Raven Hill Discovery Center
is the proud recipient of the 2005 Crooked Tree Arts Center
eddi Award for Arts and Cultural Organizations
Raven Hill
Discovery Center is the only place in northern Lower Michigan
where science, history and art connect for children and adults
through hands-on activities and explorations, both indoors and
outdoors. Connections emerge through classes, exhibits and facilities
that provide opportunities for all ages to learn, create, grow
and play.
Contact
information
Phone:
231.536.3369 or tollfree 877.833.4254 ~ Fax:
231.536.0132 ~ Email: info@ravenhilldiscoverycenter.org
~ Address:
4737 Fuller Road, East Jordan, Michigan 49727
Summer
hours are now in effect!
Between Memorial
Day and Labor Day, Raven Hill is open weekdays
10 am to 4 pm as well as our regular weekend hours, which are
Saturdays 12 - 4pm and Sundays 2 - 4pm.We are always
open by appointment and over most holiday periods, but please
call to confirm exact days and hours and winter road conditions.
Admission price is $8.00
per person, except for babies that stay in backpacks or strollers.
Admission includes time in the hands-on museum, a visit with
the animals, access to the one room Schoolhouse and the Energy
House, as well as outdoor exhibits, such as Beyond Jurassic
Park, Ancient World, Taxonomic (Taxi) Trail, the Stone Labyrinth,
and the Tree House. The average visit is one and a half to two
hours. Exhibits are appropriate for all ages, from one to one
hundred!! Gift shop and picnic area available. Activities are
individually priced, over and above admission price. The
Center is located between East Jordan & Boyne City, just
off C-48 at Pearsall Road.
Visitors can also experience the some of the
musical instruments that are already installed in the Center’s
newest exhibit—the Earth Tones Music Garden. More oversized
instruments are yet to come--made of stone, metal and wood.
The new outdoor musical exhibit is part of a 2009 grant awarded
by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs &
the National Endowment for the Arts.
Winter Hours: Between
Labor Day and Memorial Day, Raven Hill is open weekends from
12 to 4 pm on Saturdays and 2 to 4 pm on Sundays
or any time by appointment.
Treat yourself and your
family to a day or an afternoon of fun and exploration at Raven
Hill Discovery Center. You can build connections between science,
history and the arts in an interactive learning environment.
In addition to playing in the hands-on museum and holding the
exotic animals, you can also spend time in the one-room schoolhouse,
see the geologic history of the earth in the Exploring Beyond
Jurassic Park outdoor exhibit, stroll through various cultures
in the Ancient World, explore the new Tree House and take a
peek at the Center’s “in-progress” exhibit,
the Energy House, which is solar powered. Plan at least 2 hours
or more, if you are taking a class or experiencing any of the
outdoor exhibits.
AND--feel
free to email us (look left) and
share your experiences, comments and suggestions about our facilities,
exhibits and programs. Your input is appreciated.
New
Exhibit: The Tree House
Designed
and built in the shape of a maple leaf by Poineau Woodworkers
of East Jordan, Michigan through a grant awarded by the Michigan
Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment
for the Arts, plus many private donations, the Tree House connects
science and art. Panels are being decorated by local schools
and inside, visitors can play with a marble roll, leave notes
on chalkboard circles, ring the dinner triangle, examine a tree
trunk up close and personal and soon will also be able to look
through kaleidescopes, periscopes and telescopes. The stem of
the leaf forms a barrier free ramp for everyone's convenience.
Exploring
Beyond Jurassic Park
Stroll through
Raven Hill Discovery Center's "Exploring Beyond Jurassic
Park" and learn about the Earth's Geologic History before
and after the dinosaurs. Pteranodon sculpture of welded steel
by Bill Allen.
The Ancient World
Raven Hill Discovery
Center's Ancient World Exhibit includes a working factory site
with 4 primitve pottery kilns, a glass furnace, a beading furnace
and a copper smelter.
RAVEN HILL OPPORTUNITIES
Classes
for children and adults are available any time by appointment.
Call 231.536.3369 to book a specific class to fit your interests
and choose a day and time to fit your individual schedule.
Teachers
can book field trips and outreach programs for their students
Graduate
credit classes for educators through Central Michigan
University are offered year-round: two consecutive weekends
during the school year and one week during the summer months
Scouts
and other youth organizations can schedule day programs or overnights
to work on activities to fulfill badges, patches or pins
Families
will enjoy spending quality time with their children and grandchildren
Hikers
and walkers looking for
new trails to explore will find multiple opportunities for easy
to "black diamond" paths.
Earth
Journey: Walk to support Raven Hill any time. Purchase
a passport and add stickers as you visit different exhibits
at the Center. Beautiful limited edition Raven Hill Discovery
Center “Earth Journey” T-shirts are also available
with a map of the grounds in full color right on the shirt.
Walk, roll, stroll around
Raven Hill for as little or long as you wish ~ Stop and play
along the way ~ Take time to enjoy Near and Far ~ Now and Then
~ Exhibits and Demos
Want to
know more? Following is a
"Short
History of Raven Hill Discovery Center"
Raven Hill Discovery
Center, 2005 Crooked Tree Arts Center eddi Award recipient for
Arts and Cultural Organizations, was established in 1992 as
a regional science and technology center. Raven Hill is a 501
(C) (3) organization. It is located on 157 acres adjacent to
Little Traverse Conservancy’s Raven Ridge Nature Preserve.
It is also a cultural, historical and art center. The overall
goal of the Center is to build lifelong connections for children
and adults that link science, history and the arts in a hands-on
learning environment. Over the past fifteen years Raven Hill
Discovery Center has had more than 115,000 visitors experience
science and technology, history and the arts through hands-on
exhibits and displays. Indoors, visitors can explore museum
exhibits like a wellness center, walk-in kaleidoscope, musical
instruments, generator bike, magnet table, loom, gyro cycle,
old-fashioned games, laser and plasma lamp, motion displays,
as well as many displays and collections of science, history
and art. In addition, the animal room is full of live animals,
including snakes, lizards, turtles, and spiders. Out-buildings
include a Time Tunnel, Print Shop, Art Pavilion, Raven Hill
Schoolhouse, plus a Taxonomic (Taxi) Trail, Energy House, caboose
and forge that are in various stages of completion or restoration.
Outdoor exhibits range from medicinal gardens, Exploring Beyond
Jurassic Park, The Ancient World, labyrinth, wetlands boardwalk,
the Taxonomic (Taxi) Trail and a half-acre pond. Programs include
professional development workshops for teachers and graduate
classes through Central Michigan University, school field trips,
scout activities, summer day camp, adult enrichment classes
and family days. The museum is also open to the general public.
In addition, there have been over 70,000 contact hours with
teachers and students in area classrooms during the last twelve
years as a result of Raven Hill’s Outreach Program. Raven
Hill is unique in northern Michigan. It draws regularly from
a twelve county area during the school year and from across
the United States and the world during the summer tourist season.
The Center is open year-round to the public, individuals, groups,
and organizations.
*Long
History of Raven Hill Discovery Center*
