The new Dow Gardens Welcome Center, shown on April 24, is scheduled for a ribbon cutting to mark its opening on June 19. The project broke ground in September 2024.
Dan Chalk/Midland Daily News
Starting May 19 and continuing through September 8, 10 life-size animatronic dinosaurs from Imagine Exhibitions will be stationed around Dow Gardens.
Courtesy of Dow Gardens
The new Dow Gardens Welcome Center, shown on April 24, is scheduled for a ribbon cutting to mark its opening on June 19. The project broke ground in September 2024.
Dan Chalk/Midland Daily News
This temporary building, located near where the old Welcome Center was, welcomes visitors to Dow Gardens until the new Welcome Center opens on June 19.
Dan Chalk/Midland Daily News
Starting May 19 and continuing through September 8, 10 life-size animatronic dinosaurs from Imagine Exhibitions will be stationed around Dow Gardens.
Courtesy of Dow Gardens
Starting May 19 and continuing through September 8, 10 life-size animatronic dinosaurs from Imagine Exhibitions will be stationed around Dow Gardens.
Courtesy of Dow Gardens
The new Dow Gardens Welcome Center, shown on April 24, is scheduled for a ribbon cutting to mark its opening on June 19. The project broke ground in September 2024.
Dan Chalk/Midland Daily News
The Dow Gardens special event bridge, near Grace A. Dow Memorial Library, will be open on Wednesdays this summer so that people can walk to the amphitheater area to attend the weekly lunchtime outdoor concerts.
Dan Chalk/Midland Daily News
One of the canopy walks at the Dow Gardens Whiting Forest is shown on April 24, 2026.
Dan Chalk/Midland Daily News
Limited parking at the Dow Gardens Education Center is open to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis.
Dan Chalk/Midland Daily News
Limited parking at the Dow Gardens Education Center is open to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis.
Dan Chalk/Midland Daily News
Dow Gardens in Midland is ready for a big year, opening its long-awaited new welcome center in June and featuring 10 life-size animatronic dinosaurs throughout the summer.
After 21 months of construction, the new Dow Gardens Welcome Center, 1809 Eastman Avenue, will open with a ribbon cutting on Friday, June 19. It is designed to accommodate 200,000 to 250,000 annual guests and is closer and more visible to traffic on Eastman Avenue than the previous welcome center.
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Dow Gardens admission and hours are:
Annual pass: $30 per person
Daily admission: $15 for adults, $5 for adult students and ages 4-18, free for ages 3 and under
Dow Gardens’ summer hours are Tuesday – Sunday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“We would have people come to our lot and they would call us from the parking lot because they couldn’t find us before,” said Carolynn Paten, Dow Gardens director of programming and guest services.
“Also, that previous visitor center was built when we were getting about 60,000 guests a year, and now we’re getting 200,000-plus. So it just wasn’t quite big enough for what we needed.”
The new welcome center will include a cafe, gift shop, Dow Gardens historical display, an increased number of and more conveniently located restrooms, meeting rooms, and spaces available for rental.
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“About 60% of our visitors come from over two hours away, so the first thing they need when they get here is a restroom,” Paten noted, emphasizing that the restrooms will be just inside the entrance instead of being beyond the admission desk as they were in the previous welcome center.
For the time being, a small trailer, near the location of the former welcome center, serves as the entry point to the gardens.
An alternate entrance to Dow Gardens, at the Education Center and close to the canopy walk, is located on Eastman about a quarter-mile north of St. Andrews, with a small number of parking spaces, including 16 handicapped spaces.
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“It’s first come, first served,” Paten said. “Anybody is welcome to enter through (the Education Center). If they’re trying to get to something on (the north) side of our campus, it’s going to be closer to park there.”
Parking is not available at the building that previously housed the cafe, which is strictly a rental space, Paten said.
‘Dinosaurs Around the World’
In the meantime, starting May 19 and continuing through September 8, 10 life-size animatronic dinosaurs from Imagine Exhibitions will be stationed around Dow Gardens.
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“What’s really unique about what we’re bringing to our visitors, opposed to people who have seen dinosaurs before in other places, is we’ve really focused on the horticulture as well,” Paten said.
That means plants will be highlighted that were present during the Mesozoic Era when dinosaurs existed — including buddha belly bamboo and lipstick plant.
“Then there are some that we all know and love, like ferns and magnolias, which were around during that time,” Paten said. “So there will be some familiarity there, but also some room for educational growth and exploration. So whether you love dinosaurs or you love plants, there’s something here for you this summer.”
The presence of the dinosaurs has inspired “Dinos After Dark,” an event on Saturday, July 11 from 8-11 p.m. that will involve Nord Social and Twilight Tunes Dueling Pianos, Paten said. The dinosaurs will be illuminated.
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Tickets are $40 per person and include admission, an engraved flashlight, a beverage and a dessert. Advance registration is required.
Nord Social co-owner Grant Murschel said the business will serve cocktails and mocktails at the event.
“Guests will be able to arrive, grab a drink, wander through the gardens and experience the wonderful things Dow Gardens has planned,” Murschel said. “We’re really grateful that Carolynn and Dow Gardens reached out to us to be part of it. The event really lends itself nicely to what we do every day — create drinks and offer a space for people to have a good experience and interact.”
Also, Sensory Friendly Dinos will be in effect on Tuesdays, June 30, July 28 and August 25 from 4:30–8 p.m. All animatronic movements and sound effects will be turned off to provide a quieter setting on those dates and times.
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And a child-oriented event, Wake Up with the Dinos, Saturday, June 6 from 9 a.m.-noon, involves a pancake breakfast on the Dow Gardens Education Center lawn in partnership with the Grace A. Dow Memorial Library.
Guests will enjoy a morning of pancakes, crafts, and a “Move and Groove” music program before heading out to explore the Dinosaurs Around the World. The event also serves as the kickoff for the library’s 2026 Summer Reading Program, “Unearth a Story.”
Registration for this event is done through the library and requires a GADML library card.
Other events
Due to the construction of the new welcome center, Dow Gardens’ lunchtime concerts were moved last year from the birch grove to the amphitheater and will take place this year every Wednesday, June 3 to Aug. 26 from 12-1:30 p.m.
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Visitors can bring their own picnic lunch and can park at the Education Center or in the Grace A. Dow Library lot, in which case they can cross the special event footbridge, which will be open on Wednesdays for the concerts.
Festival of the Senses, Friday, June 26 from 5-8 p.m., offers a curated selection of delicious small bites paired with local wines, craft beers, and thoughtfully crafted non-alcoholic options, along with live music from Colin Coffey.
The event is for ages 16 and up and tickets are $65 per person. Capacity is limited and advance registration is required. Your timed entry indicates the start of your festival experience.
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Growin’ Gardeners, at the Children’s Garden, offers kids the chance to tend their own 4-foot-by-4-foot garden plot. Eight-week classes are offered starting the week of June 8.
Paten also mentioned that the canopy walks in Whiting Forest were power-washed this spring for the first time since they opened in 2018.
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