The Glacier Institute is celebrating 30 years with a special celebration on Sept. 28 at the Big Creek Outdoor Education Center located north of Columbia Falls. The event will feature live music, free lunch, education stations, tours and kids activities.
Admission to the event is free and donations will be accepted to support the Glacier Institute.
In 1983, the private nonprofit organization formed in Kalispell as a source for hands-on, educational adventures in Glacier National Park and Flathead National Forest. Trained guides and wildlife experts from the institute hold roughly 70 programs a year, ranging from field trips in search of elusive wolverines in Glacier, to hikes through meadows of wild flowers, to snorkeling McDonald Creek. The trips can be single or multi-day excursions into the wild for children and adults.
The kids’ summer camps and programs are especially popular, with nearly 1,000 kids every year learning at the Big Creek facility. It has also welcomed 27,000 Flathead Valley elementary school children to its Discovery School, a three-day immersion program at Big Creek.
The event on Sept. 28 will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Big Creek Outdoor Education Center located at 6500 North Fork Road, about 21 miles north of Columbia Falls. A short education program will take place at 12:15 p.m. and lunch will be served right after. A scavenger hunt will take place at 1:15 p.m. For more information about the Glacier Institute and its anniversary celebration, visit www.glacierinstitute.org or call (406) 755-1211.