It’s prime season to visit Hitchcock Nature Center in Honey Creek, Iowa. The nature preserve, about 20 minutes outside of Omaha, is a hawk-watching haven.
If you visit September through December, you’ll likely find a volunteer at the top of the nature center’s tower, binoculars trained at the sky, counting how many feathered creatures pass over the park. Here’s a link to a great site with all the migrating raptors you can look for.
I’ll be honest, bird watching’s not my thing. I’ll look up and appreciate a giant hawk like everyone else, but I can’t tell you what kind it is, what it’s hunting for and where it’s headed. But, the volunteer probably could.
When my family goes to Hitchcock this time of year, we go for a good hike in cooler temperatures. It’s one of my 7 Favorite Trails Near Omaha.
Fall at Hitchcock Nature Center
We’ve been bringing the kids here for a few years. Most trails are kid-friendly. The few difficult passes are short, though I still recommend sticking to easy and moderate paths.
This September, we hiked to a lake within the park for the first time.
One trail to it starts as a boardwalk, providing wheelchair access into a beautiful part of the Loess Hills.
Our most recent visit to Hitchcock led to “discovering” this boardwalk. It makes nature accessible for a lot of people!
We decided we’ll try to walk every foot of the trails with the kids – we’re sure to discover new things each visit.
Before you hike Hitchcock for the first time, stop by the visitors center. Your kids will find a lot to activity areas to explore and learn about the animals and flora found at Hitchcock and in the Loess Hills.
Hitchcock Nature Center has an annual Halloween event for kids! Get the details on the 2017 event, as well as other Iowa and Nebraska parks here!
You can check out a backpack full of things your kids will like to use on your hike. In one we checked out, there were things like a magnifying glass and ID cards for birds. It’s FREE to check out for the day, too.
A young Farley checking out the contents of the backpack we checked out from the visitor’s center at Hitchcock.
Happy trails!
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I'm a mom, wife, writer & coffee addict. I love my hometown, Omaha, but cannot resist the thrill of travel. Life is best spent discovering the extraordinary at home and on the road. With any luck, I'll inspire you to think the same. Inquiries at ohmyomaha@gmail.com
