Indoor & Outdoor Fun: Twin Cities Southwest Metro Nature Centers

Measuring Wingspan at Wood Lake Nature Center

It’s another April day in Minnesota where we just can’t quite get spring weather to commit. Regardless, we are itching to get outside in nature. Several years ago, I hit up a trio of Twin Cities Southwest Metro nature centers that I believe you and your young ones would enjoy. I found Westwood Hills Nature Center, Richardson Nature Center and Wood Lake Nature Center to be exceptionally family-friendly and great for a day destined to be spent either indoors or out.

baby with hat in a bucket doing Giliane Mansfeldt Photo shoot

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Southwest Metro Nature Centers

Westwood Hills Nature Center

8300 W Franklin Ave, St Louis Park, MN 55426

Visitor Center hours: Weekdays: 8:30am-4:30pm • Weekends: 12pm-5pm

Indoor fun: The indoor portion of the nature center was completely rebuilt in 2020. It still has a colorful corner is stocked with books, puzzles, games and toys for small kids and kids can explore elements of the area natural habitats with hands-on interpretive exhibits. When we visited, an on-hand naturalist engaged my kids in a game of I-Spy with wildlife around the room and gave me the scoop on preschool and family programs available throughout the year at Westwood Hills. Find a sampling of Westwood Hill’s programs here.

Westwood Hills Nature Center Interpretive Center, St. Louis Park, MN
The interpretive Center was created to help naturalists increase visitor understanding and appreciation of our natural world

Outdoor fun: Weather permitting, bring a picnic and spend some time in the outdoor play area. There are both a traditional playground climbing structure and a small nature play yard containing stumps, logs, shelters and one really cool work of art (see collage above). Within a stone’s throw of a suburban neighborhood is a lake, winding trails, a beautiful observation deck, and a landscaped habitat for Westwood Hill’s resident Barred owl.

Richardson Nature Center

8737 East Bush Lake Road, Bloomington, MN 55438

Visitor Center hours: Monday-Saturday:  9am-5pm • Sunday: 12pm-5pm

Indoor fun: Colorful, eye-popping relief murals decorate many of the walls of Richardson Nature Center. Grab a scavenger hunt card and see if you can pick out the wildlife in the detailed scenes. My oldest child did this while his preschool-aged sister explored the book nook, stacks of puzzles, a crawl-through coyote den, and other hands-on exhibits. Then, the two collaborated on a predator-prey puppet show for my viewing pleasure.

Outdoor fun: Sheltered within the Hyland Lake Park Reserve, Richardson Nature Center is the starting point for many trails and a Nature Exploration Area where kids can putter around with natural building materials. Check out a bird, bug or frog kit from the front desk to explore the prairie and wetlands. Close to the indoor exhibits is an outdoor raptor viewing area.

Wood Lake Nature Center

6710 Lake Shore Drive, Richfield 55423

Visitor Center hours: Monday-Saturday: 8:30am-5pm • Sunday: 12pm-5pm

Wood Lake Nature Center

Indoor fun: Again, I was pleasantly surprised and appreciative of how many interactive exhibits there were for kids at my third stop of the day – Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield, a little preserve of land sandwiched between city and first-ring suburbia. The preschooler is always content with a set of miniature animals no matter where she goes; my 9-year-old prefers activities that involve a touch screen. Wood Lake has both — simple toys and books for younger visitors and some creative exhibits that older kids will enjoy operating. We especially enjoyed matching sounds in nature with the creatures who make them.

Outdoor fun: When the weather warms up, it will be great fun to spend time in the Wood Lake Nature Play Area, watching the kids interact not with screens, but with logs, boulders, sticks and other natural materials. The play yard is fenced in and completely conducive to creative play.

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Yes, we visited all three of these Southwest Metro Nature Centers in one day. Though we had a great time, I don’t advise trying to fit so many in. Pick one, slow down, explore and enjoy. Stay tuned this spring for the next installment of FFTC’s Guide to Twin Cities-area Nature Centers!

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