It’s a lazy Saturday morning, and you’ve decided to pry the kids away from the television or the latest video game.
Consider introducing them to a place that’s become a bit foreign: Nature.
Sure, it’s tempting to head up to the mountains. No arguing this — they’re splashy, with all those breathtaking vistas, white peaks and winding trails.
But if you don’t want to haul up those trails at 9,000 feet or battle the weekend traffic to get there, here is a suggestion: the Plains Conservation Center in Aurora.
If just the word “plains” sounds boring to your kids, tell them that they’ll be offered a little glimpse of the past. They’ll be able to see how the Cheyenne lived, along with some of the original settlers of the state.
Much of the center is within spitting distance of modern civilization, so much so that you can see rooftops peeking up around the 1,100- acre site. But ignore those rooftops, and you’ll realize you’re walking around a prized bit of history.
“The plains center is here so that people realize that they belong in nature, and that nature is in them,” says Tudi Arneill, executive director. “People who get out here feel spiritually better and physically better.”
Hike the 6 1/2-mile loop around the center and here’s what you might see: tons of wildflowers, prairie rattlesnakes, cactus (likely more a danger than the reclusive snakes), pronghorn, prairie dogs, mule deer, hawks and owls.
On a recent trip across the land, Melanie Zeitler’s 9-year-old daughter, Livie, spotted a pronghorn. Zeitler, the center’s director of development, spotted another nearby. Her daughter kept an eye out for the burrowing owls that dot the land. She pointed out a great horned owl hovering in a picnic shelter. Her enthusiasm and eye for detail is typical of the many schoolchildren who visit each year.
Of the 20,000 visitors, many are students who learn about prairie ecology. Scouts might spend the night in tepees, replicas of the ones Cheyenne Indians lived in. Children come en masse to see a re-creation of an 1887 sod village, which includes a blacksmith shop and a chicken coup, complete with chickens.
“A lot of kids don’t have a chance to interact with farm animals,” Zeitler says. “For them, to be able to feed hay to the cattle or grain to the chickens gives them a true connection to the land — to the way things work, and the way people used to live.”
Wander the land, originally a ranch farm homesteaded in 1898, and you’ll also have a chance to peek into a nature center, where you can see a living example of the rattlesnakes and bullsnakes that love this land.
In all the years the center has been opened, Zeitler says, nobody has been bitten by a rattlesnake. “Stay on the trail, and you’re fine,” she says. “They keep their distance.”
Arneill, who became director after volunteering for many years, says that each season attracts different birds, and the fields bloom with an array of wildflowers that change from spring to fall.
The center has been in existence since the late ’50s, and was originally part of the West Arapahoe Conservation District. Now the land is owned by Aurora but the Plains Conservation Center continues to operate it with funding from the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District and private donations.
“We want more people to know about us because, really, we all belong in nature,” Arneill says. “We’re one of the state’s best-kept secrets.”
Plains Conservation Center
Hours: Saturdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Admission: Free, but visitors should check in at the Front Range building
Where: 21901 E. Hampden Ave., Aurora.
Info: 303-693-3621;
Of note: The remote West Bijou site offers a dramatic backdrop and a view of various animals, along with evidence of an event that marked the extinction of many dinosaurs. The site attracts geologists and paleontologists from around the world. Visitors to the site are by reservation only.
Hiking tips
• Remain on designated trails to avoid encounters with snakes.
• Wear sturdy, closed-toe shoes as this is cactus country.
• Observe both wildlife and domestic animals at a distance.
• Pets are not allowed.
• Vehicles allowed only on authorized roads.
