- Trails are open 24/7 at no charge. Enjoy a Winnie-the-Pooh themed TRAIL TALES Storybook Walk.
What’s Happening: Celebrate!
Crossroads at Big Creek is celebrating! This week is filled with programs celebrating the Wisconsin Science Festival, International Bat Week, and Halloween. Because Crossroads focuses on ecology, we see connections between all three.
This year’s Wisconsin Science Festival theme is “Rock & Roll.” On Thursday and Friday—when many local students have vacation days—Crossroads will offer special School’s Out activities.
On Thursday, October 23, at 10:00 a.m. and again at 2:00 p.m., we’ll host “Let’s Rock!”—a rock-hunting adventure perfect for elementary and middle school students and curious learners of all ages. Weather permitting, we’ll explore outdoors, but even if it rains, rock hunting is possible inside the Collins Learning Center.
On Friday, October 24, our Halloween celebration continues (as it has all month) when representatives from Open Door Bird Sanctuary present “Weird by Nature: Vultures & More.” Participants will meet a live vulture—once thought to be ominous, but one of our most beneficial bird species and a falcon and kestrel. Following the presentation in the lecture hall, kids and their adult companions can head to the lab for hands-on activities inspired by the “freaky” side of bird behavior.
Saturday, October 25, marks the final day of the 2025 Wisconsin Science Festival. The Door County Master Gardeners and Wild Ones – Door Peninsula Chapter, in association with Crossroads and nine other partners in conservation, will host their “Gardening with Natives for Birds, Bees, and Butterflies Fall Seminar,” focusing on plants, pollinators—and yes, rocks—as one guest speaker will present “Why Monarchs Need Volcanoes.”
That same afternoon, our Science Saturday program will feature “Sedimentary Rocks,” a fitting topic as we head into International Bat Week. Most bat caves are solution caves—formed in karst landscapes where limestone and dolomite have dissolved over eons in slightly acidic rainwater, creating ideal roosting and hibernation sites for many (but not all) bat species.
Like vultures, bats have long been associated with Halloween, despite the myths. In truth, bats are among the most beneficial animals on the planet, predators consuming enormous numbers of agricultural and forest insect pests, including mosquitoes and moths.
On Monday, October 27, at 6:30 our Monday Matinee will feature another predator, often-misunderstood Halloween icon: “Owls, the Ultimate Night Predator.”
At Crossroads, we celebrate geology, ecology, and the iconic creatures of Halloween—none of them truly spooky (except perhaps feral black cats, and indeed, any feral cats, which cause devastating harm to our songbird populations).
We invite you to explore, learn, and celebrate with us at Crossroads as we honor science, nature, and the wonders of the season!
– by Coggin Heeringa, Interpretive Naturalist
For more information, please check out our Crossroads calendar or stop by the Collins Learning Center and pick up a printed calendar. Our trails are open all day every day, free of charge, thanks to donors like you!
Crossroads at Big Creek Learning Center and Nature Preserve is located at 2041 Michigan Street, Sturgeon Bay. Crossroads is a 501(c)(3) organization committed to inspiring stewardship of the environment through education, research, and outdoor experiences. We welcome your support.
Upcoming Activities
