Spring Lake Nature Center

06/18/2026

One of our favorite exhibits from our visit to Quarry Hill Nature Center was this giant live honeybee exhibit. 🐝

Most of us see bees every day, but we rarely get a close look at the incredible design packed into such a tiny creature. Looking at a bee this size really gives you an appreciation for the pollinators that help grow our food, support our wildflowers, and keep entire ecosystems buzzing along.

🐝🌎Exhibits like this are exactly the kind of hands-on, larger-than-life experiences we hope to bring to Spring Lake Nature Center one day when we have a permanent, full-time home. Until then, we’re busy building the foundation to make that vision a reality.

06/04/2026

We’re still looking for volunteers for the Roots & Wings Festival!

This is a great community event, and we need helping hands to make it happen smoothly. Whether you can give an hour or a full day, every bit of help makes a difference.

We’re looking for volunteers for setup, activity stations, greeting guests, and more.

👉 Sign up here: https://forms.gle/f661Ve6rqnVdBFV79
👉 Learn more / stay connected: www.springlakenaturecenter.org Spring Lake Nature Center

06/04/2026

North Dakota Prairie Day, June 6th🌾🌾

05/30/2026

Jim is a wealth of birding knowledge- definitely worth checking out! 🦅🦆🦉

Join Park Interpreter Jim at the amphitheater for a fun weekend of bird-themed programs and activities for all ages!

Friday May 29 at 7pm
Learn about amazing bird adaptations and test your knowledge with a game of Bird Bingo.

Saturday May 30 at 7pm
Discover what owls eat by examining and dissecting an owl pellet. This hands-on activity is always a favorite!

Sunday May 31 at 10am
Find out the Bird Bingo results, then join us for a guided bird walk around the park.

Location: Amphitheater in the Lewis and Clark State Park Campground

Please note an annual North Dakota State Parks pass ($35) or day pass ($7) is required to enter the park. These can be purchased online in advance or at the park on the day.

We hope to see you there!

Photo Credit: Jim Skinner - Long-eared owl perched on a branch

05/26/2026

A few supporters have let us know that some of our emails and newsletters may have ended up in junk/spam folders recently.

If you signed up for volunteer updates, newsletters, or event information and haven’t seen anything from us lately, please take a quick peek in your spam or promotions folder just in case!

To make sure you continue receiving updates about:
🌿 Roots & Wings Festival
🌿 Volunteer opportunities
🌿 Programs & events
🌿 Nature Center news

…please add us to your contacts or mark our emails as “Not Spam.”

And if you haven’t signed up for our newsletter yet, we’d love to stay connected! You can join our mailing list at:
https://www.springlakenaturecenter.org

We have some exciting things coming this summer and would hate for you to miss out. 💚

05/25/2026

Out doing some nature center research - and got to finally go to Quarry Hill Nature Center in Rochester MN- been wanting to come here for three years, it didn’t dissapoint! Amazing facility, trails, lakes, so much to see- Definitely inspired!

05/25/2026

Out on the prairie, morning arrives without much fanfare.

No sirens. No traffic. No great hurry.

Just a pale ribbon of light stretching across the eastern horizon and the slow understanding that another day has begun.

The mist gathers where it always has, down in the creek bottoms and low places, drifting lazily through the cattails and willow thickets as if it has nowhere important to be. The fields, freshly planted and washed by a spring rain, have begun that annual miracle of turning from brown to green. Not all at once. The prairie never does anything all at once. It prefers patience.

The sun climbs a little higher, and suddenly the grain bins catch the light. For a brief moment they shine like polished silver against a sky so big it seems almost unreasonable.

The swallows are already at work, stitching invisible patterns through the air. A pickup heads down a gravel road somewhere in the distance. Cattle stand in the morning haze, contentedly eating breakfast, carrying on the same business their ancestors carried on generations ago.

And for a little while, before the phones ring and the errands begin and the worries of the day come calling, the prairie belongs only to itself.

There is a stillness here that people from elsewhere sometimes mistake for emptiness.

But it isn’t empty.

It is full of growing things. Full of birdsong. Full of memories. Full of the quiet faith of people who plant seeds in the ground every spring believing that, with enough rain and sunshine and God’s blessing, something good will come of it.

05/22/2026

Want to help create one of Williston’s most fun summer community events? 🌿

The 2nd Annual Roots & Wings Festival is coming July 11, and we’re looking for volunteers to help make this year bigger and better than ever.

There’s a place for everyone to help:
🌱 Greeting guests
🌱 Kids activities
🌱 BBQ & vendor support
🌱 Setup & cleanup crews
🌱 Info tables
🌱 First Aid & Wellness Station
…and more!

📅 Volunteer Times:
• Friday Setup Crew: July 10 | 10 AM – 6 PM
• Festival Day Shifts: July 11 | Between 8:30 AM – 6 PM

Flexible shifts available — even a couple of hours helps tremendously. Bring a friend, meet new people, and help us continue building something special for our community.

A year ago, this festival was just an idea. Now it’s becoming a community tradition because of volunteers like YOU. 💚

Sign up here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3AW9t4P2T9Xk58IilhtOpFpbycDL8CmtqLO4ElT06_ggt8w/viewform?usp=header

or

Visit our website:

https://www.springlakenaturecenter.org