Location: 2295 Dunn Rd, Florissant, MO 63031
Website: https://www.fergflor.org/domain/68
This place is truly a hidden gem. I can't believe I never knew it existed until recently! You can find a very detailed history of this place on their website, but here is the short version:
Little Creek Nature Area
is a 97-acre outdoor educational facility owned and operated by the
Ferguson-Florissant School District. Since 1974, teachers have
provided ecology, environmental science, field biology, and living
history programs for district students. Located in North St. Louis
County, the Nature Area is situated near the east-central perimeter
of the district, bounded on the south by I-270 and surrounded on the
east and west by subdivision, institutional, and commercial
development.
The Nature
Area supports approximately eighteen acres of developed facilities.
Included are a residence converted to a museum and office space, a
high school classroom adjoined by a pavilion with picnic tables and
restroom facilities, and an elementary building with two classrooms.
A small farm is comprised of a barn, chicken coop, apiary, a
vegetable garden, pastures, and a caretaker’s workshop and garage.
There is a nineteenth-century log cabin, a butterfly garden, a
reconstructed prairie, a conservation windbreak, and an arboretum.
The
remaining acreage is largely wooded and preserved as natural areas.
It includes five designated trails, two woodland ponds, a field pond,
and several tributary streams that drain into the Maline Creek
watershed.
Little
Creek also has an ongoing partnership with North County Technical
High School, operated by the Special School District. Students in
the general construction trade classes practice and enhance their
skills while performing needed work at Little Creek. Thus far,
projects have included rehabbing of the log cabin, replacing the
garage roof, building a new chicken coop, and concrete work for
sidewalks.
In the
forty years it has been in operation, Little Creek Nature Area has
adapted its mission and focus to the changing needs of the school
district and community it serves. As efforts to boost student
achievement have intensified in recent years, the programs offered by
the Nature Area have been refocused to meet this challenge for both
students and their teachers.
When you park in the front lot, you will see the kiosk where you check in electronically. On that kiosk is a large map. You can see we have a couple of trails that go down to the pond and to the creek. One access trail starts behind the high school building (brown building north of the brick house).
Helpful maps
We came out on a Sunday afternoon and didn't realize the museum wasn't open on the weekends. We're going to go back during the week so we can explore the rest of the property. The following pictures are just of the outdoor classroom which is right off the parking lot. My kids loved it! Here is
a list of all the nature classrooms in Missouri if you also like this sort of thing.
We started to walk down one of the paths hoping to find the creek, but it was 100 degrees outside and we all got hot and tired so we turned back. We did see a deer though!
Love all the unique musical instruments!
