Squam Lake Natural Science Center
As soon as we walked into the Squam Lake Natural Science Center, we knew it would be unlike any animal park we’ve been to. My girls immediately let their creativity take over and pretended to be wildlife explorers scouring the forest for animals. At the Science Center you don’t find an animal in a cage, you walk to each exhibit through beautifully maintained trails until you reach the animal in a lovely natural habitat. There are 232 acres of fields, forests, and wetlands. You can tell great lengths are taken to see that the animals are well cared for. Most of these animals are rescued and will spend the rest of their lives in their safe, protected new home. Let me show you some of our favorite moments of our day.
WATER MATTERS PAVILION
In this exhibit we learned all about minks, turtles, fish, and frogs. They had many fun interactive displays that taught about the importance water plays on the environment. There was a great water display outside that allows you to immerse your hands in cold water and manipulate how the water moves. This was a perfect activity to do on such a warm day.
BEARS
Bears are a new obsession of ours since we saw a bear cub in the wild this summer. This exhibit allowed us to learn all about their environment, eating habits, and behaviors. The girls loved crawling into the bear den and I loved feeling the bear fur display. The funny thing is when I asked the girls what their favorite thing about the bear section was, they told me it was seeing bear poop.
MOUNTAIN LION
It is hard to find a more beautiful creature than a mountain lion. We all loved this exhibit and learned so much about this graceful animal. Seeing the skeleton showed us how it’s body moved and the retractable claw display reminded us how dangerous it could be. What I love about the Science Center is they use experience to educate the public. For example, instead of just telling how far a mountain lion can jump, they provide an area that allows people to see how far they can jump and then compare it to a mountain lion.
COYOTE
The girls loved seeing this adorable little guy and we actually stayed at his exhibit for a while learning facts about what he eats and his behaviors. It was interesting to learn how intelligent they are and that they sometimes work together to hunt. I loved the different fur displays because you may expect animal fur to feel the same but they actually have completely different textures.
DEER
We loved how close you could come up to the deer and how curious they were about people. Their habitat exhibit allowed us to learn about their different bones as well as their height. We spent quite some time in here playing a game about the population shifts of deer.
RAPTORS
We loved the different birds on display and learned that these sweet little guys are all powerful hunters. We saw owls, hawks, eagles, and falcons. It is amazing to see a bald eagle up close. We learned all about their beaks and sharp talons.
WETLAND TRAIL
The wetland trail takes you through a wetland area where you can search for frogs, tadpoles, lizards, and small fish. It was a beautiful, peaceful place to take a stroll.
GORDON CHILDREN’S CENTER
This beautiful barn holds lots of opportunity for kids to pretend to be animals. They can become a spider crawling up their web, a groundhog burrowing through a tunnel, and a squirrel climbing up a hollow tree. It is a nice place to cool off when it is hot. We love the experience of being in the “cave” listening to nocturnal animals calling to each other.
OUTDOOR PLAY AREA
This is where their imagination really took off. Here they were captured by poachers and had to escape their cage before running through the forest through several obstacles including a rope swing. It is the perfect place to go on an adventure.
KIRKWOOD GARDENS
We stopped at Kirkwood Gardens to have a snack and we were so impressed by the beauty of the colorful gardens. There were volunteers meticulously taking care of the flower beds and they were so sweet to point out different flowers to the girls. There is a beautiful wooden pergola that I would love to have in my backyard. We sat in the shade for a while watching hummingbirds and listening to sound of the fountain.
STAFF
I cannot say enough about the hospitality of the staff. They were all so informative and loved sharing facts about the animals. A nice surprise was seeing a staff member holding an owl and he answered lots of questions from the people gathered around him. The Science Center has 396 volunteers that give over 9,500 hours of service.
We truly loved our day spent at Squam Lake Natural Science Center and will definitely return. I would love to take the lake cruise when we return because I heard it was a lovely way to see the lake and learn about animals such a bald eagles and loons.
ADRRESS: 23 Science Center Road
PHONE NUMBER: 603-968-7194
WEBSITE: www.nhnature.org
RATES: Animal Exhibit Trail: Adult $19, Youth $14, Senior $16
Lake Cruise: Adult $25, Youth $21, Senior $23
There is also a Trail/Cruise combo ticket available.
HOURS: May 1 through November 1, 9:30-5:00. (Last admission at 3:30)
Lake cruises run from May through October.
A warm thank you to Squam Lake Nature Science Center for having my family as your guests. As always, the experience and opinions are 100% my own.