Missouri Department of Conservation offers FREE nature classes for outdoor lovers of all ages and abilities. Registration is required for most classes unless indicated. Click on the BLUE text for each class. MDC’s Free Classes & Programs Sign up for email or text alerts to stay informed of MDC’s latest programs and events here: Sign Up for MDC News.
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Fall Colors ~ Spiders ~ EAGLES IN MO ~ Be Bear Aware ~ Fishing & Hunting
Participants with disabilities should email the instructor when registering to discuss accommodations needed to participate. Support staff are usually allowed to attend to provide assistance, but instructors need prior notice.
Nature Programs
Cooking with Venison Class
Date: December 7 from 12 – 2 p.m
Location: Columbia Bottom – Register Here
Learn how to properly prepare the venison you harvest for the dinner table with this free class. SPANISH LAKE, Mo.—Harvesting a deer during the hunt is only the first step in creating a great meal for the dinner table. What are the steps needed to properly prepare venison? The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering a free class to help hunters get from field to fork by demonstrating how to cook with venison. MDC will host a Venison Cooking Class on Saturday, Dec. 7 from 12 – 2 p.m. at Columbia Bottom Conservation Area in Spanish Lake. This class will guide deer hunters through the step-by-step process of transforming fresh venison into delicious meals. The program is free and open to anyone age nine years and up. Columbia Bottom Conservation Area is located at 801 Strodtman Road in north St. Louis County. The area can be reached by taking the Riverview Drive Exit from I-270 and travelling north approximately three miles.
FULL – Nature Crocheters: Acorn Ornaments
Date/Time: Saturday, December 7, 2024, 10:00 AM-12:00PM – Information
Location: Tower Grove Park-Stupp Center
Description of event: Crochet is a great hobby to connect with nature whether crocheting outside in nature or crocheting a nature project! At this Nature Crocheters session, we’ll learn about Missouri’s oaks, and crochet acorn ornaments or keychains.
FULL – Nature Art: Holiday Nature Ornaments and Cocoa
Date/Time: Saturday, December 7, 2024, 1:30 PM-3:00PM ~ Information
Location: Tower Grove Park-Stupp Center
Description of event: Join us for a cozy afternoon in Tower Grove Park! We’ll spend our time sipping hot cocoa and making festive ornaments from all sorts of natural materials.
Amphibians and Reptiles: Snake Encounter
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 10, 2024, 11:00 AM-11:30AM
Registration: No Registration Required
Location: Online
Description of event: Come meet one of the ambassador snakes who call Powder Valley home. Learn all about that species and hear about its journey of coming to live at the Nature Center. After the snake encounter, spend time enjoying the rest of the exhibits! An MDC naturalist and ambassador snake will be located inside the Nature Center lobby.
Hiking-Stroller Walks
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 10, 2024, 10:00 AM-11:30AM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Description of event: Meet up with MDC volunteers on the hilly but paved trails at Powder Valley. This class is for parents/guardians and their babies in strollers. We will get out to take relaxing walks to enjoy the changing of the seasons. There will be frequent stops to appreciate the calmness and beauty of nature, to hydrate, take in a snack or two, and breathe the fresh air.
FULL – Babes in the Woods: Winter is Coming – What do the Animals Do?
Date/Time: Wednesday, December 11, 2024, 9:30 AM-10:30AM ~ Join Waiting List
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Description of event: How do animals stay warm in the winter? What are the different ways the creatures in the woods stay warm for those cold months ahead? Come and find out how fur and feathers help our friends of the forest.
Mammals: Missouri Black Bears
Date/Time: Friday, December 13, 2024, 3:00 PM- 4:30PM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: Online
Description of event: Once considered extirpated from the state, Missouri black bears are beginning to make an impressive comeback. Join us as we discuss the complicated history of these fascinating mammals, and the research efforts which are helping them return to their former range.
Nature Rx-Women’s Wellness Hike
Date/Time: Friday, December 13, 2024, 10:00 AM-11:30AM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: Rockwoods Reservation
Description of event: Hike through the forest and enjoy the mental health benefits of spending time immersed in nature. We will stop along the way implementing mindfulness techniques, bringing awareness to the present and setting intentions for the new year.
