Ogden Nature Center

On 12th street in Ogden, there is a 152-acre nature preserve called the Ogden Nature Center.  Their mission is to unite people and nature, while educating in-field.  The Center has birds, snakes, tortoises, salamanders and other native animal species.  The Ogden Nature Center has "Wild Wednesdays" every week.  We decided to check out their "Monsters in Your Own Backyard," which was right before Halloween, so it was perfect.

We got there a little early to do some hiking and to check out The Nest Gift Shop.  Attached to the Gift Shop is the Visitors Center, which has spiders, tortoisees and a live beehive! (see our previous post about bees here.) They also have some super cool Green Buildings and a trout aquarium.

It was a lovely day, so we packed up the stroller. (yes, you can push a stroller the majority of the way on the dirt trails.)  We hit the Bear Den first.

The kids were all a little hesitant about crawling into the Bear Den, so Harmony had to show them it was safe.  While the mama bears were nursing the babies, we sent the older kids to go and find the teepee.  After a few minutes they all came running back in a panic.  As they were strolling, a few deer jumped right out in the trail in front of them.  They were so excited scared!  So cool to be right in the heart of Ogden and see live deer!

Eventually, we all made it into the teepee.  We gave the kids a short lesson on "Meadow Muffins."  They weren't super thrilled about it.

The kids loved having free reign over the trails. 

We walked to the Pond Observatory Tower, which is a .35 mile walk (again, it was pretty easy with our Joovy Caboose Stroller.)

We played hide-and-go-seek on the trails too.  There were so many cool little tree coves.

Stephanie's kids had recently learned about Owl Pellets, so they were super excited to find them in the wild.  Apparently, there are some Great Horned Owls on the grounds as well as deer.

Our Wild Wednesdays started at 3:45 so we had to make sure to get back in time.

Just East of the Visitors Center are the Birds of Prey, so make sure to plan enough time for that as well.

The gal who taught the Wild Wednesdays was super cute with the kids!  She made the kids (and parents) feel right at home.  The kids got to touch tarantulas and snakes (eek.)

The best part of class was the "Creepy Crawly Challenge."

Just outside the building was a Yurt that had a giant spider web.  The kids got to crawl through and find spiders!

As I'm writing this, I just realized that there were a whole bunch of other trails we didn't even get to see!  We're going to have to make another trip out there soon.  The kids gave the Ogden Nature Center a 5 out of 5 star rating!  Their favorite things included the web, teepee, seeing the deer and hiking the trails - so everything! Thanks for having us Ogden Nature Center!  We'll be back for another Wild Wednesday for sure.

Click here for the Ogden Nature Center's Calendar.  They also have Preschool and Scout activities, and a whole bunch of other Educational Activities here.

Hours: Mon-Fri 9-5 Saturday 9-4

www.ogdennaturecenter.org

Adults 13 and older: $4.00
Seniors 65+: $3.00
Children 2-12: $2.00  / Children under 2: Free