Women Reconnecting and Engaging with Nature (WREN), Rider Park and Deep Green Journey have announced a partnership to host a beginner-friendly women’s backpacking trip this summer.
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The overnight event will take place Aug. 16–17 in Loyalsock State Forest, with the goal of helping women build confidence in the outdoors. Participants will hike approximately 2.5 miles to a hemlock-shaded campsite, where they’ll learn basic backpacking skills and enjoy activities that encourage a deeper connection with nature.

Women Reconnecting and Engaging with Nature (WREN) will host a guided plant and tree identification walk at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 29, at Montour Preserve.
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Sara Street, park manager at Rider Park, will lead the walk along the Goose Woods Trail, a 0.9-mile loop through the preserve’s wooded landscape. Participants will learn to identify native tree and plant species and explore their ecological roles in the local environment.

More than 1,300 students visited Montour Preserve in May for their schools’ spring field trips. Many of the visits were led by the Vernal School Environmental Education Partnership and featured guided hikes, fossil digs, pond studies and other interactive learning stations.

One standout trip came from the Milton Area School District, where 200 seventh graders took part in a visit organized by students in the district’s Chief Science Officers program.

The Vernal School Environmental Education Partnership is working with Scouting America’s Susquehanna Council this summer to support ecology programming at Camp Karoondinha, a 400-acre Scout camp along Penns Creek in Union County.

The collaboration will provide Scouts attending summer sessions with hands-on learning opportunities in environmental science. Activities include guided hikes, aquatic studies and ecology-focused lessons tied to the camp’s natural features.

​On Saturday, May 10, 2025, more than 80 Cub Scouts along with adult leaders and parents from across the region gathered at the local Scout council's Camp Karoondinha, located along Penns Creek near Millmont, to rotate through numerous stations designed to teach science and environmental literacy while having fun in Cubs Explore the Water.

​A pond study station, led by Doug Fessler of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association, allowed Scouts to examine aquatic insects and learn how scientists use them to measure water quality. At another stop in the rotation, they built their own beaver dams on a stream table and watched how water flow changed.  

Participants also launched water bottle rockets, raced boats in the rain gutter regatta, cooled off at the octopus sprinkler games and practiced their casting skills at the fishing station.

On Saturday, May 24, 2025, Eagle Scout Cole Orner will lead a hands-on birdhouse-building workshop for children as part of his Summit service project with Venturing Crew 2307. The program begins at 9:00 a.m. at Goose Cove Pavilion 1.  The workshop is free and open to the public, but due to supply needs, registration is required.

Women Reconnecting and Engaging with Nature (WREN) will host a map and compass workshop on Sunday, April 27 at 2:00 p.m. at the historic Alvira bunkers in Union County. The event will focus on map reading, compass use and basic orienteering skills, offering participants a hands-on opportunity to learn essential navigation techniques in a unique outdoor setting. 

This camp is currently full. To request that your child be added to the waiting list, please fill out the form below.

Camp Chillisquaque is set to return to Montour Preserve in July 2025. This free educational day camp, organized by the Vernal School Environmental Education Partnership, offers children aged 7 to 13 an immersive experience in environmental science and conservation.

The Vernal School has some very exciting news — Montour Preserve's resident eagles are nesting and breeding.  We will be documenting the progress of the nest regularly, so our Eagles need names, and we are asking the public to help us name them.