About Little Rock Audubon Center

The Little Rock Audubon Center serves as the Arkansas headquarters for Audubon Delta and is part of the National Audubon Society's network of conservation centers. Located in the historic Black community of Granite Mountain, the center connects people with nature through public trails, environmental education programs, and hands-on habitat conservation efforts.

Each year, the center welcomes students, families, and community members from across Arkansas. It offers field trips for K–12 students, summer internship opportunities for teens, and additional enrichment programming designed to support underserved and low-income communities in Little Rock. Audubon staff reach nearly 3,000 students and adults annually through programs at the center, in schools, and at natural sites throughout the state.

The center showcases Audubon's commitment to creating bird-friendly communities through native plant landscaping, habitat restoration, and advocacy workshops. The facility is 100 percent solar-powered and provides free electric vehicle charger access. Four miles of trails wind through 400 acres of diverse habitat, including globally rare nepheline syenite glades and Gillam Park's upland and bottomland hardwood forest, all within minutes of downtown Little Rock. 

Granite Mountain History

Gilliam Park was built in 1941 as the first public park for Little Rock’s Black community prior to integration , and it is now managed by the Little Rock Audubon Center and Audubon Delta. This historic natural area accounts for over 400 acres of our campus.

In 1951, the park became home to the city's first public swimming pool for Black residents. Before the pool was built, many community members swam in nearby bauxite pits or the Arkansas River.

A year later, in 1952, the Booker Homes public housing project, was built to provide homes for Black veterans returning from World War II. Today, the Little Rock Audubon Center's Wildlife Observation Trail follows the area where development once stood.

History & Major Donors

In 2008, Audubon broke ground on a construction project to renovate the old Granite Mountain community center to serve as the Audubon headquarters in Arkansas and as a nature education center. Besides the state offices, the building boasts a community room that seats 100+ people and an additional education space. The City of Little Rock leased the center and grounds to Audubon for 99 years for a nominal sum in exchange for establishing and operating the Audubon Center on site. Audubon raised approximately $1.4 million to renovate the center. Audubon is grateful to major donors to the center, including:

$500,000 and above: 
Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust 
City of Little Rock 
Federal Appropriation

$100,000 and above: 
J.A Riggs Benevolent Fund

$50,000 and above: 
Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable and Educational Fund

$30,000 and above: 
Wright, Lindsey & Jennings, LLP

$10,000 and above: 
Joyce and Ted Boswell

$5,000 and above: 
Marilynn and Rob Porter 
Millie and Don Nelms