Check out the list of City Nature Challenge events from across the state below
Virtual Programs (available statewide)
Join the City Nature Challenge!
Tuesday, April 25, 7:00-81:00pm
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Free
Register here
The City Nature Challenge is a worldwide event aimed at discovering and documenting the nature all around you. Participants photograph wild, living things they see, April 28–May 1, and upload them to iNaturalist (free app or website) to help support the effort in their local area. Learn how to participate in this event in North Carolina, including how to make iNaturalist observations, how to take a great photo for science, and where to look for species anywhere, in this virtual program with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Head of Citizen Science, Chris Goforth!
Join the City Nature Challenge!
Thursday, April 27, 12:00-1:00pmNorth Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Free
Register here
The City Nature Challenge is a worldwide event aimed at discovering and documenting the nature all around you. Participants photograph wild, living things they see, April 28–May 1, and upload them to iNaturalist (free app or website) to help support the effort in their local area. Learn how to participate in this event in North Carolina, including how to make iNaturalist observations, how to take a great photo for science, and where to look for species anywhere, in this virtual program with the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Head of Citizen Science, Chris Goforth!
In-person Programs
Saturday, April 15
Taking Nature Photos – For Science!!
April 15, 2023, 10:30am – 12pm
Wilkerson Nature Preserve; 5229 Awls Haven Drive; Raleigh, NC 27614
Cost $2
Register here
Ages 10+. The City Nature Challenge is a global challenge and friendly competition between cities motivating people around the world to find and document plants and wildlife in their cities. Learn how you can make observations and help the Triangle Area document what lives here as we compete against other cities around the world, and learn how scientists can use our nature observations for their research! Come prepared ready for a hike with a camera or other device to take photos. Downloading the iNaturalist app in advance is suggested but not necessary.
Saturday, April 22
Triangle SciTech Expo
April 22, 10:00-5:00 pm
North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 W. Jones St., Raleigh, NC 27601
Free
No registration needed, more information
Learn how to participate in this year’s City Nature Challenge where cities like Raleigh and around the world compete to share the most nature observations in iNaturalist. We’ll have demos of iNaturalist and answer questions about the City Nature Challenge.
Friday, April 28
Night Bugs
April 28, 2023, 8pm-10pm
Wilkerson Nature Preserve; 5229 Awls Haven Drive; Raleigh, NC 27614
Cost $2
Register here
Ages 6+ Many insects and spiders are active at night. Park staff will set up blacklights to attract moths and other nighttime critters and look around the fields to find more lurking in the grass. Learn how to identify what we see as we document our observations for the iNaturalist City Nature Challenge. Come prepared for the weather. Bring a flashlight!
Arbor Day Tree ID Walk
April 28, 2023, 4-5 pm
Clark Park Nature Center; 631 Sherman Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28301
Free
Call 910-433-1579 or register online at register.fcpr.us
Come out to the park and learn why trees are important and useful. Identify some common species you might have in your backyard. Learn how to log the species you find in iNaturalist for the City Nature Challenge. All ages welcome.
NC Bioblitz: Africa Lake Nature Walk
April 28, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
North Carolina Zoo; 4401 Zoo Parkway, Asheboro, NC 27205; Africa Lake (meet near hippo statues)
Free
Registration link: Eventbrite
The North Carolina Zoo invites you to participate in the NC Bioblitz, taking place April 28 – May 1! A bioblitz is an event in which participants work together to find and identify as many species as possible. We are offering one guided walk each day during the NC Bioblitz, led by Zoo naturalists, and we also encourage participants to submit their own observations outside these times. We’ll use the iNaturalist app to record our observations during this nature walk near the Zoo’s Africa Lake. We’ll meet near the hippo statues at Hippo Beach to look for aquatic organisms, such as fish and invertebrates, as well as plants and wildlife along the shoreline. If you’re new to iNaturalist, we’ll show you how to use this community science platform to start your own nature exploration! Ages 8 and up.
