Need some new or forgotten places to take a mom break or get the kids out of the house for some exercise? Check out some of our favorite places!
This week we visit Five Rivers Environmental Education Center
| Five Rivers Environmental Education Center | |||
56 Game Farm Rd, Delmar, NY | |||
This featured hike takes us on a new adventure, that many of you may have never tried before! We went snowshoeing up in Delmar, NY (about an hour North of Saugerties). Thanks to the Friends of Five Rivers for this opportunity! | |||
This is a hike that I booked for my Girl Scout troop a few months ago. If you have a group and would like to book a trip, check out the Friends of Five Rivers website for more information. Individuals and families can reserve snowshoes (weather permitting) by calling the Five Rivers Environmental Education Center Visitor's Center at 518-475-0291. The cost is $5/person or free for Friends of Five Rivers members. | |||
Since ours was a group event, we had two guides from the Friends of Five Rivers join us. We split our group in half and got a short lesson before beginning our adventure! If hiking with just your family, you would just choose your trail and get started after picking up your snowshoes! Our group learned some essentials, like how to turn, how to get up and to keep our eyes out for animal signs! | |||
Once out on the trail, you can explore at your own pace (or the pace of your slowest companion). There are over 10 miles of trails to explore at Five Rivers. So be sure to grab a map and plan out which you want to explore! We stayed close and did a short loop near the main building (temporarily closed). The girls were able to check out a beehive box and learn about the other animals that populate the area. We found coyote, deer, squirrel and rabbit tracks! | |||
Our group was a bunch of 1-3rd graders, and they really benefitted from having a guide. Mike and Liz from the Friends of Five Rivers were great. The led us along an easy path and made sure the girls were able to find lots of tracks and signs of animals. | |||
If you are planning to go on a longer snow shoe hike, you may wish to dress more lightly than you would think. However, if you are going with a group of newbies, wearing a snowsuit or waterproof pants is a good idea! Trust me when I say, there will be a lot of falling in the snow! We were at a slower pace than I would go with just my family, so snow pants were a great choice for the kids. And many of them were on the ground more than not 😆. | |||
I highly suggest giving snow shoeing a try while we still can. If you have a Girl Scout, Boy Scout or other local scouting group, give the Friends of Five Rivers a call and set up a guided hike!  | |||
| Check out The Friends of Five Rivers on Facebook. You can find more information on Five Rivers Environmental Educational Center here. | |||
| Remember to always respect the world around you, including people, our trails and the wildlife living along the trail. Do you have a favorite spot to hike or take a stroll? Email me at JennaS@macaronikid.com | |||
Interested in checking out more of our weekend hikes? You can see them all on our Hiking Guide! | |||
