwide participate.

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47 other places in our directory accept this membership: