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Outdoor Experiences
Hands on Birds
with Maine Master Naturalist Program
Get Up Close with Bird Anatomy
Have you ever wanted to see the serrated bill of a merganser, feel the powerful foot of a falcon, or discover what an owl looks like beneath all those feathers? This hands-on program invites you to explore the Maine Master Naturalist Program's incredible collection of bird specimens, learning about bird anatomy, feathers, skeletons, bills, and feet - plus some basic identification skills.
Master Naturalists Cheryl Ring, Sue Kistenmacher, and Andrea Lani will introduce the specimens before guiding participants through interactive stations where you can examine whole birds, bones, and feathers in stunning detail.
This program is open to all ages, but advance registration is required for each attendee. Children must be accompanied by a registered adult.
Spring into Nature Celebration
with Viles Arboretum
Celebrate the Arrival of Spring with a Day of Community at Viles Arboretum!
Enjoy nature-inspired activities for all ages, lend a hand with an Earth Day project, explore our vernal pool, and snap a photo with a floppy eared friend! This event is the perfect way to kick off spring with joy and purpose!
The Spring Celebration is FREE for everyone to attend but some activities may require a fee to participate and/or advance registration.
Click Here for a Full Schedule of Event
- Meet the Easter Bunny ($)
- Vernal Pool Exploration
- EcoCraft: Upcycled Seed Starting
- Native Egg Hunt: Discover the Birds of the Northeast
- Spring Magnified: View Nature Under a Microscope
- Soil Sensory Bin
- Earth Day Volunteer Opportunities
- Shakedown Treats & Sweets food truck
- Of Maine Origin food truck
During registration, you'll be asked to provide some optional demographic information. Your responses are confidential and will not be shared with anyone. This information helps the Arboretum better understand our community, improve our programs, ensure we are offering inclusive and accessible experiences for all, and helps with securing funding opportunities to enhance our work.
The Outdoor Chef: A New Look at Outdoor Cooking and Baking
with Wood Thrush Wilderness
Have you ever wanted to make delicious meals over a fire? This hands-on class is perfect for outdoor enthusiasts and aspiring backcountry chefs! Together, we’ll explore a variety of cooking techniques and recipes that will elevate your outdoor cooking skills.
What You'll Learn
- Cooking with a Dutch oven: hearty meals and baked goods made easy.
- Using pie irons for creative and tasty dishes.
- Grilling over an open fire and cooking with simple wood sticks.
- Mastering camp stove cooking for a variety of meals.
- Baking cookies in a Coleman oven—yes, you can bake outdoors!
This class includes a feast of food, so be sure to bring your appetite! You’ll leave with new skills, favorite recipes, and the confidence to create gourmet meals under the stars.
What to Expect
- A fun, interactive class with plenty of hands-on opportunities.
- All tools, ingredients, and equipment will be provided.
- Recipes and techniques are designed for beginners and seasoned campers alike
Accessibility Information
We aim to make this class enjoyable and welcoming for all:
- Location: The venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible restrooms.
- Physical activity: Participants will be standing and moving around, with some lifting and handling of cooking tools. Chairs will be available to all participants. Please reach out to discuss accommodations if needed.
- Dietary considerations: Let us know of any dietary restrictions or allergies, and we’ll do our best to accommodate.
About the Instructor
Wood Thrush Wilderness is an outdoor guiding and educational business that helps people connect more deeply with themselves and the natural world. As Licensed Recreation Maine Guides, we offer guided canoe expeditions throughout the state of Maine. We also offer classes and training in outdoor education, wilderness medicine, and traditional crafts such as basketry.
Medicinal Plant Walks
with Debra Bluth
Join herbalist, homeopath, and flower essence practitioner Debra Bluth for a guided walk through Viles Arboretum, where you'll meet a variety of medicinal plants and trees along the way. Discover key identifying features, folklore, and traditional uses of these plants from herbal, homeopathic, and flower essence perspectives. Ages 16+
Each walk will feature different plants, so you're welcome to join one or all three for a unique experience every time. Wear sturdy shoes that can handle a bit of dirt!
Potential Plants for Each Walk (subject to change):
Walk #1: Plantain, burdock, dandelion, sumac, yarrow, elder, lungwort, white oak, bloodroot, violet,Solomon seal
Walk #2: Red clover, ginkgo, iris, Japanese knotweed, hawthorn, rose, comfrey, horse chestnut, catalpa,poison ivy, lesser cinquefoil
Walk #3: elecampane, mugwort, lesser periwinkle, goldenrod, Queen Anne’s lace, boneset, gravel root,jewelweed, blue vervain, white cedar, white pine
Register for all 3 walks and use promo code THREE to save 10%
Writing Landscape, Writing Self: A 6-Week Workshop on Writing Poetry in Response to the Natural World
with Meghan Sterling
Register early and save! Only $250 if you sign up by April 15th—price increases to $275 on April 16th.
Members recieve a 10% discount on this program!
Click here to become a member!
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Sit in the grass. Trace raindrops down a windowpane. Examine a tree. Take a walk.Watch the light reflect off stone sculptures. Observe. Immerse. Beauty is everywhere.
In this 6-week workshop, held at Viles Arboretum either outdoors or indoors dependingon the weather, we will write poetry in response to the landscape by using observational journaling and fresh poetic techniques.
If you love learning about nature and learning new tools to expand your poetry practice, this workshop is for you. Go out into a field, agrove, a barn, and write poems about what is all around you, and how you are part of itall. From romantic poetry to ecopoetry, this workshop will inspire poetry that, as Joseph Campbell says, “to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match yournature with Nature."
Workshop Schedule
5/21 - Week 1—Seeing. Craft technique: Imagery.Welcome, Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
5/28 - Week 2—Listening. Craft technique: Anaphora.Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/4 - Week 3—Feeling. Craft technique: Syntax. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/11 - Week 4—Remembering. Craft technique: Still Life poems. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/18 - Week 5—Desiring. Craft technique: Portrait poems. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. HW: complete poem.
6/25 - Week 6—Imagining. Craft technique: Modern sonnets. Introduction, free write, craft lesson, nature writing. Share favorite poem written.
About the Instructor
Meghan Sterling lives in Gardiner, Maine with her family. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Rhino Poetry, The Los Angeles Review, Rattle, Colorado Review, Pinch Journal, Radar Poetry, Rust & Moth, SWIMM, The West Review, Pirene’s Fountain, the Inflectionist Review, Rise Up Review, the Mom Egg Review and many others. Her chapbook, How We Drift, was published by Blue Lyra Press. She was Featured Poet in Frost Meadow Review’s Spring 2020 issue, a Dibner Fellow at the 2020 Black Fly Writer’s Retreat, and a Hewnoaks Artists’ Colony Resident in 2019 and 2021. She was co-editor of the anthology, A Dangerous New World: Maine Voices on the Climate Crisis, published by Littoral Books. Her debut full-length poetry collection, These Few Seeds (Terrapin Books) came out in 2021 and was shortlisted for the Eric Offer Grand Prize Award. Her second full-length collection, View from a Borrowed Field, won Lily Poetry Review’s Paul Nemser Book Prize and came out in March 2023. Her chapbook, Self-Portrait with Ghosts of the Diaspora (Harbor Editions) came out in April 2023. Her third full-length collection, Comfort the Mourners (Everybody Press) came out summer 2023. You Are Here to Break Apart (Lily Poetry Review Press), is forthcoming in 2025 and Sick Poems from the Lovebed (Harbor Editions) is forthcoming in 2026. When she isn’t writing poetry, being a mom or swimming, she teaches workshops and works as a professional writer.
State of the Birds: Decades of Change
with Nick Lund
Maine’s bird populations are constantly shifting, with some species thriving while others decline. State of the Birds: Decades of Change explores these patterns over the past few decades, highlighting which birds are disappearing, which are on the rise, and what these changes might mean for the future.
This presentation is led by Nick Lund, Maine Audubon's Advocacy and Outreach Manager. A passionate birder and writer, Nick is the author of The ABA Field Guide to the Birds of Maine; Dinosaurs to Chickens: How Evolution Works; and The Ultimate Biography of Earth. His articles have appeared in Slate.com, The Washington Post, National Geographic, and more.
Following the presentation, join us for a guided bird walk to put your knowledge into practice. We’ll explore the surrounding landscape, searching for some of the species discussed and observing firsthand the changes in Maine’s bird populations. Whether you're an experienced birder or just getting started, this is a great opportunity to deepen your appreciation for the birds of Maine.
Birding Hike with Casey Hynes at Viles Arboretum
with L.L. Bean
This program is part of the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Program. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
How many species can you spot? L.L.Bean’s skilled guides have teamed up with a local birding expert, Casey Hynes, to lead you on a quiet, slow-paced hike through one of Maine’s top birding locations. After a quick refresher on how to tune your binoculars, you’ll embark on an easy walk through woodlands and open fields, listening and looking for the many birds that make these areas home – with plenty of educational narration along the way.
Participants with all levels of birding experience are welcome. Binoculars will be provided.
Months of Operation: May-October
Duration: Approximately 2 hours
Begins: Varies
Age Requirements: Minimum Age: 12 (17 & under with parent/guardian)
Registration: This program is part of the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery Program. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Into the Forest: Guided Walks
with WorthIt Constance Woodworth
Join us for a guided, nature walk that will encourage you to slow down and reconnect with nature. During each forest bathing walk you'll be invited to engage in activities like silent observation, mindful breathing, and guided reflection, designed to promote relaxation and rejuvenation.
These walks are designed for everyone, regardless of fitness level, and no prior experience is necessary—just a willingness to embrace the calming and grounding benefits of nature. Walks are 15+ unless indicated that it is a family walk. Children over the age of 4 must be registered.
Location: Meet at the Trail Map Kiosk
About the Instructor
Constance Woodworth is a certified Forest Therapy Guide from the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Program based in California and is currently studying to become a Maine Master Naturalist.