Effie Yeaw Nature Center 3/24/16

Last week was my birthday and what did I do that day? Well, my favorite things of course. I ran 3 miles with the fam in the morning and also hiked in the afternoon. We checked out the Effie Yeaw Nature Center and their nature trails. We had heard from a family friend that it was a neat place to visit. The hike was closer to home, about a 42 minute drive from Davis. We found it to be a great place for kids.

The Effie Yeaw Nature Center is located in Carmichael, CA. The parking lot is decent sized, however there is a $5 per car parking fee. When we got there, outside is a neat California Indian Cultural Demonstration Area and it is the first thing you can see even before you enter the building where the Visitor Center is located.

They did a great job replicating the items pictured above.

We then ventured into the visitor center which was a decent size. There are bathrooms inside. The first thing we noticed walking inside, were the animals. They have a really cool owl named Echo. It was the biggest owl I've seen and I loved how his big eyes would turn and look at us. They also had some snakes that the boys enjoyed looking at, and me not so much. 

Inside was a discovery room where they had lots of cool things to learn about animals. From condors to the life cycle of a salmon, they had it. The kiddos seemed to enjoy this maze game as 6 year old did not want to leave it. :p

When we finally did get outside to check out the nature trails, we were greeted by this sign. I like the "take only memories, leave only footprints".

Here is a map of the nature trails.

Photo credit: www.sacnaturecenter.net/

We started on the main trail and headed down towards the American River passing the Natoma trail.

It is always neat to come across informational signs that tell you what is significant about the area.

We hiked down to the American River and the kiddos enjoyed throwing rocks. Hubby tried to teach them to skip rocks. It was fun. I got a few skips but I'm not as good as Hubby.

 The ducks didn't seem to mind that we were there.

We actually saw quite a bit of wildlife on this hike. We saw 7 deer.

And these 3 wild turkeys. I think this was the first time I saw a turkey fan out like you see in Thanksgiving pictures. :)

The trails are clearly marked which is always nice. From the river we hiked on the Riverview trail towards the pond and then back to the nature center.

 The kiddos enjoyed this hanging branch from a tree that looks like a rope.

The trails are nice and flat and makes for easy hiking.

We did a loop hike and walked 1.63 miles total. 

Overall, it was great place to take the fam. Checking out the visitor center that was like a museum was neat, and the nature trails were nice too. I enjoyed seeing the river and also the wildlife we saw along the way. It was a great way to spend the afternoon outside with the fam.

Have a great weekend!