Creative play in the tree park
Outdoor Learning
It All Starts Here
Our commitment to inspiring curiosity, respect and understanding of nature and the circle of life begins here, at the Great River Outdoor Learning Center. Our facilities are available for lease to educators and groups to host your own course or event, or you can enroll your child in a camp offered by one of our partner providers.
Connect with nature and others in one of our outdoor classrooms nestled in the forest, or in our Tree Park, a natural element playground beneath a continuous conifer canopy. Explore our extensive network of trails on foot or by bike.
The Great River Outdoor Learning Center provides a safe, natural outdoor space, giving children and adults the freedom to do what they do best – play and explore.
Where people and nature connect
The Tree Park
Traverse the Log Highway throughout the park without ever touching the ground! Jump off the Log Highway to soar through the forest on a swing set 50 feet high in the treetops. Hop across the Stump Jump to meet with friends in the underground Hobbit House and plan your next move in the pine cone battle against the teams in the tree forts! Climb across the Log Jam, ascend the Log Climbing Spar, or simply relax at one of the picnic tables, surrounded by the sounds of birds and the forest.
It’s freeform adventure … and the choice is yours.
The Tree Park is a 4-acre, natural element play park nestled under a continuous conifer canopy, opening to sky and hillside views at the north end. Current and future play elements are made using salvaged logs and boulders, connected by the Log Highway. This unique feature allows you to traverse the park and move between play elements without ever touching the forest floor, providing an exhilarating experience of moving from tree to tree throughout the forest.
The Tree Park is designed for:
- Unstructured, freeform, outdoor play or team building
- Connecting people with nature through movement within the local ecosystem
- Appreciation and care for the natural world
- Integration with the land and trees, turning challenge areas into something fun such as a log teeter-toter, log climbing spar, embankment slides and climbing walls, hobbit house, and a swing high in the trees
- Resource conservation and sustainability, all elements are made from trees from the Great River property that were either damaged by wildfire or natural diseases, but still viable to be repurposed
- Inclusion, ensuring access, elements, and natural features designed to be appealing and thrilling for persons of all abilities of play
- Future plans include an ADA trail through the Tree Park and ADA accessible bathrooms
Tree Park sign painted by campers
Group in the tree park
Climbing spar
Planning time in the tree park
Traversing the log highway
Stump jump
Tree park creative play
Team building trolly activity
Installing tree swing high in the tree tops
Professional arborist installing tree swing high in the tree tops
Tree park swing platform
Tree swing
hiking trails through the tree park
Outdoor Classrooms
We currently have four outdoor classrooms nestled in the forest at Great River, providing shade and cooler temperatures throughout the summer. Classrooms are separated and private, connected by trails that wind through forest and meadow. These trails also link the classrooms to an archery range, the Tree Park and portable restroom facilities.
Campers line up in Grand Meadow
Archery range
Bullseye!
Bouquet of greenery
Bird nest crafting activity
Campers wove sweet pea wreath on tree
Counting tree rings
Fort built by campers
Learning about nature
Nature crafts together
Gathering and creating
Nature craft activity
Gathering bouquets of sweet peas
Making connections
Meeting at the stump circle
Outdoor play in the Grand Meadow
Acres to Explore and Miles of Trails to Traverse
Great River spans 150 acres of conifer forest, oak savannah, and meadow for Outdoor Learning Center Experiences. The terrain varies from flat expanses to mild hills, steep ravines, and canyons. What better way to explore the land and connect with it than on foot or by mountain bike?
With forests and fields to explore, which path will you choose?
Partner Provider: Let’s Get Out
Most day camps at Great River are operated by Let’s Get Out. Let’s Get Out fosters a love of the outdoors through adventuring, exploring and connecting people with the natural world. The program’s camps inspire outdoor skills and habits that encourage lifelong participation, sense of wonder, fun and connection for all people. The full-day programs for campers aged 6-10 are focused on developing outdoor skills and connections to nature. Campers dive deeply into a different theme each week spending their days creating, playing, exploring, and building new skills in the forest. These learning programs also have a service component such as planting trees, clearing brush and debris from the forest, eradicating invasive species, etc.
Our outdoor classrooms, tree park, and other facilities are available for lease and are ideal for light footprint outdoor learning activities such as team-building retreats, orienteering, artwork, creative writing, meditation, and more.