lime creek nature center

Lime Creek has great educational displays, a live bee hive exhibit and many animal displays. Very knowledgable staff, great hiking trails, and lots of wildlife roaming around. Wecouldhave sat in thebuilding and watched the bird feeders outside all day.

Beautifully groomed trails, children's play area, cross country skiing trails and educational classes make this an inviting place to go. This site has been an important to 3 generations of our family.

Even on a hot and humid day these old folks did a couple miles of shady trails thru this lovely park. Miles of trails for all to enjoy. The shade from a variety of trees was pleasant. Even if it is a rainy day the Nature center is worth the time for a visit. It is county run large modern building that by design blends well with the nature park. You must stop inside and see all they have to display. Children will enjoy seeing all the birds and animals displays. There is a great bird viewing area where you can relax on comfortable chairs watching the birds just outside the window. We almost missed visiting the inside of the center because it did not look open . No cars parked near the building. Do not make this mistake. Go on up to the door, open most every day and has a host that knows the area very well and will answer any questions.

One of the best nature centers I've been to! It is in a wooded area with walking trails, picnic tables and an equestrian area. The nature center is two stories with live fish, a salamander, toad and snake (all in enclosures, no touching). Exhibits on birds, plants and other animals. What makes this center fabulous is the bird watching. Outside a wall of windows are birdfeeders that attract all kinds of birds. We saw Indigo buntings, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, cardinals, nuthatches, blue jays (which made the other birds fly away), redwinged blackbirds, mourning doves, gold finches and many more. Under the feeders, squirrels, chipmunks and other animals devoured seeds dropped from above. I could have spent hours just watching!

Fantastic place to take a walk with the dog on a warm spring day! My only suggestion would be to put some mile marker signs on the trails so people knew how much further they had to go before the trail ended. Otherwise it was great!

I go over a hundred times a year to this place, with my dogs. Mostly I go because if you know the place you really never have to interact with other people. I hesitate to tell you, but if you are the non-people type- park straight ahead before you turn to the center itself. I can attest that you can spend years in this place to know it all, and that may not be possible. It is a quite varied area and the conservation is wonderful ( check out the new prairie planting ). But in actuality there are at least 20 other places within 10 miles of here that are interesting too. By all means go to the events with family and children...and they have many wonderful offerings. But go there alone with your dog instead of watching the game to have the best of times.

Lime Creek was always a favorite of mine. I grew up in Mason City and had to stop there with my daughter when I was in town this summer. It has just gotten better with time. We love all of the different trails. It would take many visits to travel them all.

Lime Creek is such a neat place to see. There are so many trails. You can walk through native Iowa prairie, walk through the woods and see limestone cliffs and the Winnebago river, or walk the trails that take you through a rocky kind of barren area. There is a nice facility out there as well, opportunities to learn about animals native to the area, etc. Bird feeders behind this facility attract lots of different kind of birds and animals alike. You can walk the trails, and some trails are for biking and horseback riding also. It is beautiful...you will enjoy it immensely. My dogs love it out there. Just remember to spray yourself for ticks, and check yourself/kids/dogs before you leave. Ticks are bad anywhere in nature this year.

The nature close at hand takes you back. The availability for schools, nursing homes, and other groups to experiece this and have training on what can be found-epic. I may become a bird watcher yet!