Patuxent Visitor Center | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

National Wildlife Visitor Center

Lots to see and enjoy including...

Kids Discovery Center
Monarch Magic
Wildlife Images Bookstore
Hollingsworth Art Gallery
Family Fun
Visitor Center Bird Blind
Pollinator Gardens

The Visitor Center, located on South Tract, is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. – closed on federal holidays.

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Kids Discovery Center

Located in the Patuxent National Wildlife Visitor Center - 10901 Scarlet Tanager Loop, Laurel, MD 20708

Daily, Wednesday through Saturday: Sessions start at 10:00 am, 11:00 am, and 12:00 pm.

Duration: 35 minutes, each. Larger group special arrangements are possible when scheduled 2 weeks in advance. Lots of exciting learning activities and crafts await you at the KIDS DISCOVERY CENTER! New themes are presented monthly to engage kids (ages 3-10) * and adults in nature-related fun.

Registration Required. Call the National Wildlife Visitors Center front desk 301/497 5772 to reserve a 35-minute time slot for you and your child.

Children, with parent/guardian support, explore and learn about nature and the environment through engaging, age-appropriate activities, crafts and games. Older siblings are welcome to join with parents and work with younger siblings to help them understand and complete the activities.

NOTE: The Kids’ Discovery Center is neither baby-proofed nor appropriate for children younger than 3 due to small items featured in the exhibits and activities. Parents are required to work with their child at each of the parent-led activities.

If interested in volunteering to work with KDC and/or to help develop curriculum activities for children, please call the front desk 301/497 5772 and ask for Barrie!

Program Themes:

December - MAMMALS/Otters.

JANUARY - RIVER OTTERS.
You "otter" come on over to Patuxent Visitor Center this month and discover some amazing facts about these shy mammals. While we might never actually see these swimmers outdoors, you'll learn how to locate clues that river otters might be in the immediate area!

FEBRUARY - FIELD MICE & VOLES.
What's the difference between mice and voles? They are both small rodents, and they look similar...but are they the same? The KDC will tackle this dilemma, sort out the similarities and differences, and help you to identify the tiny mammals scurrying around outside!

MARCH -
FROGS & TOADS. Hop on over to Patuxent to learn about these amazing amphibians! Enjoy our fun activities, games, and crafts while discovering nature's jumping wonders!

Registration strongly urged: Call 301-497-5772.
Large groups email Jason: michael_cangelosi@fws.gov.

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Monarch Magic

The monarch butterflies departed our area in the fall and made their way to Mexico for the winter. We look forward to their return north, generation by generation, this spring and summer. Meanwhile, you can come to the National Wildlife Visitor Center to visit our Monarch Magic Station, learn more about these incredible and beautiful migratory insects, and enjoy a full-color educational video about them. (The video runs continuously during Visitor Center public hours.) Ask at the Visitor Center for our 2025 monarch-release data.

Monarch Magic Opportunity:
Explore volunteering with the Monarch Butterfly Team! Call 301-497-5772 to ask about & sign-up for the next “Monarch Butterfly Team Overview Presentation.” These presentations are for adults, and ages 16-17 with adult registration on file, to learn about what volunteer Monarch Magic docents and Butterfly-Care Providers do

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Wildlife Images Bookstore

The Wildlife Images Bookstoreis operated by the Friends of Patuxent. Proceeds from sales made at Wildlife Images are devoted to supporting the environmental education at the Patuxent Research Refuge and research missions at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. The Bookstore is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 3:30 PM; closed on federal holidays.

Wildlife Images has an extraordinary selection of:

Wildlife books
Wildlife art items, created by some of the world's best wildlife artists
Wildlife-theme tee-shirts, Children & Adult sizes, and caps
Songbird box kits
Posters
Educational, and one of a kind items
Many other exciting wildlife-related items suitable for everyone who loves the outdoors and cares about the wildlife of the world.

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Hollingsworth Art Gallery

Each month the Hollingsworth Art Gallery exhibits wildlife-themed art by local and by nationally-known artists.

December 2025
Artist of the Month - Ann Rohlfing

Ann Rohlfing is a professional photographer whose images speak for themselves, and have their own stories to tell. She has carried a camera with her since childhood and her skills evolved first as a Smithsonian volunteer to a professional for the Department of Labor. She and her husband’s photography business flourished locally until his death.

