Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center

Westcave has been successfully connecting kids and their families to nature since 1976 when the nonprofit Westcave Preserve Corporation was established to clean up and restore this spectacular Hill Country grotto. We have since grown in mission and vision to encompass a state-of-the-art Environmental Learning Center and environmental education curriculum that supports state mandated learning objectives (TEKS) – hosting nearly 8,000 school children in 2012.  In 2008, Westcave expanded its physical footprint to include the 45-acre “rim around the canyon,” bringing Westcave to its current size of 75 acres. In 2012 the Westcave Board of Directors unanimously agreed to incorporate the Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin as a core program of Westcave after an extensive strategic business planning process. Another outcome of this process was the need for Westcave to better express the organization it has become.  In March of 2013 - on the 10th anniversary of the Warren Skaaren Environmental Learning Center - Westcave announced its new name, Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center. The Board of Directors and staff believe this name better represents Westcave’s range of programs including its magnificent Preserve, the new rim property that will be open for daily, self-guided hiking, its partnership role with El Ranchito Discovery Camp and Conservation Corp, and leadership of the Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin.