Canoeing is just one of the activities families can participate in during Merry Lea’s Nature Fest.

News Release

WOLFE LAKE — Celebrate spring with Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College at its annual Nature Fest. This weekend festival will feature both family-friendly activities and science investigations on Friday and Saturday, May 12-13, at Merry Lea.

Nature Fest will bring together the local community to encourage individuals and families to explore the outdoors and engage with the biodiversity at Merry Lea in fun, interactive ways. People of all ages are welcome to join in family-oriented activities and BioBlitz activities (science investigations).

From 7-10 p.m. Friday, May 12, activities will include canoeing, campfires and a BioBlitz activity. Canoe with a partner and then relax by the campfire while making s’mores. All equipment is provided, including s’mores fixings while supplies last.

From 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 13, activities will feature two tracks participants may engage in: family and BioBlitz activities.

Family activities include canoeing, guided hikes, nature crafts, gardening workshops, birding and more. A BioBlitz is an event where teams of volunteers record as many species as possible in a given area over a short period of time for research. These activities will include a bird hike, plant identification, a turtle adventure, dipping for macroinvertebrates and investigating insects at our nature preserve. These BioBlitz events will occur concurrently with the family-oriented events.

Drop in for just some of these activities or join for all of them. Activities vary as either guided, self-guided or drop-in events. Guests are encouraged to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on Saturday.

All Nature Fest activities will take place or start at the Merry Lea Farmstead site, 2152 S. 425W, Albion. Registration is not required. To see the full schedule and more details, visit goshen.edu/merrylea/naturefest.

Merry Lea is located just south of Wolf Lake, halfway between Goshen and Fort Wayne. Directions and updates are available at goshen.edu/merrylea or facebook.com/MerryLeaEnvironmentalLearningCenter.

For information regarding Merry Lea’s hours or new developments, contact [email protected] or (260) 799-5869.