Less than a thousand yards from I-70, yet worlds away from the bustle of Avon, lies the beautiful Buck Creek site, the new home of Walking Mountains Science Center and an innovative natural science learning campus for residents and visitors of Eagle Valley. The Science Center is now open from Monday – Saturday, 10-6. Admission is free.
The five acre site, which boasts a stream, wetlands, pond, aspen forest and National Forest access, was donated by Oscar Tang in 2007 to provide the valley with a special place for learning and discovery in the natural world.
This world class environmental learning center will offer something for everyone in our community:
- Over 6,000 K-12 students in the Vail Valley will participate in hands-on, outdoor science programs that are aligned with CO state science standards.
- Teachers throughout the region will have access to training programs that rekindle excitement and provide the tools to effectively teach natural science to their students.
- Residents and visitors, families and adults alike will learn about our spectacular mountain ecology from educational displays and classroom spaces that are accessible to a stream, pond and diverse forests.
Why a Campus?
“Our campus will become part of a larger national movement to reconnect children to nature and get them excited about science, ” says Markian Feduschak, Executive Director, “Numerous studies point to this connection as vital to a child’s physical, emotional, and intellectual development.”
- President Obama signed the “Great Outdoor Initiative” which includes initiatives to get kids outdoors and preserve wilderness and parks.
- In Colorado, Lt. Governor O’Brien spearhed the “Colorado Kids Outdoor Bill of Rights.”
- The Children’s Nature Network, spurred by the best-seller Last Child in the Woods, is compiling a body of research on the benefits of kids spending time in nature.
Through hands-on science education that takes place in nature, Walking Mountains is addressing academic achievement in science that has been on the decline in the United States. In addition to getting kids outside, our programs are closely aligned with the science curriculum of each school.
