Guide to the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center

The Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center in Sioux City is one of the cutest nature centers in Iowa and has a particular focus on the natural environment of the Loess Hills and Siouxland. It's totally FREE to visit, and a fun place to spend a day in any season, offering activities both indoors and outside. And it's one of my personal favorites. My kids and I have had so much fun at the nature center over the years! Here's what you should know about the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center:

Where is the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center?

The Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center is located at 4500 Sioux River Road in Sioux City, Iowa. There is ample free parking in their parking lot, but there is a gate that closes each afternoon. If you are planning to leave after it's closed, park in the small lot between the road and the gate instead of in the large lot near the nature center itself so you aren't trapped!

The Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center includes the nature center building, a nature playscape, a pollinator garden, a campfire area, and the trails and land around the building itself. The nature center land is adjoining to Stone State Park, and the trails in the nature center connect to the trails in Stone Park, so hikers up for the distance can park and/or camp in Stone State Park and then hike over. The nature center road is NOT connected to the Stone Park roads though, so you do have to drive on Highway 12/Sioux River Road for just a few minutes to get from one to the other by car. 

What's inside the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center?

Inside the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, visitors find 14,000 square feet of indoor space which includes classrooms, offices, bathrooms, a little gift shop, a kitchenette, and their informative exhibits!

The exhibits share wonderful information about the Loess Hills, including a fun sand wheel thing that demonstrates how windblown silt forms hills. There's also a wall of aquarium tanks for native fish, reptiles, and amphibians. And there are preserved animals throughout the center so visitors can get a look at species like bobcats that may not be practical to have in the center, even if one was rescued and couldn't be released. 

Arguably the most fun part of the indoor exhibits for kids at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center is the badger tunnel exhibit. The exhibit is essentially a big chunk of reproduction loess hill with a big tunnel cut through the back so you can walk through, and a smaller tunnel off of that which you have to climb through. On the front of the display, prairie plants, a badger, and some prairie dogs are visible, and if you climb into the little tunnel, you can control a viewer that lets you peer through the badger's eyes, including making the badger turn directions! My kids find this absolutely hilarious, whether they are the one "being the badger" or whether their siblings and I are watching them and making the badger turn to keep looking at them. 

The back of the indoor space at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center includes floor to ceiling windows so that visitors can watch birds and other critters that come to explore the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center's many bird feeders and its pollinator garden. Bring your own binoculars or borrow a pair of theirs for even better views. 

What's outside the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center?

Outside the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center are trails heading two directions, with lots of interesting attractions each way.

Going clockwise from the back door, you'd first get to a small raptor enclosure--no not the dinosaurs (that'd be awesome though!) instead, the center has a pair of rescued birds of prey (an owl and a hawk at time of posting.) Due to their injuries these beautiful birds can unfortunately never live freely in the wild again safely, so they are now part of the Woodbury County Conservation Team and get free room, board, and medical care for the rest of their life in exchange for playing their part to teach visitors about nature in our area!

If you continue clockwise from the raptors, the next big attraction is the campfire ring. There is bench seating for dozens of people along with a campfire ring. Each summer the nature center hosts campfire evenings with live music and fresh s'mores. I have been with my kids and had so much fun. 

And then the star of the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center outdoor amenities has to be the Nature Playscape. It's so cute! 

Play amenities at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center's Nature Playscape include

• a climbing structure
• wood slices to stack
• a big slide and some little ones
• a giant bird's nest to climb in (Big Bird would totally fit)
• a wooden branch fort
• a rope spider web
• a sand dig area
• a log tunnel you can climb through or on
• a turtle to climb on (we didn't see the turtle last time we visited. he may be undergoing repairs or just gone. we will miss him!)
  

There are also hiking trails, which are fun in their own right but also connect to the broader Stone Park trail system. Kestrel Point is a quick uphill from the nature center and has a cute observation deck and binoculars to enjoy the view of the Loess Hills, and it's featured as the letter K in my local alphabet book, S is for Sioux City!

But that's not even all that's outside! If you keep going around the main loop after the playscape (or turn right immediately after exiting the nature center), there's also a little bridge that leads across a ravine and back up towards the nature center, and there's a pollinator garden below the center to the west, and a charming waterfall by the back door. Kids love hopping across the strategically placed stones to get to the bench where they can watch the water flow and on a lucky day, spot some butterflies visiting the native wildflowers blooming all around. 

Events at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center

The Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center hosts field trips for schools and environmental programming for all ages, led by Woodbury County Conservation staff. Their kids' events are some of the cutest in Siouxland, and while some may have an additional charge (usually longer programs like the summer camps), most of them are completely free. 

One of the most notable is their monthly "Nature Tales" storytimes for preschoolers. They're so well-done, with age-appropriate information and hands-on activities combined with beautiful picture books to teach the kids about topics related to nature. But they also have lots of programs for older kids too, including many where kids can meet live animals like turtles and snakes under careful supervision of the conservation staff. They host all sorts of other events as well, including summer day camp programming for kids, guided hikes, coffee & conservation chats optimal for adults, yoga, survival skill workshops, and much more.

You can find the full calendar of Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center events on the Woodbury County Conservation website.

For more information about the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center

To find out more about the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, visit the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center page on the Woodbury County Conservation website, or connect with them on Facebook or Instagram.

To find out more about Stone State Park, check out my guide to Stone State Park

The Loess Hills are truly a natural wonder, and we are so lucky here in Sioux City and the surrounding Siouxland area to have such quick and easy access to it, and to this great nature center where we can learn all about it.