Westwood Hills is a 160-acre natural area featuring marsh, woods and restored prairie. More than 3 miles of trails and walkways provide hikers with can’t-miss opportunities for leaf peeping, birdwatching and wildlife spotting. The preserve is beautiful throughout the seasons and provides homes for many animals, including deer, turtles, fox, mink and owls.
Interpretive Center
Visitors to Westwood will want to explore the new $12 million, eco-friendly Interpretive Center. It’s full of interactive exhibits, such as a display on pollinators and the important role they play, as well as live animals, including a flying squirrel, a red-tailed hawk and a barred owl. The Nature Center offers a unique, outdoor, multi-generational classroom in the middle of the city. Professionally trained naturalists lead a variety of fun, informative and hands-on environmental education and outdoor recreation programs year-round. Perfect for families and groups of all types.
Event Space
The newly constructed interpretive center houses a multi-purpose space, accommodating up to 130 people for meetings, wedding receptions, galas, company events, birthday parties, family reunions and more! The multi-purpose room also separates into three smaller spaces (Willow, Aspen and Oak) for meetings and events. Room amenities include a caterer’s holding kitchen and audio-visual equipment. If you wish to have alcohol at your event, an additional fee may be charged to retain a police officer. A refundable damage and kitchen cleaning deposit may apply. The smaller Maple conference room, which holds 16, is perfect for business meetings, book clubs and similar events. There is a 2-hr minimum on individual room rental or rent the entire facility for up to 12 hours.
The multi-purpose room contains air walls to break the space up into 3 smaller rooms. The fee for this room covers a 12-hour rental period.
2-hour minimum
2-hour minimum
2-hour minimum
2-hour minimum
Located near the parking lot, this building seats up to 25 people. Windows on three sides of this fully accessible building offer beautiful views of the nature center grounds and the playground. The building also has restrooms and a sink. It's a great place for meetings, parties and more! 2-hr rental minimum.
Looking for a scenic location for a small wedding, photo shoot or outdoor meeting space? Enjoy the background view of the water garden as you watch the water flow over the top of the 6-foot-high waterfall and tumble down the hillside! From the accessible Observation Deck, you can see the full view of the waterfall, water garden, Westwood Lake and surrounding woods.
Explore the Outdoor Water Garden as you stroll along the accessible crushed rock paths, across bridges and gaze into the pond to see the fish. There are rock bench areas for taking photos or to relax and enjoy the view.
Each area can be rented separately or combined to create a beautiful outdoor setting.
Due to construction, the picnic building and outdoor areas are not currently available to rent. For more information, please call 952-924-2544.