If you looking for outdoor activities to do with your family and kids. This is the place to explore.

Make sure to stop here! Great information and exhibits on Michigan species!

Best place for holidays and families

🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 Free indoors and out. Fun place to take the family. It’s an indoor playground intertwined with natural 🐍displays and learning areas. High energy. ⚡️Clean. Take the boardwalk trail across Lakeside Drive to the Iron Belle trail. 🥾Easy hike to the east end of the island where the Detroit River opens to Lake St. Clair. ⛵️Beautiful scenery. 🌿🍃🌱🐞🌳🌳🌾🌾🪺

I brought my 4 year old great nephew here and we had an excellent time. There are turtle, salamander, frog, and snake exhibits. There is a very cool bee farm and an outdoor area to observe and feed deer. It's a wonderful place to visit; especially, with a young child.

Great place, excellent nature exhibits on display. You can touch & feel different animal parts such as skulls, skin(furr) horns etc. nice decor & children play room. Bird house outside center is very nice & many birds & sparrows are taking shelter. Small but beautiful place & without visiting this place your visit to island is not complete

Huge thumbs down. A few tanks of basic animals, like frogs, in depressing man-made environments. Took me 5 min to go and leave bc it was so unentertaining and small. I can’t believe 2.5 MILLION was spent on renovations here? I don’t believe it honestly. It’s time to for the public to have proof of where and HOW money is spent in Detroit (and every city). To make sure these funds aren’t……..misappropriated. The money you spent (or kept?) on this useless “renovation” could have been spent on small low income housing for the sick and disabled. So sick of being so disappointed by this world and this city.

Whenever I’m unsure on where we want to spend a nice day we come here! Such a fun and interactive way to learn the world around us

Nice educational place for the kids and adults. There’s plenty to learn. You can explore the nature side of Michigan. The staff was super friendly. The place was very clean. There’s lots to see. Do check them out.

Nature center has deer feedings 3 times a day in the summer. There is a few turtles & a fish in the inside pond. There's lots of great information on native animals and plants. There's a fun play area for little kids inside and a fun outdoor area. They also have a nature hiking trail. There is a great playground right across from the parking lot too. Great for a quick visit or a longer stay with great information.

Unfortunately the Nature Center was closed during our visit to Belle Isle. The sign said reopening soon. We peeked in the windows and it did look like they were doing some cleaning and renovations. I'm sure it will be better than it was before when it reopens.

Beautifully remodeled facility; it is basically brand new. The volunteers really make this a great family experience. When you're here, check out the rest of what island has to offer, especially if you are a first-time visitor!

Aquarium, was Clean & Awsome. Lots to see in a not so big space. Loved it. Our whole Fam had fun. Try the Honey! Mmm mmm. Nature center was closed, remodel at this time. ( April 21 / 23) but we'll be back.💜

This park you pay 13$ to get in for the year but everything is closed. No zoo, no garden area open, no aquarium it's only open Friday- Sunday so don't go through the week. It like everthing you want to go do is closed. The map they give you does not match where the actual places are. We did go to the nature center it was just ok. Not very big at all. They do have a beach area to swim. Even though I can get in for the rest of the year not sure if I would even bother going back honestly.

It's a cool place to take a family outing and has educational benefits.

It was a wonderful experience. The children had a wonderful time. I took my own children back and they had a wonderful time.

An informative yet entertaining stop before you hit the trails! Stop by to learn about the watersheds, the birds in the area, and all the educational displays about how to identify the animals in the area. The displays are geared towards kids, but are entertaining and educational for adults as well. Make sure you check out the bird watching room where there are bird feeders just outside the window. Like one of the birds but don't know what it is? The many bird field books laying around are sure to help you identify what you see.

Great place for kids and adults alike.

Great place for everyone to visit. Always something to learn and explore.

So Much Fun!!

What a cold-blooded and slimy place (couldn't be more awsome).

Must-see, when on Belle Isle. Beautiful building, great plant collection, not too large/overwhelming. I have been several times to the St. Louis Botanical Garden, which is considered the finest in the country, as well to the one in Cape Town, South Africa. This conservatory is of course much smaller, but I truly enjoyed it: small but beautiful, as one quote goes. FYI: the photos were not taken with a DSLR, but with a handy system camera Canon G15, a nice compromise between P&S and DSLR.

Loved the place! The atmosphere is good.

What a lovely, almost hidden gem. I will visit this conservatory and the amazing surrounding English gardens as often as possible. The entire island is really enjoyable. I have been to the beach, conservatory, aquarium, museum and nature center. I look forward to spending a lot of time on this beautiful island.

Beautiful and tranquil. One of my favorite places to be.

Unique and treasured architecture.

The guided hiking programs are excellent. Staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and engaged. Thank you to my guide, Luke!

Well done! It's small enough to keep the kids interested and the deer experience is something special. Definitely going back.

My boys and i loved this! We went easter Sunday and it was opened and it was our first time to the nature center. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot and even made the deer feeding time! It was a great day at belle isle again!! There is a park outside the nature center so my kids playes after looking around tge nature center and feeding the deer. They also had a bingo sheet for the kids and a scavanger hunt sheet for kids of all ages to do! It was set up really nice and lots of facts about all kinds of animals!

The nature center is great but what is even more fabulous is the playground right outside. I’ve never been to such a cool playground!!!! There’s a small nature playground right outside the nature center and then the bigger playground near the parking lot. You can fish there too.

Belle Isle Nature Center is a really educational experience. It tends to focus on native to Michigan species through informative posters and displays. A good place to walk through with the entire family

This place is pretty cool - even for adults. It was interesting to learn a few things that I didn't know about Michigan's amphibians and reptiles. The facility is clean and well taken care of. To get on the island, you'll need a recreation pass and everything is free unless one is inspired to donate further. Highly recommended.

Cute for smaller kids. A fun walk thru for adults and big kids.

Been coming here for over a decade, i love this place but the university is not taking care of it it's sad

Nice area to walk, sometimes offer programs and guides to walk. A few displays on inside, small pond animals and vegetation to view

Wonderful outdoor space. Very relaxing.

Very serene and friendly.

It's beautiful

Boring

Beautiful.

It's a beautiful place to go relax in the middle of a city!

Our school did a field trip here and it was amazing! our students loved it and they loved the maple syrup tasting at the end!!! They only had positive things to say!

It's maple syrup time. Fun for the kids. Great thing to see - Michigan wildlife.

Exciting field trip with Arno Elementary all about mable syrup. In picture mable sap and the stoves they used to cook it.

Wonderful place and great staff! Looking forward to maple sap collection season.

I've been here numerous times over the last 12 years. The center has programs for school children. They Have a bird watching room. The trails are quite and relaxing. The spring is nice and the end of October for the fall colors. Where repellent in the summer.

It is a beautiful place. The best time to visit would be in spring to see the flowers throughout much of the woods.

It's small but please dont let that deter you. They have so many adorable turtles and they also have an indoor bee hive that you can watch through plexiglas. I watched a bee be born! You can feed deer at various times of that day. We will definitely visit again.

We've been coming here for quite some time now and always have a great adventure. This is a Belle Isle must see for growing and adventurous minds. Directed towards younger ages but in my opinion, fun for all ages! Plus there is a neat playground right next to it!

Could be so much more. Huge island. Many great parks and views of Canada. Many run down areas and abandoned parts.

The kids loved the play scape it had the coolest stuff according to them. There was this one ride that you can push them in a seated swing up and down a long track, it was a blast. The actual nature center was fun and interesting for them. IT WAS FREE, which is crazy. What a great day for the kids to spend having fun and learning.

It's a small indoor nature center but quite nice. One outdoor activity is the deer feeding which occurs 3 times a day - 11am, 1pm and 3pm. The admission and the deer feeding is absolutely free. Excellent experience for kids. There's a very neat playground right opposite to the building which has not so common equipments such as playground zip line, rocking boat etc. Kids will enjoy those for sure.

Lovely place to take a child to learn about animal's and play ☺.

I skipped work to go here and may I say I should've just went to work

Super fun! As a kid, I really enjoyed it!

A really cute place with a lot of fun activities for kids but they let adults join in the fun too! We fed deer.

it was so beautiful for my first time l love it thank y'all so much for it l am for Birmingham AL l live there now

Fun for the whole family for free.

Very nice

Very nice Nature Center. The bird sounds playing in bathroom are a nice touch.

Beautiful park.

Very friendly staff

As always educational for my grandson

Great learning Center and wonderful staff

Nice little aquarium with fresh water critters, and beautiful plant life.

(Translated by Google) Oh insects and a place where children can play. There is also a place to read books. And this place is very interesting. (Original) Ay insectos y un lugar donde pueden jugar los niños. Ay un lugar también para k puedan leer libros. Y es muy interesante este lugar.

It's clean. Nice. Free and my son loves it

A cute place in the city

Very good and fun free place

Free admission! A great place to take your family.

Very informative and they have a wide array of local live aquatic animals on display with lots of information as well as a bird watching area.

Great for toddlers

Very nice. Had fun with grandkids.

Nice nature center! Kids love it

Nice area and building. Pleased with a lecture on bird identification.

(Translated by Google) I don't care the weather is a nice place to walk (Original) No importo el clima es un lugar agradable para caminar

Had a great time here!! My grandson loved it!

Love this place

Absolute gem, inside one of our best state parks. #publiclandowner

Very goooooood

Great place to learn about local habitats

Nature scape is the best!

Ok too many turtles

Feed the deer

You have guest wifi on site but won't allow guests to use it normally. I think this policy should be revisited. The cell service is really poor on the island due to proximity to Canada and so using the wifi is very helpful.

We seen some much and I learned a lot from there also when I went to Summer camp there I got to see a fox and it was adorable ❤️

Awesome place to see when at the zoo

One of the coolest exhibits in the zoo

Variety of species, clean, and helpful staff

All the cool frogs!

great information about amphibians!

The different creatures within the state and around the world. Especially loved the giant Japanese salamanders...

Cool

Very nice and the volunteer at the door was very informative. I did feel though, the descriptions of the Amphibians should give the approx. size to help find them.

Always love visiting here at the zoo, but now with the new giant japanese salamander exhibit it's even better.

SALAMANDERS FROGS SALAMANDERS FROGS AXLOTL HELLBENDER!

Lovely exhibit area! Great variety of amphibians with a lot of great information about them and their habitat etc. Staff within are friendly, helpful and informative. Great stop while at the Detroit Zoo!

Lots of frogs, big and small. The guides wandering around were very helpful to assist us in spotting the frogs!

If you ever visit Detroit this is a MUST SEE! During spring/summer/fall days this conservatory shines inside and out! From a beautiful Koi Pond to the surround manicured lawns and landscape, this place is a Photographers dream for any sort of pictures from Wedding to Yearbook photos. Inside you will first encounter palm tree that is over 70yrs old(come see it within a couple years because it will have to be cut down and a new palm planted. The palm is getting too big for the conservatories Dome). You'll experience jungle plants to desert plants all with a few steps of eachother! A must see!

Please note that it is very warm inside no matter how cold it is out there and the admission is free!! And, there is such a friendly and nice lady who works in the entrance :)

What can you say about the Belle Isle conservatory other than it’s a gem 💎 and with every minute of your time. The grounds in front of the conservatory have a wonderful garden with hedges and shrubs, and a un-tame impala statue. The conservancy also has an adjacent coy pond between it and the Belle Isle Aquarium where you can watch the coy fish swim. Inside there are several exotic plants as well as a small space to have a wedding. The conservatory also hosts weddings in their garden area, and they have a large fundraiser each year, and the 2019 event in support of the Conservatory is on September 10th.

We didn't plan to go here during our trip, but bit definitely was the biggest highlight. It is amazing!

Beautiful facility. Free admission and many plants on site to observe.

Visited on a sunny fall Sunday, quite the collection of plants, beautiful structure.. worth a visit and walk through

Love this place. Great place for wedding and prom photos. There was a wedding party there when we visited. Full size palm, banana and fruit trees growing under the huge glass dome. Tropical flowers and cacti. And the outside gardens are great for walking.

Amazing architecture, very warm friendly place. Very family oriented. It's like stepping through time when visiting this place. It's neat to see how far aquariums have come.

Very n nice place and well maintained with lot of species.

Just Go !! You will love it.

Worth the trip.

Absolutely breath taking and beautiful.

Pretty neat place to visit.

Recommended for quality time with the family!

Limelight had the pleasure of driving a wedding party to this beautiful venue. Easy accessibility for our vehicle as you can see in the photo.

Beautiful outside grounds but this place is closed due to covid

Great for the kids

Unfortunately and surprisingly it was closed.

(Translated by Google) A1 (Original) A1

Great place if you are a fan of flowers!

I love going here it's claming

Peaceful

Eventhough we couldn't go inside at this time. It was nice just looking at the koi pond near the gate and looking at the grounds that's inside the gate

Nice place to visit

Was really upset it was still closed

Closed at time. I ws riding Belle Isle it was great!

Beautiful spot take pictures at nice scenery.

Very interesting plants, lots of information about the plants too!

very nice

It's closed four Corona

Would of been nice, but is closed. Hopefully, o pop ens soon. Spent time on Beach.

Our fave place to wander & get fresh air during Carona Quarantine2020

Love historic sites? This one is great.

Absolutely beautiful, had a great time here.

Amazing! Loved every bit

Great place for photos

Beautiful setting, plants & flowers. I highly recommend it and then go right next door to the Aquarium & see the turtle being fed....very interesting...and all the other fish. Great for a fun day out!!!

Great free place to visit!

Beautiful place

Gem

Gorgeous!

Beautiful place, love all the different types of flowers and plants, would recommend this place to everyone

Great place. A must visit if you are in Detroit. They have plants and trees from all over the world. It's temperature controlled and so much fun.

The white house next to it is haunted by negative spirits

Nature center was closed for renovations but the staff had a wonderful outdoor honey bee experience for everyone to enjoy

I Love The Way Belle is Set Up , i will give it a 4 star,you can have lots of fun out there 😊😎👍.

We really enjoyed our time with the family and bees ! Beautiful exhibit 🐝❤😊

Had a very nice time. The kids loved all the nature

Very fun and informative! Our daughter loved it and so did I! Highly recommend a visit if your on Belle Isle! The white deer are so cute! Plus it's FREE lol!

Fun for the whole family. Free admission is great.This place is a little small. The aquarium set up is very neat. Bathrooms are clean.

Nice little zoo. We enjoyed the live displays of turtles, albino deer, a couple of Black Rat Snakes, and the educational displays for the kids. There is a nice birdwatching area which drew in a Bluejay, the first I have seen all summer. It even had a groundhog hogging the food 😁

Nice place for nature as far as turtles, amphibians, snakes and fish but the deer....it hurts my soul to see them locked behind the fence with no freedom to run free when they live on an island. ...they look so unhappy.

What a wonderful venue to bring children to. The crew who renovated and brought this great place up to speed deserves kudos. We had a great day at the center yesterday and all of the staff was kind and friendly. My 3 1/2 year-old grandson did not want to leave. Very hands-on and user-friendly.

My kids and I really enjoyed the nature center, we would have stayed longer but it was jam packed with people. I wouldn’t recommend going on the weekend, but they had lots of fun animals to see, activities for the kids, and interesting facts for all ages.

We were not even planning on visiting because prior visits were blah. But the granddaughter had to use the restroom. I wish I had pics. I've been to many nature centers this is the best I've visited. Hopefully it stays in such amazing condition. There's a live beehive, many reptiles. A playscape that you can pretend you're ants, that the kids loved. An awesome assortment of stuffed animal puppets and books. Kept the kids engaged for quite awhile, they didn't want to leave.

I took my preschool granddaughter here and she had a great time. They had a lot of fun activities for her to do. Plus, a cozy fireplace with good picture books to read and look at. We went on a weekday and there weren't any crowds. I definitely recommend this as a fun and free (with a state park recreational passport) place to go!

We were going to the aquarium, but it was closed, so we decided to check this place out. I couldn't believe it was free. It was very cute, and my 9 and 14-year-old loved it. I wasn't expecting it, so it was a nice surprise. The albino turtle was so cool. The salamanders were super cute. A nice place to spend some time with kids if they love anything nature related.

My kids loved this place. I just couldn't give it 5 stars due to a super dicky security guard being aggressive towards numerous people for no reason. But as far as the actual nature center goes it is great for kids

Great place for kids to learn through interactive processes.

Really great for little kids, and helpful for tourists, too. The deer are gone—they were permanently moved to the Detroit Zoo in 2022. There’s still plenty to see here (turtles, mud puppies, gophers) and the nature trail outside is peaceful and easy to navigate.

Awesome little free attraction within Belle Isle Park. We went there to get out of the sun and were surprised at how many animals they had inside. I loved learning about the Mudpuppies and how the research they do helps make sure the river is healthy. They also had areas for kids to play and learn, including a small inside jungle gym (earthworm themed) and an outside area they could dig and play gardener. Loved the vernal pool with the tadpoles and the indoor, glass-enclosed bee hive.

Great place for families to take their children to. Nice for adults to wander through also.

Our recent visit to Belle Isle Nature Center was very nice. I enjoyed the young man explaining about the bullfrog. I laughed on the way out when I looked back and saw a puppet. Enjoyed the trail walk. I wish there was more to see.

Very fun place to take young kids! We must've saw all the animals at least 3 times because of how much my son loved it! Also, very inclusive for neurodivergent kids, which was important to us! Will definitely come back next time we come out to Michigan!