Hartley Outdoor Education Center, about 1.5 miles northwest of St. Charles, Michigan, is a 300-acre campus of the Saginaw Intermediate School District where forests, wetlands, meadows, ponds, cabins, and a coal mine setting serve as the classroom. Its origins date to 1948, when Peter Hartley founded the Hartley Nature Camp Corporation; the district acquired the property in 1969, and the current center opened in 1975. Located on the site of Coal Mine No. 8 and including the Schroeder Log Cabin, it connects environmental study with local industrial and settlement history. Serving mainly elementary and middle school students, it has reached about 250,000 students through hands-on outdoor and historical learning.