Your waterfront walk brings you to ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, on the Burlington waterfront. This hands-on museum invites you into interactive exhibits like Engineert It! and Awesome Forces, and a 30-foot, 3D plesiosaur model of Champ—America's legendary lake monster in Lake Champlain—keeps watch.
You’ll encounter more than 70 species of fish, amphibians, invertebrates, and reptiles, alongside special traveling exhibitions and an immersive 3D Theater. Since opening to the public in 2003, ECHO has offered daily animal encounters and hands-on activities that are educational and family-friendly. The Patrick and Marcelle Leahy Center for Lake Champlain is a 2.2-acre (8,900 m2) campus recognizing Senator Patrick Leahy's dedication to stewardship of the Lake Champlain Basin; the Leahy Center is also home to the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, the Lake Champlain Basin Program Resource Room, and the Lake Champlain Navy Memorial.
ECHO's building is Vermont’s first LEED certified Green Building and is the only lake aquarium in the United States with this certification. Notice the waterfront setting and the Leahy Center campus, Vermont's first LEED certified building.