Seattle Naturalists Committee

This location is devoted to all things of nature in the pacific northwest. The goal is to get out and experience for yourself. 

We offer year-round field trips, as well as an annual lecture series, the Introduction to the Natural World course, and workshops covering a variety of topics, from mosses to seabirds.

The Course: "Introduction to the Natural World" is offered in the spring of each year. The course consists of 4 lectures and 4 field trips.  

The Trips: We offer trips that range from morning trips in local parks to multi-day outings in eastern Washington, Oregon, and Canada.

The Lecture Series: During the winter and early spring months, we sponsor presentations on the Natural World on a variety of topics, and given by local experts.

The  Moss and Lichen Workshop: In February we offer a Workshop consisting of an evening zoom lecture and a field trip, usually at the Redmond Watershed Preserve, to learn about common PNW mosses, liverworts and lichens. An identification manual (waterproof, of course) is provided to all participants.

Naturalist Leader Page: Are you a new Naturalist Leader, or interested in becoming one? Check out this page for more information.

For new  members: Are you new to The Mountaineers or the Pacific Northwest?  The best way for folks to get involved in our Naturalist group and to meet our members is to just participate in our hikes, classes, speaker series and other activities.  We have a Facebook group and are on Instagram.

We understand that some folks are coming into our community with an extensive knowledge base of the natural world and we would be thrilled if those people would identify themselves to us and tell us about their particular areas of interest.  As a volunteer organization, we welcome help of all kinds in order to enrich our program.

Please let us know if you have any questions about how to be a part of our Naturalist community.

The Garden: The Naturalists also sponsor the Magnuson Park Native Plant Garden, just south of the Mountaineer Program Center, by the outdoor climbing wall. This is a joint effort with the Washington Native Plant Society,  Green Seattle Partnership
 and Seattle Parks and Recreation  Download a plant list from the Washington Native Plant Society for this demonstration garden.

The History of the Seattle Naturalists: The Mountaineers have long had activities focusing on the natural world. Recollections of those who started the  moss and lichen course provide a glimpse into how the interests of dynamic individuals can drive the development of a whole new course...and influence a generation of new naturalists. The continued development of the Moss and Lichen workshop by Stewart Hougen and Gary Brill was described by Gary in his January 2023 Blog