Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh, NC: Nature Programs and Hiking

Prairie Ridge Ecostation is an extension of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. It is a beautiful 45 acres of hiking trails, nature playspaces, gardens, and so much more!

This is one of our favorite places for nature play when we go to Raleigh! They have so many different areas of play that it keeps kids entertained for hours. The day we went, it was lightly raining, but that didn’t keep my kids from loving a nature program they had going on that morning and playing in the nature playspace after. If you want to see what kinds of nature programs they have, you can see their upcoming events on their website.

Once you park, there is a short walk on a gravel path that leads to their beautiful outdoor classroom. This is where their bathrooms are! The nature playspace is just to the side of this in the woods. There is a short paved pathway that curves through the woods to lead you to the playspace.

 

Some of my kids’ favorite spaces are the covered tent, the water table, the tunnel, climbing wall, and outdoor kitchen.

Like I mentioned before, we came this day and did a nature event that was held in the educational pavilion. This space is so beautiful! We loved all the teachers (volunteers/paid staff) that were there to interact and teach the kids while we learned about animal tracks. They had several tables set up with different activities at each table. My kids were extra energetic that day and I so appreciated the willingness of the people there to answer the MANY questions my kiddos had. We did some crafts and learning activities for a bit and then went on a guided hike. I will definitely be back in the future for more programming!