Ernie Miller Nature Center

This is a truly great place to enjoy nature and the peaceful outdoors. I have been coming here since elementary age, and there have been many upgrades to the place throughout the years. Ernie miller has many paths to follow and is a great place to spot wildflowers and be surrounded by trees. I used to come here for summer camp, and also with my family, or to bike around by myself. Truly a serene environment! This past time, we even got an up close experience with a fawn!

I love this park! The trails are beautiful, you can see deer, hawks, and coyotes out here. You can even stay on the concrete trail if you want to instead of taking the dirt trail! It's shady, and a great place to take a picnic!

One of my to spots in the Kansas city Metro for Family Photos or Senior PicsThere are a ton of great trails with shaded areas to get great pictures almost anytime of day. The trails are very well maintained, its never too crowded walking around, and it's big enough to spend a few hours walking around and finding awesome spots for long lasting memories. I am readily available at this location. If you are interested in photos at this location, you can email me at [email protected] to set up an appointment! You can also check me out on instagram at shirk_media

This place is HUGE! It's such a great hike, and it's reasonable in terrain, though I'd warn the average person - Do not tread lightly after it rains, because it is MUDDY. Having said that, they've added a lot upgrades to the park that I would say is worthy of the woods. The bridge is beautiful, and the new ampitheater is something to take in an afternoon under. The paths are ample and paved most places, and if you so choose, you can get lost in the woods. I love Ernie Miller for a bevy of reasons, and hate it for only a few. I saw a turkey the last time I was there, and he saw me. We stared at each other for a while, then he quite literally high-tailed it out of there. I've spent quite a few hours lost in the Nature Center, and have had a great time picnicing in the less traveled spaces. The creek is nice too, but take heed: the summer is RICH with seed ticks (ticks so small they'd look like specs of fine pepper flake. So spray on, move swiftly, and breath deep. It's a fine spot for a hike.

I was a child who leaned on her idols, many of whom were fictional and depicted in books (Pippi Longstocking), fictional and depicted on TV (Morticia Adams), real and depicted on TV (Cher) or real and depicted in books...and wrote the books herself (Laura Ingalls Wilder). For many children, the fantasy lands of art, literature, film, and even TV is integral to a childhood rich with imagination. Happy times, right? As a child, I loved contemplating times of yore. When Christmas gifts of oranges and a metal cup were cherished, for example and meals of gruel were not only tolerated but made into plates of fancy. What does any of this have to do with the Ernie Miller Nature Center, you ask? On Saturday, I brought my young charge, the impressionable and imaginative Miss Z, to Laura Ingalls Wilder's birthday party held here. Although the event listing on the website suggested pioneer attire, I thought that was written in jest. I was pleasantly surprised to see all the girls and their moms show up in costume! Sadly, I had to retire my bonnet years ago, so neither myself nor Miss Z was in costume.Costuming aside, we had a lot of wonderful things in store for us. First, Laura Ingalls Wilder showed up to talk to all of us about the stories of her childhood. I couldn't believe they were able to get her to show up, as I'm sure she's a super busy lady, what with all that butter to churn and fields to tend to...not to mention books to pen. But she entertained us for quite a while and everyone in the room was fascinated with her storytelling ability. How awesome it is for girls to put down their Bratz dolls (or Diva dolls, whatever they're called this year) and think about a super cool pioneer girl who 100 years ago enticed her arch enemy to swim with the leeches when she dissed her homestead. Next, we were divided into groups that got to learn how to make rag dolls (Miss Z's favorite), see how it is to learn in a one-room school house, and join in some country dancin'. Oh, and I totally didn't realize that they had cupcakes back in the pioneer days, but these were appropriately small, in keeping with those leaner times.The "show" ended with one of the nature center's volunteers coming in with a magnificent barred owl on her arm. It didn't seem particularly interested in any of us, but then again, we weren't a bunch of tiny rodents.The grounds of the nature center look like they'd be wonderful for a hiking expedition in better weather. It's open all winter, as you can explore the main building's wildlife exhibits and bird watching.Be sure to keep an eye out for the really fantastic events that go on here regularly.

We were looking for an inexpensive family day out, and found it in Ernie Miller Nature Center. It was FREE! Now. That's my idea of inexpensive! The museum was neat for a small town nature museum. It really wasn't that informative. They had lots of live reptiles. Yuk. The museum had some info on primitive pioneer days, but not much.Again, this is for the onlooker, not the enthusiast. The nature hike was. Well. As nature hikes go. Somewhat uninformative as to what we were looking at, (Okay, totally void of info on what we were looking at) but it was cool to take a nature walk and look for wood ticks when we got home!They have a few owls on premises, those are cool. And a hawk? I think. I don't recall.At any rate, take sensible shoes, water, and a snack. The trails can be um....fun!

The trails around Ernie Miller get 5 starts. So well maintained and beautiful. It is a great escape from the city. They have great maps to help you navigate as well. We didn't make it around all of the trails with our toddler but it was a nice wide path and no worries having her run around on them. Inside the nature center was very nice and maintained as well. I just wish there was more live critters to see. I love what they do have and how they are presented but even more would be fun. They have a room that is full of windows and you can just sit and watch outside. It is so serene and there are books and puzzles for the little ones. Great little field trip for all ages.

Although the nature center wasn't open when we came on a Sunday morning, Ernie Miller was an excellent place for a daybreak hike. I love that the trails are open 24 hours. They were fairly well blazed and kept, including the unpaved areas. We spent about an hour and a half exploring here and it was excellent, almost like an "enchanted forest" vibe in some areas with all of the twisted roots and plenty of shade...it was the perfect place to welcome early autumn weather. I enjoyed this area much more than I expected!

Nice nature center with lots of programs and events for families. Check their schedule online to see what they've got coming up. There's a small fee to attend the programs (~$3), but it's worth it. Live animals make an appearance at each program and really help hold the kids attention. In the back of the center is a play area for younger kids. Definitely best for 10 and under, but with all the animals to see older kids would have a good time too. A decent sized gift shop is up front. Lots of books, rocks and minerals, stuffed animals, and insect candy are available. There are hiking trails available as well. They are well maintained and are some of our favorites in the area.

Great nature center, especially for kids from 2 to 10. Combination of exhibits inside and trails outside. Inside includes about five rooms that have live turtles, snakes, and frogs, along with videos on the surrounding area, and hands on objects: snake skins, pelts, antlers. Outside includes owls, hawks (in cages), paved trails, rustic trails, forest, bridge over creek. We spent about two hours here.