About
The Environmental Education Program includes field trips that integrate science, natural history, and art, along with seasonal nature walks and hands-on ecology. Participants take part in natural exploration along the Carmel River or Potrero Creek, scouting for tracks, scat, birds, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, and plants. Activities also include nature art, poetry, nature-inspired creative reflection through writing and art, bug hunts, building houses for cavity-nesting birds such as western bluebird nest boxes, making a plaster cast of a local animal’s foot, and trailside nature journaling.
• Ages: 6–18 years old
• Price: The Environmental Education Program is described as a free service to the community.
The Environmental Education Program connects students in grades 2 through 12 with nature through a place-based, experiential learning approach and age-appropriate classes consistent with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Courses are curated to target grades 1–12 and can be tailored to specific curricula, using an ecosystem-level approach to topics such as the structure of a watershed, species adaptations and life cycles, and old-growth redwood forests. The program includes an outdoor classroom in an old-growth redwood forest at Potrero Canyon on the Santa Lucia Preserve and an outdoor classroom at Rancho Cañada, a habitat in transition from former golf course to restored floodplain. Wildlife cameras on The Preserve capture bobcats, black bears, mountain lions, skunks, opossums, turkeys, foxes, and more.
The program is described as a free service to the community and includes public and charter schools, home school programs, and groups such as scouts, 4-H, the Boys & Girls Club, and the Community Partnership for Youth in Monterey County. It offers bus scholarships to schools in need of transportation, and over 50% of classes come from underserved schools. Over 55,000 students, teachers, and adult chaperones have participated in the program since 1999, and the program has served over 55,000 participants since 1999. The Redwood Ecosystem class is funded in part by a grant from the Save the Redwoods League. The Santa Lucia Conservancy states that it is dedicated to the stewardship of the unique natural resources of the Santa Lucia Preserve and to promoting human settlements that are ecologically sensitive.
Last updated July 2, 2026.
• Ages: 6–18 years old
• Price: The Environmental Education Program is described as a free service to the community.
The Environmental Education Program connects students in grades 2 through 12 with nature through a place-based, experiential learning approach and age-appropriate classes consistent with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Courses are curated to target grades 1–12 and can be tailored to specific curricula, using an ecosystem-level approach to topics such as the structure of a watershed, species adaptations and life cycles, and old-growth redwood forests. The program includes an outdoor classroom in an old-growth redwood forest at Potrero Canyon on the Santa Lucia Preserve and an outdoor classroom at Rancho Cañada, a habitat in transition from former golf course to restored floodplain. Wildlife cameras on The Preserve capture bobcats, black bears, mountain lions, skunks, opossums, turkeys, foxes, and more.
The program is described as a free service to the community and includes public and charter schools, home school programs, and groups such as scouts, 4-H, the Boys & Girls Club, and the Community Partnership for Youth in Monterey County. It offers bus scholarships to schools in need of transportation, and over 50% of classes come from underserved schools. Over 55,000 students, teachers, and adult chaperones have participated in the program since 1999, and the program has served over 55,000 participants since 1999. The Redwood Ecosystem class is funded in part by a grant from the Save the Redwoods League. The Santa Lucia Conservancy states that it is dedicated to the stewardship of the unique natural resources of the Santa Lucia Preserve and to promoting human settlements that are ecologically sensitive.
Last updated July 2, 2026.
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