OUR MISSION
We foster environmental stewardship through education, recreation, and conservation.
TOP 5 FUN SUMMER ACTIVITIES
Simple yet powerful activities you can do at home, at a park, or at a special spot, like Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve, can connect the whole family to the natural landscape. Here are 5 of our favorite summer nature adventures to spark anyone’s curiosity of the world around them.
Learning center barn
open Tuesday - Friday 10 am - 4 pm
Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve promotes children’s health and well being through nature exploration.
Reserve grounds will remain open for all visitors - dawn to dusk - year round.
Reserve grounds will remain open for all visitors - dawn to dusk - year round.
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Favorite WPNR summer spots

PALMER POND
Meet the frogs, dragonflies, salamanders, ducks, carp and more that call it home. Bring and net to gently explore. Be sure to be kind and respectful of nature at all times.
No fishing or swimming please.
WETLAND BOARDWALK
Native marshes reside on the Reserve grounds. You can find red-winged blackbirds feeding and perching among the cattails and see the show of the jewelweed in bloom this summer.
HONEY BEE YARD
The wild honey bees that call the Reserve its home can be spotted easily in the Pollinator Gardens and the Bug Hotel. Observe their activity all summer long!
COLONIAL GARDEN
Interesting heirloom vegetables, native flowers and more show all summer long at the Blockhouse. Stop to see and smell summer’s goodness.
Meet the frogs, dragonflies, salamanders, ducks, carp and more that call it home. Bring and net to gently explore. Be sure to be kind and respectful of nature at all times.
No fishing or swimming please.
WETLAND BOARDWALK
Native marshes reside on the Reserve grounds. You can find red-winged blackbirds feeding and perching among the cattails and see the show of the jewelweed in bloom this summer.
HONEY BEE YARD
The wild honey bees that call the Reserve its home can be spotted easily in the Pollinator Gardens and the Bug Hotel. Observe their activity all summer long!
COLONIAL GARDEN
Interesting heirloom vegetables, native flowers and more show all summer long at the Blockhouse. Stop to see and smell summer’s goodness.
DISCOVER OUR PROGRAMS
Our programs offer families and children wonderful ways to become connected with nature.
Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. – Nathaniel Hawthorne
NATURE EXPLORE CLASSROOM
IS PERFECT FOR SUMMER
Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve has created their Nature Explore Classroom, Nature Playspaces, to allow children to create positive bonds with nature for long hours of unstructured play in areas including: Messy Materials, Music and Movement, Garden, Dirt Digging, Water, Action, Climbing, Sand, and Gathering. Each space offers a real experience with texture, shape, sound, or life that is found within the “walls” of the Reserve grounds.
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The Adventure Begins
Become A Citizen Scientist
Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve SUMMER OBSERVATIONS June 20, 2022 - September 22, 2022 Keep adding to our summer list from last year to see what is here! How many nature observations can you make? Win a Get Outside WPNR T-shirt! |
SUMMER Wisdom
"You shall see wonders."
~ William Shakespeare
~ William Shakespeare