Founded in 1997, Stokes Nature Center sits on the river trail at the mouth of Logan Canyon. After a complete renovation, the center is having a grand opening, just in time for Earth Week.
“After 23 years it was time for a little bit of a facelift and a revitalization of that space,” said Partick Kelly, the director of education at Stokes and one of UPR’s Wild About Utah contributors. “Because we know how many people are utilizing the river trail, we wanted to make sure that the space could fit this capacity and also the growth that we're expected to see in Cache Valley”
Kelly said over 80,000 people a year use the Logan River trail that passes by Stokes Nature Center. The center’s new design includes a more open floor plan, and a brand new interpretative art installation.
“We partnered with a professional scientific illustrator and spent over two years developing these giant interpretive panels,” Kelly said. “So they are absolutely gorgeous. They're four feet high by eight feet long. And we have five of them that all speak towards the resource of Logan Canyon, and how we connect to Logan Canyon.”
In addition to the panels which will be a permanent fixture, the renovated Stokes will include an exhibit about the nature center’s founders, Alice and Allen Stokes, and a rotating exhibit space that will feature collaborative collections with other museums. Starting in August, Stokes will be displaying a traveling “Nature All Around Us” exhibit in partnership with the Natural History Museum of Utah.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the new space can be visited by making a reservation on Stokes’ site. Looking to the future, Stokes will be putting up new interpretive signage along the river trail for anyone walking by to enjoy. And in the meantime, they have their bird feeders out, and some exciting springtime guests you can say hello to.
“I heard our first Hummingbird yesterday when I was up there,” he said. “So hummingbirds are imminent.”