City Nature Challenge at Prairie Ridge Ecostation
April 28, 9:00am-4:00pm
NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 1671 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh
Free
No registration required
The City Nature Challenge is an international citizen science event that encourages people document as many wild living things in their area as possible. Help us show off the amazing biodiversity of our state to the rest of the world while you document the species living at Prairie Ridge! Bring a phone with iNaturalist or Seek loaded (turn on the observation sharing in Seek) and take a self-guided walk around our grounds, photographing and submitting observations for as many species as you can to iNaturalist during your visit. Your observations will be automatically added to the CNC Triangle Area iNaturalist project so long as you submit them by May 7!
Saturday, April 29
Lake Johnson Nature Explorers: City Nature Challenge (Full)
April 29 from 10:00 – 11:30am
City of Raleigh – Lake Johnson Park, TGC Woodland Center 5611 Jaguar Park Dr Raleigh NC 27606
$4
Register here
Do you enjoy observing nature? Want to be a scientist and earn badges while doing it? Join us to learn more about the ecoEXPLORE program and how to participate. ecoEXPLORE is an incentive-based citizen science program for children in grades K-8. During the program, we will spend time inside and outside working on earning our badge. Adults must accompany participants. Advanced registration required. Ages 5 – 13
Lake Johnson Nature Explorers
April 29 from 1:30 – 3pm
City of Raleigh – Lake Johnson Park, TGC Woodland Center 5611 Jaguar Park Dr Raleigh NC 27606
$4
Register here
Flip over logs, dig a hole, or sift through leaves with one of our naturalists. Participants will immerse themselves in nature and learn about the interesting things they find. Adults must accompany participants. Advanced registration required. Ages 3 – 17
NC Bioblitz: Solar Pointe Nature Walk
April 29, 2:00–3:00 pm
North Carolina Zoo, 4401 Zoo Parkway, Asheboro, NC 27205; Solar Pointe picnic area (at North America parking lot)
Free
Registration link: Eventbrite
The North Carolina Zoo invites you to participate in the NC Bioblitz, taking place April 28 – May 1! A bioblitz is an event in which participants work together to find and identify as many species as possible. We are offering one guided walk each day during the NC Bioblitz, led by Zoo naturalists, and we also encourage participants to submit their own observations outside these times. We’ll use the iNaturalist app to record our observations during this nature walk near the Zoo’s Solar Pointe picnic area (at the North America parking lot). During this nature walk, we’ll look for aquatic organisms in the wetland, such as fish and invertebrates, as well as plants and wildlife along the shoreline and nearby pollinator garden. If you’re new to iNaturalist, we’ll show you how to use this community science platform to start your own nature exploration! Ages 8 and up.
Chatham County Library Ecoexplore: City Nature Challenge Hike
April 29, 2023 2:00-3:00 pm
Chatham Community Library, 197 NC Hwy 87N, Pittsboro, NC 27312
Free
Registration not required, for info, contact: youth.services@chathamlibraries.org
April 28th-May 1st is the City Nature Challenge, an event where different regions of the world compete to find the most species in their area. Join this program to learn how to participate, go for a hike, and bring us to the top of the leaderboard! Come prepared for a short hike. Ages 4+
City Nature Challenge at Prairie Ridge Ecostation
April 29, 9:00am-4:00pm
NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 1671 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh
Free
No registration required
The City Nature Challenge is an international citizen science event that encourages people document as many wild living things in their area as possible. Help us show off the amazing biodiversity of our state to the rest of the world while you document the species living at Prairie Ridge! Bring a phone with iNaturalist or Seek loaded (turn on the observation sharing in Seek) and take a self-guided walk around our grounds, photographing and submitting observations for as many species as you can to iNaturalist during your visit. Your observations will be automatically added to the CNC Triangle Area iNaturalist project so long as you submit them by May 7!
City Nature Challenge After Dark
April 29, 5:00pm-12:00am
NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 1671 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh
Free
No registration required, more information
The City Nature Challenge is an international citizen science event that encourages people to document as many wild living things in their area as possible. Join us at Prairie Ridge to explore the species that make use of our grounds at night! We’ll have multiple light stations to attract insects, loan out blacklight flashlights so you can look for caterpillars (many glow under UV!), and help you find great places to record nighttime sounds. Bring a camera or phone so you can take photos and/or audio recordings to contribute to the Triangle Area’s City Nature Challenge project on iNaturalist!
