Ford Center

Aerial view of the Ford Center.
Welcome to Ford Center and Forest

Year-round research. Technical training. Business workshops. Meetings, retreats, and reunions for family, friends, and colleagues. Ford Center and Forest, located 40.6 miles south of Michigan Tech's main campus in Houghton and 10 miles from the shores of Lake Superior, is an outdoor and environmental education center with full-service conference facilities and lodging in historic Alberta Village, built by Henry Ford and operated as a field station supporting research and natural resource education since 1954.

Cruise Husky Drive. Model T Lane. Or a forest stand, in our 3,700 acres of diverse hardwood, jack pine, and forested wetlands. Canoe, or ice fish, on Lake Plumbago.

Conference Center
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The Conference Center is a vibrant and flexible place where people come together to share knowledge and work together. It hosts many events like conferences, seminars, and workshops throughout the year, bringing in experts and enthusiasts from different fields. What makes it special is how it encourages the growth of ideas, confronts challenges, and creates new collaborations.

Research Forest
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A classroom as big as the great outdoors hosts annual fall and summer College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science integrated field practicums—Huskies getting hands dirty and feet wet. Internal and external research ranges from cold-weather testing of coating materials, and high-energy biomaterials, to remote-sensing data collection.

Academic and Community Education
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Learn the names of trees. Learn to lead. Training for teachers and natural resources professionals demystifies and expands environmental curriculum in grades K-12 and beyond. The Center connects with natural resource stewards of the future through events (maple syrup-making to LeaderShape) for youth groups, and the general public.