Mill Grove Wildlife Sanctuary – John James Audubon Center

Beautiful place for a walk. Loved the owls and the temporary art of the extinct birds. The only negative is late open on Sunday.

Attended a wedding here, was a great time! Very nice outdoor area, huge tent, probably around 130 people in there with room to spare. Awesome fire pit was set up behind the tent, with a Ladder Toss game set up as well! The catering staff was very friendly and the DJ/​entertainment absolutely killlled it – Wire Up Entertainment!
. They had the place rockin all night, and the photo booth they provided was a big hit! All around, very professional all around and it was a classy night.

My husband and I visited Mill Grove Wildlife Sanctuary — John James Audubon Center after having ridden past it on the Perkiomen Trail and the Audobon Loop Trail. The site is so beautiful, I wish we could have spent the entire day here.
We began by touring the historic house. Built in 1762, it was the first house owned by John James Audoban. It houses a museum displaying original Audubon prints, oil paintings, and Audubon memorabilia. I liked the first edition wildlife prints and the restored master bedroom. We also enjoyed the current exhibit, «Both Downy and Durable: Feathers of Native Birds Drawn by Alice Sharp.»
Outside the house, we saw the owl enclosure, featuring several species of native owls. We then saw the Lost Bird Project. This is a temporary exhibit, featuring five larger than life sculptures of extinct birds These are situated along the entrance road and include the Great Auk, the Heath Hen, the Labrador Duck, the Carolina Parakeet, and perhaps the saddest case of all, the Passenger Pigeon. The Passenger Pigeon went from a billion to none between the mid 1800s and 1914 when the last one, Martha, died at the Cincinnati Zoo. The Passenger Pigeon will be the subject of an upcoming exhibit here, which I’m sorry my husband and I will miss.
The site also features an extensive trail system, about 5 miles in all. The trails provide excellent opportunities for birding, canoeing, exploring old mine ruins, or just getting a peaceful hike in.

This is a review of my recent wedding at the beautiful John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove. There are few times in life where you expect and hope for perfection, and your wedding day is one of them. We were lucky enough to experience the perfection that is Jeffrey Miller Catering & Co. at the John James Audubon Center and it’s staff — from our incredibly talented, always available and stress-​relieving planner Shannon Mullane, to the attentive and professional waitstaff and bartenders, and the creative and accommodating chefs and kitchen staff, our day was PERFECT!
Prior to our big day, about three weeks before our event, they had re-​sodded the grounds and made some unplanned improvements to the grounds that we were very pleased with. The Audubon Center staff was tidying the grounds the day before at the rehearsal, and everything was absolutely gorgeous.
Our ceremony was held outside at the honey locust tree. The chairs were arranged in the shade for our guests comfort, and all had a good view of the altar. The cocktail hour was held in the barn, which was air conditioned and quite a nice relief after sitting outside for 30 minutes. The barn is beautiful by itself with original stonework and exposed wood beams with some simple strings light hung to accentuate the natural beauty of the surroundings. The dinner and dancing was held in the pavilion which also had beautiful exposed wooden rafters with strings lights, ceiling fans to ensure a cool breeze throughout the pavilion. The stone fireplace is elegant but understated and a perfect location for our sweetheart table.
Our family, friends and wedding guests could not stop raving about the natural beauty of the venue, delectable hors d’oeuvres and entrees and overall quality of service we all experienced at Audubon! Overall, we would highly recommend this location to anyone looking to be married outside surround by natural beauty of green grass, beautiful trees and gardens. We are forever grateful to everyone to making our day (and planning process) AMAZING!

The grounds and facility are very beautiful to explore and a great place to visit on sunny day. However I have helped work a few weddings here and the Audubon staff members, particularly the site supervisor are a pain to work with. She and several staff members are very rude and do not represent the facility in a professional manner. I would caution having your wedding here because they are not pleasant to work with. Again, great facility but unfriendly site staff.

Note: this review is from my experience attending a wedding held here, so it doesn’t include the grounds or wildlife aspect of it besides what portions of it were used as a venue for the wedding.
I have to say that the staff at the Mill Grove Wildlife Sanctuary are impeccable! My cousin’s wedding just so happened to be on the afternoon of one of the worst rainstorms of the year (August 21, 2011)… what rotten luck! However, the staff members were running in the rain brining us umbrellas, sweeping the water out of the ceremony area, and climbing ladders to be sure the doors were shut properly and not leaking during the storm.
The pavilion where the ceremony and cocktail hour were held was fantastic — small, but nicely organized, well-​kept, and clean. The bathrooms were pretty good… not like a 5-​star hotel, but not like a campground either.
The rehearsal was held in what used to be John James Audubon’s barn, but you would never think it as a barn the way the sanctuary maintains it! Beautiful high ceiling with exposed wood, old but structurally stable concrete walls, the smell of old hardwood… it was beautiful!
Overall, with the way the wedding went off even in horrible weather, I’d recommend Mill Grove to anyone looking for a beautiful spot for an event — wedding or otherwise!

We checked out the Audubon Museum and the kids did a little colored pencil activity upstairs. Mostly it was for me, but the gift shop was fun and I don’t mind paying $ 4 fee to help support the Audubon Society.
We went during the day and there was a kids’ camp there who rent the grounds. My kids wanted to hang out with them, but that wasn’t really an option lol

I grew up exploring the woods protected in the Audubon Bird Sanctuary as I knew it.
I loved it. It was a place to let the imagination run freely.
There was a creek in which to study the sunny, old abandoned mines (closed off, of course) old mine car rails and even a graveyard for some of the unlucky miners. There was a great, dilapidated tower and a «Dead Man’s Hill.»
Who knows if any of this is still there — I haven’t been there for years.
The memory is phenomenal, though.
Take your kids and let them explore!
There is a museum on the site. It is the only true Audubon house still standing in America. It is spooky enough to creep out some of the heartiest young adventurers!