Events

Welcome Summertime with a guided public tour of the Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery! Join a Naturalist to learn the difference between the Rainbow and Brown Trout raised at the hatchery, then visit the raceways and discover the amazing trout-raising process! And for just a quarter, you can feed the fish, too! Tours will meet at the large trout aquarium inside the Conservation Education Center.

Tours will be held four times daily at 10am, 11am, 1pm, and 2pm on Tuesdays through Fridays, beginning May 26th and continuing through Friday, September 4th. (The Hatchery will be closed for state holidays on June 19th and July 4th.)

All ages are invited, and no registration is required. For questions, call us at 417-334-4865 ext. 0, or email Shepherd@mdc.mo.gov.

View Greg Renner's personal collection of antique duck decoys made in Missouri.

Look for book pages posted along Runge’s Naturescape trail and enjoy a seasonal children’s book as you walk and explore. Book begins at the trailhead across from the parking lot.

Visit Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center's Art Gallery this month to view the work of artist Wiley Longmire.

Wiley is a landscape artist, a graduate of Kirkwood High School in May 1974, and earned his associate's degree in art from St. Louis Community College in May 1984.

His specialty consists of watercolor paintings of forests and rivers, mostly in St. Louis and rural eastern Missouri. He also loves to paint from various locations in the Midwest USA.

Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center is proud to present Trail Tales, an interactive hiking experience! Explore our Tanglevine Trail, a 1/3 mile paved loop perfect for strollers and families. As you walk, look for interactive storybook pages along the trail. August and September will feature "Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs, and Other Ughs" by Anthony D. Fredericks.

Watch the sun setting over the fields and prairies of Columbia Bottom. Listen for the sounds of owls and other wildlife as we walk on the trail to the confluence.

Watch the Full Sturgeon Moon as it casts its light over the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Walk back to the parking lot by the silvery light of the full moon.

Meet at lot L, about 4 miles from the Columbia Bottom front entrance gate.

Dress for the weather, bring a water bottle, insect repellent, and a walking stick if you have one.

Sunset: 7:35pm

Moonrise: 8:14pm

This is an intermediate level course designed around instruction for individuals with a background in basic pistol shooting. Instructors will work on finer aspects and techniques to improve your pistol marksmanship

NOTE: This is not a beginner course. If you are new to shooting handguns, we recommend starting with our Beginning Handgun course before attending the intermediate course.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own handgun, if possible, to fine tune their skills with their own personal firearm.

Join us for a fun evening getting prepared for the dove season opener. Bring the shotgun that you plan on hunting with, along with a couple boxes of steel shot to practice with. We will have target presentations to try and create shots you will see out in the dove field.

Have you ever wanted to get into fishing? Ever wanted to just try it out but don't know where to start?

THIS IS THE CLASS FOR YOU!

In this intro to fishing class we will cover all of the basic necessities to get out on the water. We will cover everything from rod types to how to handle fish!

If this is of interest to you, please sign up and we will get you fishing in no time!

Babes in the Woods is taking a break during the month of September. Please join us again in October.