The Neal Taylor Nature Center at Cachuma Lake

Going Batty
2025-08-16 19:40 - 20:40, 2025-08-09 19:45 - 20:45, 2025-08-02 19:55 - 20:55, 2025-07-26 20:00 - 21:00, 2025-07-19 20:05 - 21:05, 2025-07-05 20:20 - 21:20, 2025-06-14 00:00 - 21:05, 2025-06-07 20:05 - 21:05 (America/Denver) and 4 more dates
A Living Exhibit!

Friday & Saturday evenings at dusk Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend
ADMISSION: Donation
*Program times vary by week depending on the time of sunset*

Meet at the front entrance of the Nature Center.
Going Batty consists of a weekly talk and observation of local bats during May – August each year. We have two bat boxes where bats live at the nature center. These are wild bats—we never feed or touch the animals.
Guests of Cachuma Lake Recreation Area are welcome to visit our bat boxes at any time during their visit, although they typically only come out about 30 minutes after sunset, and are mostly active here during the warmer months.
This is a living exhibit! Please do not disturb the bats with lights or loud noises.
Keep a 10-15ft distance from bat boxes at all times.
Includes a Docent led talk and Q&A.
After learning about the local bats, we’ll move to the Native Garden to watch as the bats drop out of the bat boxes to feed.
Admission: Donation

Click here for more information about this program

Food 4 Thought Speakers Series: Planetary Emergencies with Chancellor Lorne Everett
2025-03-09 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Denver)
Guest speaker Chancellor Lorne Everett will present a lecture on his experience over 35 years as Chairman within the World Federation of Scientist. Dr Everett will present insights into nuclear war, world pollution, plastics, the world water crisis, asteroid impacts, and other Planetary Emergencies and highlight environmental concerns closer to home.
Chancellor Lorne Everett will share his experience over 35 years as a Chairman within the World Federation of Scientists, headquartered at CERN (home of the Large Hadron Collider) in Geneva Switzerland. The meetings on Nuclear War and Planetary Emergencies are chaired by the Science Advisor to the Pope and are held in 3 repurposed monasteries in Erice Sicily. Over 124 Nobel Laureates have participated in these meetings including numerous key players in the Manhattan Project.
Dr Everett will present insights into nuclear war, world pollution, plastics, the world water crisis, asteroid impacts, and other Planetary Emergencies. Although the annual meeting in August is held in 3 monasteries in Sicily, a second meeting is often held in the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in the Vatican. Rare pictures of the Pope’s private quarters and gardens will be shown. The Pope often sends a letter of welcome to our meetings and has been the keynote speaker.

When: Sunday, March 9, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. (Remember to “spring forward” your clocks by 1 hour for daylight saving on Sun, March 9th)
Where: The Neal Taylor Nature Center at Cachuma Lake
Meet and greet with light refreshments after the presentation.
Lecture and Admission to the Nature Center – Donation

More about our presenter
Lorne G. Everett, PhD, DSc. (HC)
Lorne G. Everett, PhD, DSc, is the CEO of LEA Environmental, Inc. Dr. Everett was the Chief Scientist at Haley & Aldrich, Shaw Environmental, ARCADIS and Metcalf & Eddy Inc. He is a retired Professional Researcher (Level VII) in the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and Past Director of the Vadose Zone Monitoring Laboratory at UCSB. The University of California describes full professor Level VII as “reserved for scholars of great distinction.” He has a Ph.D. in Hydrology (1972) from the University of Arizona in Tucson and is a member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. In 1996, he received a Doctor of Science Degree (Honoris Causa) from Lakehead University in Canada for Distinguished Achievement in Hydrology. Dr. Everett was the 6th Chancellor of Lakehead University in Canada.
He is an internationally recognized expert who has conducted extensive research on subsurface characterization and remediation. He is Chairman of the ASTM Task Committee on Groundwater and Vadose Zone Monitoring (D18.21.02). He also chaired the Remediation Session of the First USSR/USA Conference on Environmental Hydrogeology (Leningrad, 1990). Dr. Everett has received numerous awards, published over 150 technical papers and reports, holds several patents, developed 11 national ASTM Vadose Zone Monitoring standards and authored and edited over 10 books including: Vadose Zone Monitoring for Hazardous Waste Sites, and Subsurface Migration of Hazardous Waste. His book entitled, Groundwater Monitoring was endorsed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as establishing “the state-of-the-art used by industry today” and was recommended by the World Health Organization for all developing countries.
Dr Everett is a Fellow of ASCE, a Fellow of AWRA, and a Fellow of ASTM. He has been named an expert in over 70 environmental cases.
Lorne G. Everett, PhD, DSc. (HC)
Chancellor Emeritus
Queens Gold Medal, Canada
Kapitsa Gold Medal, Russia
Academician
Medal of Excellence, USN
Honorary Diplomate/Dist., AAWRE
Distinguished Scholar & Director, UC
Distinguished Member, ASCE
Distinguished Alumnus, LU
Eminence Member, AAEES

