Bluff Lake Nature Center, the urban wildlife refuge at 11255 E. MLK Jr. Blvd. in Denver, runs something rare: a once-a-week, full-day outdoor school for homeschooled students that costs nothing, because it is funded as a tuition-free public school program. Students come one day a week by grade band, 2nd-3rd grade on Thursdays, 4th-5th on Wednesdays and 6th-8th on Mondays, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., for 35 weeks from Aug. 24, 2026 through May 21, 2027. The program combines place-based natural science with outdoor skills and community-building at an 8-to-1 student-to-staff ratio, and it is designed to supplement a family’s own curriculum rather than replace it.
Because the funding is public, families commit to regular attendance so students log at least 90 instruction hours per semester. The honest caveat: as of this verification, every grade group is accepting waitlists only, with students promoted as space opens. Registration runs through CampDoc.
How to book
- Join the waitlist through the CampDoc link on Bluff Lake’s homeschool page.
- Monday sessions that land on holidays move to Tuesday; winter break is Dec. 21 through Jan. 1.
- Bluff Lake’s site also lists a construction-access notice; check the entrance and parking status before a first visit.
Lesson hooks
- Ecology, outdoor skills and problem-solving in a real habitat, every week of the school year.
- While you wait for a spot: free self-guided trips at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge a few miles north.
More like this: Classes · Nature · Denver · Free Field Trips
