June 18, 2003
Hikes explore nature preserve
Discover Hikes for Kids held during summer months
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Engaging kids in nature is the goal of the Grand Traverse Conservation District's Discover Hikes for Kids series this summer.
Instead of spending their summer being bored or glued to the television or video game, the Conservation District offers ten hikes throughout the summer on a variety of nature topics that will get kids outside and moving. The hikes are free and geared to children ages 5-12.
Hikers will explore the Grand Traverse Nature Education Reserve, guiding participants over the varied terrain that ranges from rivers and ponds to wetlands and dense woods. The Conservation District will provide a guide for every 12 hikers. This guide will use the outdoor classroom to teach about everything from bugs and wildflowers to wetland animals and river ecology. In addition, a session on rocks will encourage students to start a rock collection and another on trees will help them start a leaf collection.
"This is a 420-acre piece of property set aside just for outdoor education," said Wally Chappel, parkland director for the Grand Traverse Conservation District. "There are six trails and people can use them at anytime."
The Discover Hikes for Kids series kicked off this Tuesday with a Nature Scavenger Hunt that drew 35 participants. The guides distributed plastic bags and a list of items to find. These items began at the mundane - such as an acorn, a dandelion, a black seed and dead bark - and worked up to things that made kids think, including something smooth, a chewed leaf, a seed that travels by wind and something you can make noise with. The final item on the list, five pieces of man-made litter, provided a lesson in environmental stewardship.
Scott Anderson of Kingsley brought his two children for the hike. As he helped Abby, 7, and Keenan, 4, search for the items on the list, he noted that he has two budding nature lovers on his hands.
"These guys love being outdoors," said Anderson, who has never attended a Discovery Hike before but plans to return with his children. "We go out on nature walks and these guys are constantly catching bugs - we have two or three bug catchers going for each of them."
Chappel said the popularity of the hikes has been growing over the past ten years. He thinks some of the appeal is the closeness of the Nature Education Reserve to downtown, just three miles south of the city's heart.
Regardless of the reasons, Chappel is pleased at the response to the Discover Hikes for Kids program.
"Ten years ago we were doing a hike a month and now sometimes it is three hikes a day to accommodate all the kids," he said. "We're getting so we're outgrowing the Pavilion, too."