Trail Guidelines
Here are a few quick guidelines for hiking at the Ogden Nature Center. There are 1.5 miles of flat trails, portions of which are asphalt, paved, or wood-chipped. Birdhouse Trail, from the dirt parking lot to the Visitor Center, is asphalt and can be used by wheelchairs. The paved trail in front of the birds-of-prey mews is also wheelchair accessible.
- Drones, bicycles, and pets are not allowed on Nature Center trails.
- The Ogden Nature Center welcomes trained service animals only. To protect habitat, wildlife, and education animals, we do not allow companion, comfort or therapy animals, and service animals are restricted from the birds of prey enclosure area (the mews). Additionally, service animals must stay on a six-foot, non-retractable leash to avoid becoming a tripping hazard to guests. If you are bringing a trained service animal to the Nature Center, please check in at the Visitor Services Desk inside the Visitor Center, to sign our service animal policy agreement, and to get a bandana for your service animal.
- Collecting is prohibited; please leave nature where it is for everyone to experience.
- Please stay on marked trails (even for photographs); stepping off-trail can diminish the plant and animal habitat that we work to create.
Distances:
- Parking lot to Visitor Center .12 mi
- Visitor Center to Dumke Picnic Grove (via Meadowlark Trail) .64 mi
- Habitat Trail (from Visitor Center) .28 mi
- Visitor Center to Eccles Observation Tower (via Teal Pond) .35 mi
Birdhouse Trail
Stroll along Birdhouse Trail from the main parking lot to the Visitor Center (.12 mi.) This charming trail boasts over 100 creatively designed birdhouses and bird feeders. The birdhouses are unique examples of both form and function. Every spring the Ogden Nature Center holds a Birdhouse Competition and exhibit. Many of the birdhouses become part of the Nature Center’s permanent collection each year, charming visitors and birds alike.
Habitat Trail
Follow this path for a self-guided, interpretive trail marked with specific points of interest. Each point introducs different habitats at the Nature Center – wetlands, riparian, upland, and forests. At each stop, take a moment to observe the environment around you. If you are quiet, patient, and watch carefully, you may observe some of the many residents that live in these habitats.
To Blackbird Pond, the Potholes, and Dumke Picnic Grove
As you venture past the L.S. Peery Nature Playscape on the east side of Habitat Trail, you will come to a juncture where you can head west to continue on Habitat Trail, or you can continue forward (north) toward the Eccles Observation Tower and Blackbird Pond. This trail winds through forests and grasslands, along the Plain City Canal, and passes multiple wetland areas. Along the trail you will also find the predator-proof bird feeding structures that Wasatch Audubon fills every day during the winter as part of our winter bird conservation program. Continuing to the next juncture in the trail, the right fork will lead you to the Eccles Observation Tower where you can observe Killdeer Pond, and the left fork will lead you past the stunning Blackbird Pond, to the juncture that splits back to Meadowlark Trail, or to the Dumke Picnic Grove.
Dumke Picnic Grove is home to two large-scale tree houses, a fire lounge area, three handicap-accessible restrooms, and a large picnic pavilion.
Along the trail you will pass through Ogden Nature Center upland habitats which boast a variety of grasses, shrubs, and wildflowers. Multiple wetland systems surround the upland habitat, making it a prime area for wildlife. This area is particularly favored by pollinating insects as we have created patches of pollinator friendly habitat along the trail edges.
Meadowlark Trail
Meadowlark Trail begins behind the Visitor Center, heading west and north. Meadowlark Trail offers a stunning view of the Wasatch Front, Ben Lomond Peak, and the Ogden Nature Center’s large grassland meadow. Wildflowers bloom through the growing season and attract beneficial pollinators and grassland bird species, including the Western Meadowlark! To the south of the trail, you will see the bat houses, 30 feet into the sky, which provide roosting habitat for bats visiting the preserve.
Continuing north and east, you will come to a fork. The left fork leads to Dumke Picnic Grove, while the right fork leads around to Blackbird Pond, the Eccles Observation Tower (Killdeer Pond) and back to the L.S. Peery Nature Nook on the east side of the trail system.
