Milwaukee County’s goal is to enrich your life by providing essential services that meet your needs and those of your family, neighbors, co-workers and friends.
We enhance the quality of life in Milwaukee County through great public service.
Milwaukee County is home to over 950,000 people living in one of 19 communities, which range in size from the City of Milwaukee, with 595,000 residents, to the Village of River Hills, with roughly 1,600 residents.
Still a manufacturing stronghold, the region features 16 Fortune 1000 companies and thousands of others in the financial services, medical device, hospitality and retailing industries.
Find information about things to do and happenings in Milwaukee County.
Explore more than five miles of nature trails through woodland, wetland, prairie and oak savanna on 220 acres of protected land in Whitnall Park.
Just outside the Visitor Center, you’ll discover labeled gardens featuring prairie, woodland and other plant varieties; a natural play space with a log cabin playhouse especially for kids; and a deck over Mallard Lake. Wehr Nature Center, which takes pride in its many accessibility features, also hosts nature-themed educational programming and special events year round.
Visit Wehr Nature Center's Microsite
Explore Wehr's Interactive Trails Map
STAY ON DESIGNATED TRAILS! This protects the plants and wildlife in natural areas and helps you avoid poison ivy and ticks!
Protect the nature trails and lake – NO bike riding! For biking, use the Oak Leaf Trail and the formally designated mountain-bike trails. NO fishing or use of watercraft in Mallard Lake! Check opportunities on the water in other park locations.
Leave no trace: “Pack it in. Pack it out.”
“Take nothing but photographs.” Collecting is strictly prohibited!
Note that pets are not allowed. ONLY working service dogs, on leash, are permitted. For the only off-leash opportunities in the Milwaukee County Parks, visit the Dog Parks.
Come inside the Visitor Center and speak to a naturalist to learn more about the wildlife that lives in the surrounding natural areas. See a few of our nature center's resident reptiles in the Wildlife Room.
The hiking trail loops are organized by the type of natural community they pass through and are marked with color-coded wooden posts. Unmarked connector trails help to link these loops to each other and to other parts of Whitnall Park. Note: the trails at Wehr are for walkers only. No runners, cycling or dogs.
For all your adventures at the Nature Center and beyond! Wehr is a host site for an all-terrain wheelchair from Access Ability Wisconsin. Reserve the outdoor chair for free use at Wehr or reserve it along with the enclosed AAW trailer to tow to another site – all for free. A deposit and DNR Customer Number are required. Make your reservation directly through the Access Ability Wisconsin website.
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Our natural playground features climbing rocks, Carol's Cabin, logs and a native-plant garden. Take your children here for some quality time and a healthy dose of nature!
Wehr Nature Center is on the banks of Mallard Lake, which also features an accessible boardwalk to the water's edge. Fishing and the use of watercraft are NOT allowed.
9701 W. College Ave., Franklin, WI 53132, (414) 425-8550
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9480 W. Watertown Plank Road Wauwatosa, WI 53226 (414) 257-PARK (7275) Parks E-News Signup
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