600 Bellevue Avenue (inside Lakeside Park) Oakland, CA 94610 Phone (510) 238-3739, Fax (510) 238-7962 sbenavidez@oaklandnet.com
Supervising Naturalist
Stephanie Benavidez

Open year round, holidays included. Rotary Nature Center & North America's oldest Wildlife Refuge located at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California.

Constructed in 1953, the Rotary Nature Center is an interpretive establishment, providing education and information about the natural environment to its surrounding community. Continuing in this long tradition of education, the Rotary Nature Center offers a variety of services such as outreach programs, and summer day camps instructed by our dedicated naturalist staff.

Established in 1870, the oldest wildlife refuge in the United States allows the public to observe several species of resident and migratory waterfowl at close range. You can contact the Naturalist to schedule educational presentations for schools and other groups for our Nature themed library, interactive programs and displays.

First Wild Life Refuge put in California Legislation, click here