Sunday, April 30
NC Bioblitz: Africa Lake Nature Walk
April 30, 9:30–10:30 am
North Carolina Zoo; 4401 Zoo Parkway, Asheboro, NC 27205; Africa Lake (meet near hippo statues)
Free
Registration link: Eventbrite
The North Carolina Zoo invites you to participate in the NC Bioblitz, taking place April 28 – May 1! A bioblitz is an event in which participants work together to find and identify as many species as possible. We are offering one guided walk each day during the NC Bioblitz, led by Zoo naturalists, and we also encourage participants to submit their own observations outside these times. We’ll use the iNaturalist app to record our observations during this nature walk near the Zoo’s Africa Lake. We’ll meet near the hippo statues at Hippo Beach to look for aquatic organisms, such as fish and invertebrates, as well as plants and wildlife along the shoreline. If you’re new to iNaturalist, we’ll show you how to use this community science platform to start your own nature exploration! Ages 8 and up.
City Nature Challenge at Prairie Ridge Ecostation
April 29, 12:00-4:00pm
NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 1671 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh
Free
No registration required
The City Nature Challenge is an international citizen science event that encourages people document as many wild living things in their area as possible. Help us show off the amazing biodiversity of our state to the rest of the world while you document the species living at Prairie Ridge! Bring a phone with iNaturalist or Seek loaded (turn on the observation sharing in Seek) and take a self-guided walk around our grounds, photographing and submitting observations for as many species as you can to iNaturalist during your visit. Your observations will be automatically added to the CNC Triangle Area iNaturalist project so long as you submit them by May 7!
City Nature Challenge Scavenger Hunt
April 30, 1pm-2:00pm
NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 1671 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh
Free
No registration required, more information
The City Nature Challenge is an international citizen science event that encourages people to document as many wild living things in their area as possible. Join us at Prairie Ridge for a fun photographic scavenger hunt! Meet at our Outdoor Classroom to get a scavenger hunt sheet, then head out to find and photograph as many things on the list as you can find. We’ll mail a prize to the people who checked off the most species by the end of the program!
The Biggest and Best of the City Nature Challenge
April 30, 2:30pm-3:30pm
NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Prairie Ridge Ecostation, 1671 Gold Star Drive, Raleigh
Free
No registration required, more information
The City Nature Challenge is an international citizen science event that encourages people to document as many wild living things in their area as possible. Join us at Prairie Ridge for a hunt to find the biggest, smallest, most colorful, most unique, etc species on our grounds! Meet at our Outdoor Classroom to get a list of things to look for, then head out to find and photograph as many things on the list as you can. We hope this program will help you find new things that you have not thought to look for at Prairie Ridge and stretch what you can do with your camera to its limits!
Monday, May 1
One Foot Challenge
May 1, 4:00-5L00 pm
Clark Park Nature Center; 631 Sherman Drive, Fayetteville, NC 28301
Free
Call 910-433-1579 or register online at register.fcpr.us
See how many different species you can find in a 1ft X 1ft square and log them in iNaturalist for the City Nature Challenge. You might be surprised at how many things you can find once you take a closer look! Ages 5 and older
NC Bioblitz: Purgatory Mountain Nature Hike
May 1, 2:00–4:00 pm
North Carolina Zoo, 4401 Zoo Parkway, Asheboro, NC 27205; Purgatory Mountain trailhead (at North America parking lot)
Cost: Free
Registration link: Eventbrite
The North Carolina Zoo invites you to participate in the NC Bioblitz, taking place April 28 – May 1! A bioblitz is an event in which participants work together to find and identify as many species as possible. We are offering one guided walk each day during the NC Bioblitz, led by Zoo naturalists, and we also encourage participants to submit their own observations outside these times. We’ll use the iNaturalist app to record our observations during this two-mile hike on the Zoo’s Purgatory Mountain Trails. We’ll meet at the trailhead for the Purgatory Trails (at the far corner of the North America parking lot). As we ascend Purgatory Mountain, we’ll look for forest-dwelling plants, animals, and fungi. If you’re new to iNaturalist, we’ll show you how to use this community science platform to start your own nature exploration! Ages 8 and up.
NC City Nature Challenge 