Mountsberg Conservation—Easter activity, Maple Towne, and so much more!

We usually try to supplement our very limited in-home egg hunt with an outdoor activity to maximize our Easter weekend. This year, we went to Mountsberg Conservation with some friends. We arrived at Mounstberg a little after lunch. The kids headed right away to the Easter Egg Hunt area. Theirs was not a typical egg hunt. The kids picked a number from a bucket and then proceeded to look for the paper egg with the same number on it within the enclosed section. Parents were allowed to help, especially the younger kids. The children could then redeem their paper egg for some candy sticks. The hunt was pretty easy, so we were off to the next activity soon after.

Hillary the Percheron

Next, we went to the barn where the kids enjoyed petting the animals. It was also where the majestic Percheron horses were housed. There was one horse, Hillary, at the time and she was huge (Percheron horses are often used as carriage or farm horses. They have also been used as warhorses.  They usually are about 17 hands tall and weigh at least 1600 pounds)!  After getting up close with Hillary and petting the goats, the kids went off to the playbarn.  There they enjoyed some indoor gym. They only stopped when the Bubble station was set up outside and it was time to play with bubbles.

Mountsberg has many points of interest which we mostly covered in the Scavenger hunt (we had to guess the message from seven Easter-related clues around the conservation). We started near the barn where there was a Discovery centre and gift shop, the duck pond and the Cameron house.

As it is spring, the Maple Towne section was still open (where there was yet another scavenger hunt clue). They had a sugar bush and the smell of smoke wafted from the pots where sap was being boiled down to syrup (Check out our other sugar adventure at Horton's). Here you could do a walking trail or take a wagon ride. There were also various cabins where the main steps in making maple syrup (or sugar) were highlighted. Of course, they had a gift shop and Pancake house to complete the town!

Pavillion at Maple Towne

After our sugar bush adventure, we went to the Raptor Centre where we looked at the various birds of prey. We saw turkey vultures, barn owls, red-tailed hawks, etc.  It was the nesting season of the bald eagles so we were asked to be quiet around them--pretty tough with many kids wanting a glimpse of the magnificent birds. Many of the residents of the Raptor centre have permanent injuries which make them incapable of surviving out in the wild. So, through the centre and the Birds of Prey shows, the conservation helps educate the visitors about how we can co-exist well with these birds of prey.

There are other activities you can do at Mountsberg such as taking a wagon ride to see the bison herd or watch a Birds of Prey show (both of which we did last fall). One thing is for sure, this is a place you can go back to again and again through different seasons.