Field Trips

May contain: plywood, wood, clothing, pants, glove, person, adult, female, woman, child, girl, male, man, floor, flooring, electronics, mobile phone, phone, footwear, and shoe
A speaker is presenting to an audience in a room with a nature theme, possibly discussing wildlife or conservation.
May contain: baseball cap, cap, clothing, hat, shorts, animal, reptile, sea life, turtle, tortoise, person, footwear, and shoe
A group of children and adults gather in a wooded area, some with cameras, likely engaged in an outdoor activity or learning experience.
A group of people, including children, are listening to a guide in a forest filled with tall trees.
A group of children walks along a wooded trail surrounded by colorful autumn foliage.
A child reacts to a skull being held by an adult, with other children in the background, in a colorful educational setting.
Kids are mesmerized by a large animal skull being held up, with one child curiously mimicking its shape.
May contain: plywood, wood, clothing, pants, glove, person, adult, female, woman, child, girl, male, man, floor, flooring, electronics, mobile phone, phone, footwear, and shoe
A speaker is presenting to an audience in a room with a nature theme, possibly discussing wildlife or conservation.
May contain: baseball cap, cap, clothing, hat, shorts, animal, reptile, sea life, turtle, tortoise, person, footwear, and shoe
A group of children and adults gather in a wooded area, some with cameras, likely engaged in an outdoor activity or learning experience.
A group of people, including children, are listening to a guide in a forest filled with tall trees.
A group of children walks along a wooded trail surrounded by colorful autumn foliage.
A child reacts to a skull being held by an adult, with other children in the background, in a colorful educational setting.
Kids are mesmerized by a large animal skull being held up, with one child curiously mimicking its shape.


Bidwell Park provides an excellent and accessible opportunity to teach valuable lessons of the natural world.  For over thirty years, the Chico Creek Nature Center has provided quality educational programs on the natural systems of Bidwell Park to elementary school students, using the park as a classroom.

Availability

Fall field trips are available between September-November. Spring field trips are available between March- May. Start times are between  the hours of 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM with thirty minute increments. 

Meet Our Animals is the only trip we will book year round.

Field Trip Reservation Request Form

Please complete the field trip reservation form. Once submitted, a staff member will reach out to you to complete your reservation. If you have any questions, please email naturecenter@chicorec.gov.

2026-2027 Offerings Include:

Program NGSS Grades Length 
Lower Park Discovery Walk K-2 30 or 60 mins
Meet Our Animals  K-2 30 or 60 mins
Skulls Lab K-4 30 mins
Skulls & Pelts Lab K-4 60 mins
See below for our NEW Field Trip Bundles! K-2 30 or 60 mins

Program Pricing & Timeframes

  • 30 Minute Field Trip: $140
  • 60 Minute Field Trip: $180
  • Each program allows up to 30 students, and pricing is per timeframe—not per person—and only changes if you exceed 30 students.

To ensure the best experience, our field trips are designed for small group sizes. If you have more than 30 students, the group will need to be split into smaller groups. One way to accomplish this is through a rotation system. Pricing is per trip, per timeframe, unless you select one of the two Rotation Bundle options.

What is a rotation?

A rotation means dividing your students into two smaller groups and having each group attend Meet Our Animals plus a second trip of your choice in a scheduled sequence. Once a group finishes its first trip, it rotates to the next one. By the end of the rotation, all groups will have completed all selected trips.

Example of a Two-Group Rotation with 30-minute Trips

If you have 40 students, we will divide them into two groups of 20. Group 1 attends Meet Our Animals, while Group 2 attends a second trip of your choice. After 30 minutes, the groups switch. At the end of one hour, both groups have completed both field trips. Pricing is per trip, per timeframe, unless you select one of the two Rotation Bundle options.

Field Trip Bundles- New This Year!

Looking for a rotation experience while saving a little money? Our new Field Trip Bundle pairs Meet Our Animals with our Lower Park Discovery Walk for a fun, engaging rotation at a discounted rate. The Rotation Bundle is available exclusively for these two field trips and cannot be combined with or substituted for other program offerings.

Field Trips Trip Length Timeframe Price
Meet Our Animals & Lower Park Discovery Walk 30 mins 60 mins  $280
Meet Our Animals & Lower Park Discovery Walk 60 mins 120 mins $360

Field Trip Overviews 

Lower Park Discovery Walk 

30 or 60 minutes - Meets NGSS for Grades K-2
Students are introduced to some of nature's wonders in our very own Bidwell Park. Join our Naturalists for a 30 or 60 minute tour through our World of Trees. Through interactive games, group discussion and observation, students learn about the history of the area and focus on plant and animal adaptations. This hike has a big emphasis on utilizing our senses and observation skills to discover and learn about our surroundings. 

1- NGSS- Lower Park Discovery Walk.pdf

Meet Our Animals

30 or 60 minutes - Meets NGSS for Grades K-2
Students are introduced to some of the Nature Center’s animal friends. Join our Naturalists as they bring out various animals and discuss adaptations and survival skills in the wild. Students will have the opportunity to gently touch certain animals including snakes, toads, a tortoise and so much more!

2- NGSS- Meet Our Animals.pdf

Skulls and Pelts Lab

30 minutes - Meets NGSS for Grades K-4
Students become young scientists as they explore real animal skulls to discover how different species survive in the wild. Using careful observation, they investigate key skull features—teeth, eye placement, nasal passages, and auditory bullae—to learn how structure connects to function. Students complete interactive worksheets, make evidence-based predictions, and decide whether their skull belonged to a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore.

60 minutes - Meets NGSS for Grades K-4
Take our Skulls Lab a step further by adding pelts! During the pelts portion of this lab students are introduced to animals of Bidwell Park, their pelts and how they are equipped to survive. Through interactive games and observation students identify and learn about different animal pelts and their varying purposes.

5- NGSS- Skulls and Pelts Lab.pdf