Mammals-Silly Slime: Missouri Mammals in Winter
Date/Time: Saturday, December 14, 2024, 11:00 AM-1:00PM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: St. Louis Regional Office/Busch Memorial CA
Description of event: What does wildlife do in the winter? Where do they go and what do they eat? Learn about Missouri mammals and how they survive the cold and make mammal themed slime to take home! Together we’ll investigate a few awesome animals, discuss some of their cool strategies to survive the cold, and also look at their teeth, their habitat and their scat to determine what they might be eating throughout the year.
Nature Art: Paint n’ Sip: Winter Wildlife
Date/Time: Sunday, December 15, 2024, 11:00 AM-1:30PM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: St. Louis Regional Office/Busch Memorial CA
Description of event: As wildlife is winding down for the winter outside, join us indoors to capture the beauty of Missouri’s animals on canvas while we sip on tasty winter mock-tails and hot cocoa.
Amphibians and Reptiles: Snake Encounter
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 17, 2024, 11:00 AM-11:30AM
Registration: No Registration Required.
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Description of event: Come meet one of the ambassador snakes who call Powder Valley home. Learn all about that species and hear about its journey of coming to live at the Nature Center. After the snake encounter, spend time enjoying the rest of the exhibits! An MDC naturalist and ambassador snake will be located inside the Nature Center lobby.
FULL – Nature Art- Virtual: The Science and Art of Soap Making Pt. 1
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 17, 2024, 12:00 PM-1:00PM ~ Join Waiting List
Location: Online
Description of event: Making soap is fun and can be educational. Discover how early Missouri pioneers made soap using the ash from hardwood trees and their fires and the fat from their butchered animals. Don’t worry if you are squeamish! We will use modern-day ingredients to make soap you can take home and use (Lard, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Lye, and Distilled Water).
Nature Art- Virtual: The Science and Art of Soap Making Pt. 1
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 17, 2024, 6:30 PM-7:30PM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: Online
Description of event: Making soap is fun and can be educational. Discover how early Missouri pioneers made soap using the ash from hardwood trees and their fires and the fat from their butchered animals. Don’t worry if you are squeamish! We will use modern-day ingredients to make soap you can take home and use (Lard, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Lye, and Distilled Water).
FULL – Birds: Owl Prowl
Date/Time: Friday, December 20, 2024, 6:30 PM-8:30PM ~ Join Waiting List
Location: St. Louis Regional Office/Busch Memorial CA
Description of event: Who’s that hooting it up each evening?? Owls that’s who. You will learn what makes them such effective nighttime hunters and why they hoot so much this time of year. We will then take a short walk and see if we can entice any owls to fly in and talk to us.
Nature Art: The Science and Art of Soap Making Pt. 2
Date/Time: Saturday, December 21, 2024, 10:00 AM-12:30PM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: Tower Grove Park-Stupp Center
Description of event: This is the in-person session for The Science and Art of Soapmaking. You must have attended one of the informational sessions in order to attend. Attending the virtual sessions does not guarantee a spot, sign ups start 12/1.
Making soap is fun and can be educational. Discover how early Missouri pioneers made soap using the ash from hardwood trees and their fires and the fat from their butchered animals. Don’t worry if you are squeamish! We will use modern-day ingredients to make soap you can take home and use (Lard, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Lye, and Distilled Water).
Birds- Conservation Matinee: Flight of the Snow Geese
Date/Time: Saturday, December 21, 2024, 1:00 PM-2:00PM
Registration: No Registration Required.
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Description of event: Enjoy the warmth of our auditorium with a Nature Center Conservation Matinee. This month, we’re looking to those migratory snow geese that are so fascinating to watch! This beautiful film covers for the first time the incredible 2,500-mile migration story of snow geese from Hudson Bay to the Mississippi Delta.
FULL – Nature Art- Needle Felting: Owls
Date/Time: Saturday, December 21, 2024, 2:30 PM-3:30PM
Registration: Join Waiting List
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Description of event: Now’s your time to get creative! Needle felting is the art of shaping wool and other similar fibers to make beautiful artwork and 3D shapes. For this class, join two Powder Valley naturalists in a guided needle felting class to make your own owl.
Nature Art- Paint & Sip: Upcycled Art
Date/Time: Saturday, December 21, 2024, 5:00 PM-6:00PM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Description of event: Paint on the wild side! Join a Powder Valley naturalist for a unique Paint & Sip program. Try your hand at painting a winter nature scene featuring two northern cardinals on a trendy upcycled canvas: a vinyl record!
