I love any organization with a conservation message and The Wild Center is a perfect example. Their mission is “to ignite an enduring passion for the Adirondacks where people and nature can thrive together and offer an example for the world.”
I had wanted to visit The Wild Center for a while, but being 7 hours from my home, it was a bit far away for a weekend trip. We took advantage of a February break from school and visited in winter. I thought we might be missing out on some of the summer novelties by going in winter and due to ongoing Covid-19 precautions, all indoor attractions were closed, but there was actually plenty to do! The Wild Center is located just outside the village of Tupper Lake, you can find it here.
We booked tickets online in advance. This gave us a window of time to arrive so that there were no crowds. The first activity we tried out were the kick sleds. Set up around the back of the building were several looping trails. The kick sleds were kind of like dog sleds without the dogs, the kids loved them.
Set up on the frozen pond next to the kick sled trails were ice fishing holes. A member of the Wild Center staff was also on hand to hand out fishing equipment, bait, and answer questions! We didn’t catch anything, but we learned a little bit about ice fishing.
After ice fishing, we headed out to walk through the forest on the Wild Lights Forest Music trail. This part of the park had trees wrapped in colorful lights, ice sculptures, and atmospheric music. It was my favorite part of the park.
The park really had a lot to offer winter adventurers. We saw otters playing in their winter habitats. There were some captive birds of prey on display and even an elusive porcupine. We spent time in front of an outdoor fire and reclined in Adirondack chairs made entirely of ice. The last attraction we checked out was the Wild Walk and this proved to be the favorite activity for the kids. It was also lit up and open after normal closing hours as part of the Wild Lights special event that was going on during this February break and throughout select winter weekends.
We all squealed as we tried to stay upright on the giant spider web.
So if you are in the Tupper Lake area, follow our example and visit the Wild Center where you can see for yourself the connections between people and nature and maybe even take a little bit of the Wild Center spirit home with you.
