Description

Wild Roots Nature Center at Severson Dells Forest Preserve sits on 369 acres of prairie, savanna, and forest and features a winding creek lined with ancient rock walls. The land and lodge were donated to the Forest Preserves of Winnebago County by Harry and Fannie Severson in 1975, and the Nature Center was established in 1976. Our mission is to inspire conservation of nature through education and stewardship, cultivating connections between people and place.

Your group leaders will include our staff, AmeriCorps service members, and fabulous volunteers.

Lunch Notes

Students, staff, and chaperones should bring their own lunch, snack, and water bottles to Wild Roots Nature Center.
Lunch looks a little different at Wild Roots, so we want to make sure your group is prepared!
Lunch breaks involve a waste-sorting presentation by Wild Roots staff, time to play in our Grove Nature Playscape, and of course, time to eat! You are expected to supervise your group during their eating and recess time so Wild Roots staff have time to prepare your next program.
The usual lunch break goes as follows:

• 5-minute low-waste lunch presentation
  • 15 minutes to eat
  • 5-minute lunch waste sorting session
  • 20 minutes of Grove recess

On good weather days, we spend our lunch break in our Grove Nature Playscape. There are no formal tables or chairs, but there are plenty of spaces for both students and adults to eat picnic-style. We spend some of our lunch in our classroom on poor weather days. We can set up tables and chairs in the classroom depending on group size and programs requested. If the weather allows, students can still enjoy recess in the Grove Nature Playscape. Otherwise, we have floor puzzles and books for an indoor recess.
We try to promote low-waste-lunches as much as reasonably possible! Encourage students to bring re-usable containers and water bottles in their lunches. There are so many benefits to low-waste-lunches: limiting plastic in the environment, cutting back on carbon emissions, restoring soil nutrients, saving space, saving money, and so much more! We understand that many of the lunches provided by the schools are not low-waste, that is ok! Students still enjoy sorting the materials out and learning about the composting process. Your students will sort their lunch waste into garbage, recycling, and compost.

Bathroom Notes

The nature center's building has one bathroom with three stalls and another bathroom with one stall and a urinal. There are two vault outhouse bathrooms outdoors further along the trails. One located near our prairie and one located by the parking lot to the nature center. We highly recommend a bathroom break before coming to Wild Roots due to our limited facilities.

Cancellation Policy

see below!
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Weather Policy

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We try to be outside as much as we can! However, in the event of a thunder storm, we are required to wait under cover for thirty minutes after the last lightning strike before we can resume outdoor activities. If there is cold rain, we will consider the comfort level of your class and your adults. Wind advisories will keep us out of the forest, but don't prevent us from going outside. We may have to switch up your programs or program locations in the event of inclement weather, but do our best to keep the original schedule. We understand that cold days with a lot of rain can be a challenge if groups don't have the right gear.

The best option for any kind of bad weather is to dress for it. We encourage you to communicate with your students and their families to make sure they are dressed for hours outside. We have a “What to Wear” guide in English and Spanish to help your students and their families prepare! We do have a limited amount of rain gear, gloves, and hats for students to borrow if they need them, but we do not have enough to equip a whole class. We find that well-prepared groups can handle cold, windy, or wet weather with no problem!

We reserve the right to cancel and refund or reschedule field trips in the case of extreme weather. If you have concerns about upcoming weather, don't hesitate to contact us so we can make an action plan that is best for both parties! Rescheduling may be difficult in September, October, April, and May due to high demand.

If you book a field trip from November to March, know that cold, windy, wet weather is a strong possibility. In addition to making sure your students dress for the weather, it's best to plan for some indoor programs to give them time to warm up.

If you have a field trip on a day with potential for thunderstorms, reach out to us so we can have indoor options ready for your group in case we are forced inside.

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General Cancellation Policy

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All group cancellations must be received in writing no later than four weeks prior to the field trip date. All refunds will be processed minus a $25 administrative fee.

Any cancellations received between four weeks and one week before the field trip will receive a 50% refund. Any cancellations received seven days or less prior to the event will be charged a 100% of the field trip cost. No shows will also be charged 100% of the field trip cost.

If you cancel your visit but reschedule for the same school year, a $25 administrative fee will be charged.

The minimum cost for a field trip group is $90.