Amphibians and Reptiles-Snake Encounter
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 31, 2024, 11:00 AM-11:30AM
Registration: No Registration Required.
Location: Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center
Description of event: Come meet one of the ambassador snakes who call Powder Valley home. Learn all about that species and hear about its journey of coming to live at the Nature Center. After the snake encounter, spend time enjoying the rest of the exhibits! An MDC naturalist and ambassador snake will be located inside the Nature Center lobby.
Hiking-New Year’s Eve Stroll to the Confluence
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 31, 2024, 4:30 PM-6:00PM
Registration: Register Here!
Location: Columbia Bottom Conservation Area
Description of event: What better way to get refreshed for the New Year than to watch the last sunset of 2024 before taking a quiet stroll in the crisp winter night at Columbia Bottom? Watch the sun set before we start our walk to the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
Thursday, December 12, 2024, 9:00 AM-11:00AM – Register Here
Location: Forest Park Hatchery
Description of event: *Lesson 1 is not required to attend lesson 2*
Welcome to the first ever “All About Trout,” program put on in the St. Louis region. This is a Traditional fishing class, meaning we will be using traditional “Ultra-Light,” fishing gear and lures to fish for Rainbow Trout. If you are wanting to try Fly-Fishing, we have plenty of fly-fishing classes throughout the fall and winter months!
November Begins Winter Trout Season at MDC-Stocked Lakes
Many people look to springtime to start their fishing adventures. However, great angling opportunities for rainbow trout are just beginning right now in the St. Louis region. The month of November marks the annual start of the Missouri Department of Conservation’s (MDC) winter trout season. Winter trout fishing, part of MDC’s St. Louis Urban Fishing Program, is good news for trout chasers. They need only drive minutes to pursue their passions, rather than hours to a Missouri trout park or distant Ozark stream. During cold-weather months, MDC will stock nearly 40,000 rainbow trout from November until February in nine St. Louis City and County lakes, Union City Lake in Franklin County, as well as in five lakes in the August A. Busch Conservation Area on Route D in St. Charles.
Anglers should note that Gendron Lake in St. Ann, Jefferson Lake in Forest Park, and Wild Acres Park Lake in Overland will not be stocked with trout during the 2024-2025 Winter Trout Season. Each of these three lakes are currently undergoing renovation projects making them inaccessible to fishing. MDC will continue to add several brood stock lunker trout—some as large as 10 lbs.—into the mix at its urban winter trout lakes, including the ones in August A. Busch Conservation Area. Area lakes stocked with winter trout this winter include:
- Carondelet Park Boathouse Lake in St. Louis
- January-Wabash Lake in Ferguson
- Koeneman Park Lake in Jennings
- O’Fallon Park Lake in St. Louis
- Suson Park’s Island Lake and Carp Lake
- Tilles Park Lake in St. Louis County
- Union City Lake in Union, Franklin County
- Walker Lake in Kirkwood
- Vlasis Park Lake in Ballwin
- August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area lakes 3, 7, 21, 22, and 23
Between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31, some lakes are catch-and-release only, and some are catch-and-keep. After Feb. 1, trout may be harvested from all lakes. Anglers can find information on specific winter trout lakes statewide at this Link to Trout Lakes in MO, or check regulations posted at the lakes. All trout anglers between age 16 and 64 must have a valid Missouri fishing permit to participate. Anglers wishing to catch and keep trout must also possess a trout permit regardless of age. MDC provides a chance for anglers to keep on top of trout stocking efforts in the St. Louis area via the Fish Stocking Hotline. The hotline is updated immediately after each stocking run. The number is toll free from anywhere in the St. Louis area. A recorded message lets anglers know when and where fish were stocked, the total number and species stocked. Anglers are encouraged to call the hotline at 636-300-9651 to get the latest stocking information. Information
Eagles
Eagles of Missouri:
Learn more about bald eagles in Missouri from the MDC online Field Guide at mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/
BEAR
Black Bears in Missouri and How to Be Bear Aware
Date: Friday, Dec 13, from 3 – 4:30 p.m.
Location: ONLINE
It seems black bears are making the news in the St. Louis region each spring as they are beginning to show up more and more in the area. Since bears are becoming a more common part of the Missouri landscape, especially if travelling to the southern parts of the state, it makes sense to learn more about them. This virtual program is free and open to the public, however Register HERE to receive an online meeting link. Stay safe in bear country, and keep our bears wild. mdc.mo.gov/bearaware