V. Theis Award, AIH

Life Member, ASCE
PH, PH-GW, CGWP, BCES

ASCE, F. AWRA, F. ASTM

PMP Chairman, World Federation of Scientists
CEO, Chairman of LEA Environmental, Inc.
About The Neal Taylor Nature Center at Cachuma Lake
The Neal Taylor Nature Center (NTNC) is located within Cachuma Recreational Area in a picturesque old ranch house. Developed and operated by a corps of committed volunteers, it offers exhibits on the local valley and mountain environment for all ages, emphasizing hands-on exhibits for children of all ages.
Nature Center & Gift Store Hours
Thursday through Saturday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Nature Center Admission: Donation
(There is a $10.00 County Park Entrance Fee per vehicle)

DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE FOR THIS EVENT

Holiday Gathering
2024-12-18 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Denver)
Let’s celebrate together!
Neal Taylor Nature Center
Holiday Gathering
December 18th, 5:30 – 7:30pm
2265 Hwy 154, Santa Barbara, CA 93105
ALL AGES WELCOME
JOIN US FOR:

hot apple cider, eggnog and treats
holiday music
ornament making
tree decorating
special holiday scavenger hunts for all ages (with prizes!)

RSVP: email info@clnaturecenter.org with number of people you’re coming with by Tuesday, December 17th

Arts & Crafts
2024-11-29 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Denver)
Come by the Nature Center and make some nature-themed crafts!
Open to all ages.
Admission: $2 per person
Meet at the picnic tables in front of the Nature Center.

Books & Treasures Sale
2024-11-29 10:00 - 14:00, 2024-07-04 10:00 - 14:00 (America/Denver)
Come to our garage sale and browse through a wide selection of books, toys, knick-knacks and household items! All proceeds support the Neal Taylor Nature Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Fish Derby
2024-04-20 - 2024-04-21 | Cachuma Lake Recreation Area
The Fish Derby is a two-day annual fishing event held on Saturday and Sunday in April. To participate in the Fish Derby, registration is required before or during the event. Cash prizes are awarded for different categories of fish caught in Cachuma Lake, and merchandise prizes are distributed throughout the event.
Participants of all ages are welcome, and there is a fee required for participation.
More information and a downloadable registration form can be found at www.TroutDerby.org.

Trout in the Classroom
2024-02-01 - 2024-03-12
Admission: Donation
The Neal Taylor Nature Center “Trout in the Classroom” is a program designed to allow visitors, including local school children on field trips, to experience raising trout in an up-close, first-hand environment.
Visitors can observe raising trout from eggs to fry and Nature Center volunteers are on hand to answer questions. The result is an aquarium full of trout fry, each over one inch in length that will eventually be released to a pre-approved site by the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Our January session every year spans from 2 – 4 months in length.
The “Trout in the Classroom” program is sponsored by The Santa Barbara Fly-fishers club. The club has been an active Trout in the Classroom (TIC) supporter for many years and sponsors two TIC sessions per year involving many local schools on the central coast in addition to the Nature Center.
Trout eggs are picked up from the Fillmore Hatchery and personally delivered to each participating location. The result is an aquarium full of trout fry that are released into a state-approved body of water.
This program’s goal is to reconnect an increasingly urbanized population of youth to the system of streams, rivers and watersheds that sustain them. It is one of the living exhibits at the Nature Center and is a favorite.

The trout eggs have hatched! Come visit the nature center today and see them swim!!

Meet Dennis, our Nature Center volunteer who puts in the hard work of maintaining the tank and making sure our baby trout are happy!

Thanksgiving Book and Treasure Sale
2023-11-23 10:00 - 14:00 UTC
When: Thanksgiving Day
Time: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Where: The Neal Taylor Nature Center
Come find a special book or treasure and help to support the Nature Center!

Creepy Creatures
2023-10-21 11:00 - 13:00 UTC
In celebration of Halloween, local experts showcase live snakes, scorpions, spiders, owls, bats and more. There will also be exhibits of animal bones, skulls, and preserved specimens and arts and crafts activities. Witches serve popcorn and punch and there is live music too!
Call for more information at 805-963-0691
Admission: Donation appreciated

Food 4 Thought Lecture Series
2023-10-01 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Denver)
Sunday, October 1, 2023
2:00 PM
Birds in Black…and Blue
Corvids of Santa Ynez Valley
Presented by:
Dennis and Jess Beebe
Dennis and Jess will highlight the natural history of five species of corvids found in the Santa
Ynez Valley: American Crows, Common Ravens, Yellow-Billed Magpies, California Scrub Jays,
and Stellar’s Jays…examining aspects of these birds that continue to fascinate us.
Lecture from 2–3pm with a meet and greet to follow Refreshments will be served.
To be held at the Neal Taylor Nature Center at Cachuma Lake
Admission: Donations Appreciated
For more information please email: info@clnaturecenter.org or call 805-693-0691
