Read With A Ranger

Officials of the Carolyn Parr Nature Center are grateful to Local Happenings Magazine and its readers for the recognition.

The Read with a Ranger program was created by the Napa Parks and Recreation Services department. The Napa Valley Naturalists organization was founded in 1978 by a group of local citizens with environmental concerns. In 1980, one of those members, Carolyn Parr, passed away, leaving her modest estate to establish a nature center, which was named after her. The Center and its affiliated museum are dedicated to helping people of all ages learn more about their local, natural environment.

The nonprofit education group Napa Valley Naturalists (NVN) sponsors the Center, with the fundamental belief that education is the key to the preservation, protection, and conservation of our precious natural habitats. Its goal is to operate and maintain a natural science museum where individuals of all ages may acquire a greater understanding of, and have opportunities for a closer relationship with their natural environment.

Through dioramas, seasonal, topical, and hands-on displays, and adult and children’s libraries, the Center introduces visitors to the area’s natural wonders and ecology.

The Center is open on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is free. All its programs are free to Nature Center members, $5 for non-members. Group tours and school classes can be scheduled during the week by calling the Nature Center.

The Center is an all-volunteer organization, staffed on Wednesday and weekend afternoons by docents who host tour groups. Interest and enthusiasm are the only requirements for volunteers, and all necessary training is provided.

C/O Carolyn Parr Nature Center 3107 Browns Valley Rd., Napa, CA, 94558

(707) 255-6465

cpnaturecenter.com