Ann still carries a camera – usually into the woods – and titles her December exhibit “Land of the Fallen Giant” By this she is speaking of a 300-yearold Southern Red Oak that grew near Ridgely’s Adkins Arboretum on Maryland’s Eastern Shore until felled by a storm. She has observed and photographed its gradual change of form and function which she describes as almost “magical.” Her images of the oak’s deterioration capture “secondary” growth and development of its remains like a “family of mushrooms sprouting growths like a “like a sprinkling of yellow popcorn,” a cranefly on a branch spreading its wings to dry, a spider semi-concealed in a spring beauty awaiting a pollinator for lunch – a drama she describes as “beauty and the beast!”

Ann hopes her pictures communicate the “peace and joy” she finds in nature and hopes they inspire others to find the same beauty

Family Fun

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The Family Fun section offers self-paced hands-on activities and crafts for all ages, typically volunteer-staffed two days per month (dates, below), and available all month long for independent exploration. Test your knowledge with the Quiz Board or the Match Game. Make-and-take a fun craft project. Learn about nature, the plants and animals at Patuxent Refuge, and what you can do to help wildlife and the environment. There is something for everyone!

This is a drop-in program: come when you wish and leave when you're ready. Look for the Family Fun section in the hallway to the right as you face the reception desk.

Themes

December Theme: WOODLAND FRIENDS. Our woodland friends are still around even in winter. Learn who's here and how they find what they need to survive and thrive.

Jan.-Feb. theme: Winter Wildlife
We may spend cold weather snuggled up inside, but many of the animals at Patuxent continue going about their business as usual. Winter is a great time to look for wildlife, or for signs that they are around. Even when we don’t see the animals themselves, we can tell who has been there – and maybe what they were doing – from the footprints and other things they leave behind. Come learn about local winter wildlife through hands-on activities, games and crafts for all ages.
STAFFED (Volunteers) Dates: Jan 16 & 17, Feb 27 & 28, from 10AM to 1:00PM.

March-May theme: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Did you know that, on average, every American throws away almost 5 pounds of trash each day? That's a LOT of garbage! And it's causing problems for wildlife and for the earth. Come enjoy hands-on activities and games for all ages while you learn how you can reduce, reuse and recycle in order to generate less trash.
STAFFED (Volunteers) Dates: March 20 & 21, April 17 & 18 from 10AM to 1:00PM.

Come explore your questions with us on our volunteer-staffed dates, or come on your own to explore all month long!

Visitor Center Bird Blind

Wish there was a convenient way to view birds at South Tract without intruding into their lives?

Try our bird blind located near the Visitor Center trail door. The slanted viewing port design allows people of all heights to view without revealing their presence. .The blind overlooks an open field with ground modification to mimic a forest floor. A variety of bird feeders have been added to attract a variety of species. Being located on a paved trail allows individuals with limited mobility to use the blind.

Birds seen in the blind’s first month include downy woodpecker, goldfinch, house finch, red-bellied woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, northern mocking bird, chipping sparrow, doves, red-winged blackbird and humming bird.

Funds for construction were provided by the Friends of Patuxent.

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Pollinator Gardens

The Patuxent Research Refuge has large pollinator gardens of native plants at the South Tract Visitor Center and at the North Tract Visitor Contact Station. Other small pockets of pollinator plantings are near the Fishing Pier at the north end of Cash Lake and at the Wildlife Viewing Area near Merganser Pond at North Tract. Volunteers help design and maintain these gardens, which provide food and shelter to butterflies, native bees and other insects that pollinate native plants and thus support the local wildlife populations. The gardens are beautiful and bring joy to their many visitors, and are especially appreciated by children and photographers.

Since the seeds choose where they like to grow, the gardens are an ever-changing landscape. As one of the gardeners noted, part of the fun of native plant gardening is enjoying the evolving display that changes with both the seasons and the successional stages of plant species as the landscape matures.

The gardens give visitors a chance to see pollinators in action in their natural habitat. They create an awareness of the beauty of native plants in home landscaping, and demonstrate the vital role they play in attracting beneficial insects as well as birds and other wildlife. The gardens are essentially an outdoor classroom, promoting good environmental stewardship by showing visitors what they can do in their own gardens.