Homeschool Day at Chapman Mountain

Land Trust of North Alabama’s Chapman Mountain Nature Preserve is a natural treasure located within 5 minutes from downtown Huntsville.  With its education pavilion, restrooms, varied terrain, and relatively easy trails, this preserve is the site of many of the Land Trust’s educational activities and programs.

During the 2024-2025 school year, the Land Trust will host four days of programming at Chapman Mountain designed for the homeschool community.  These days offer families the opportunity to visit the preserve with environmental educators on site to lead short hikes, suggest activities, and conduct a small number of short programs. 

Because of the Pre-K through grade 12+ nature of homeschooling, each day’s activities will offer families the flexibility to dive as deeply as they would like into a topic.  During November’s Homeschool Day, we’ll explore the forest as it is going dormant for the winter.  Activities might include birds, trees, plants, or other topics.  Guided hikes, read-alouds, art projects, and other hands-on activities will be available.   Please note that most activities are led by the adults or older children in each family group.  There is not a schedule of activities, and families are welcome to come and go between 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

A note for our regulars: For this event, we will not have any outside organizations presenting.  We hope to have them back in the spring!

Location: Chapman Mountain Nature Preserve – 1263 U.S Hwy 72 East, Huntsville, AL 35811

Directions: Coming from Huntsville, cross Chapman Mountain and u-turn at Moores Mill Road. When safe, get into the merge lane on the right (plenty of time). When the silver guard rail ends, be ready to turn right onto the paved entrance. Drive through the gate and down the gravel road to the parking area at the bottom of the hill.

Registration Required.  This will allow us to manage the number of people attending as well as our waiver. In the event we need to cancel or postpone due to weather or trail conditions, we will contact you via the email address used to register.

Sign up

Other Helpful Information: 

• The parking lot at Chapman Mountain can accommodate approximately 50 cars.
• Restrooms are not intended to handle large crowds of more than 100 people. While there is always a portable restroom onsite, the “indoor plumbing” facilities are not open during non-program hours.
• The focus audience for these programs will be the homeschool community, but Chapman Mountain Nature Preserve is open to the public daily from dawn to dusk so other visitors may be present.
• Chapman Mountain Nature Preserve is, well, a nature preserve. Participants are expected to abide by the Land Trust’s Trail Rules.
• Accessibility: The parking lot at Chapman Mountain is covered with large gravel that sees wheelchair use.  There is a concrete ramp and sidewalk leading to the education pavilion which has a concrete floor.  The restrooms at the pavilion are wheelchair accessible.  There are no paved or gravel trails, but many of the trails on the lower elevations of the preserve can be navigated with conveyances (strollers, wheelchairs, etc.) that have large wheels, assuming the trails have not received recent rain.

Tentative dates for this school year’s other two Homeschool Days:

• Thursday, March 20, 2025
• Thursday, May 1, 2025

Support for 2024 Education Programming provided by