Winter Sports and Activities

Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing are great ways to explore the winter environment while getting a good aerobic workout. River Bend’s gentle, forested trails provide a great place to learn how to ski and snowshoe or practice your skills.

A special thanks goes to SC Johnson Wax for providing the grant in order to get the snowshoes!

Trails are open during our regular hours and skis, boots, poles, and snowshoes are available for rentals. Note: Our trails are not groomed, and skiing requires a minimum of 4 inches of snow.

Ski Rental Fee: $7/Member, $10/General Public

Snowshoe Rental Fee: $5

Canoe and Kayak Rentals
Explore the upper reaches of the Root River with a River Bend Naturalist on a guided canoe or kayak trip. Wildlife rarely seen away from the river is commonly spotted. We provide all equipment and instruction, and spend about 2 hours on the river.

• Two week in advance reservation
• River Bend Naturalist provided to guide your group on the river
• 2 hour minimum time program
• 5 person minimum (canoe and kayak) 30 person maximum for canoeing, 11 person maximum kayaking
• $5/person/hour

*All paddlers must be able to help lift and carry equipment, unless special arrangements are made

Trail Tales for Tots: If You Give A Mouse A Cookie

Saturday, 10^th January 9:30-11am

ADULTS $5 general public/$4 Friends of River Bend; CHILDREN $3

Scurry over to River Bend to discover what happens when you give a mouse a cookie with story time along with a special craft for you to take home. Dress for a short hike (weather permitting). Registration Required!

Winter is for the Birds

Saturday, 17^th January 9-11am

$7 general public/$5 Friends of River Bend

From the cardinal to the chickadee, lots of birds stick around to brave the cold. With help from Rick Fare, President of Hoy Audubon Society, we will discover how these birds survive the winter, and help them through the season by making winter bird treats to take home. Registration Required!

Vintage Geocaching

Saturday, 24^th January 1-2:30pm

$5 general public/$3 Friends of River Bend

Before there was GPS, there was the compass. Learn how to Geocache the old fashioned way with a compass and map; they call it orienteering. After a short map and compass how-to, we will hit the trails to find hidden treasures around the trails of River Bend. Registration Required!

Volunteer at River Bend

Monday, 9^th February 9-11am

Interested in volunteering with our Maple Sugaring program this spring? Come on out to River Bend to be trained, meet other volunteers, and get a tour of the facilities. Registration Required!

Valentine’s Family Night Hike

Saturday, 14^th February 5-7pm

$7 general public/$5 Friends of River Bend individual or $15 per family

Trail Tales for Tots: Little House in the Big Woods

Friday, 27^th February 9:30-11am

ADULTS $5 general public/$4 Friends of River Bend; CHILDREN $3

FRIDAY NIGHT FLICKS

6-8pm

$3 Suggested Donation

The River Bend Box Office offers you and your family 3 nights to enjoy films about the natural world and how it’s changing. Movies will be shown by the fireplace with concessions available. Registration Required!

12th December

National Geographic’s Strange Days on Planet Earth

Around the globe scientists are racing to solve a series of mysteries. Unsettling transformations are sweeping across the planet and clue by clue investigators are discovering ways that seemingly disparate events are connected. Crumbling houses in New Orleans are linked to voracious creatures from southern China. An asthma epidemic in the Caribbean is linked to dust storms in Africa. Scientists suspect we have entered a time of global change swifter than any human being has ever witnessed. Where are we headed? What can we do to alter this course of events? Hosted by actor Edward Norton.

9th January

March of the Penquins

In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family. This courtship will begin with a long journey - a journey that will take them hundreds of miles across the continent by foot, in freezing cold temperatures, in brittle, icy winds and through deep, treacherous waters. They will risk starvation and attack by dangerous predators, under the harshest conditions on earth, all to find true love.

13th February

Winged Migration

Rolling Stone raved that Winged Migration, the critically acclaimed, awe-inspiring documentary, is “A movie miracle! It soars! You feel privileged!" Witness as five film crews follow a rich variety of bird migrations through 40 countries and each of the seven continents. With teams totaling more than 450 people, 17 pilots and 14 cinematographers used planes, gliders, helicopters and balloons to fly alongside, above, below and in front of their subjects. The result is a film of staggering beauty that Entertainment Weekly hailed as "Mesmerizing!" and the Los Angeles Times applauded as "Breathtaking! As lofty as it is exhilarating!" Open your eyes to the wonders of the natural world as you fly along with the world’s most gorgeous birds through areas.