A piece of Heaven on Earth is how I sum up Carpenter Nature Center.The pathways wide through some of the nicest prairie, wooded and riverside habitats available to enjoy within an easy driving distance from the Twin Cities.Didnt take many photos, so you will have to go there to experience the beauty in person.

I have been to Carpenter maybe half a dozen times over the past decade. It is extremely kid friendly, I love how they moved their rabbit hutch out right into the front and now they even have homes for pigeons! Great selection of amphibians and reptiles to check out and of course their big birds to enjoy. excellent little nature walks around the property too. the only time I have not been around here is during their fall Apple related festivals and their bird releases but I have a feeling that I would love those too!

Wonderful place to enjoy the St. Croix. Nice trails and vistas. Everything is well maintained.

Beautiful area and trails. Gorgeous fall colors today!

I couldnt recommend this place enough. So incredibly clean, and great place for families to get out. Places to eat your picnic lunch, offers trails great for strollers. Friendly staff...so many positives about our visit.

Beautiful landscapes and well-kept trails, definitely looking forward to visiting again soon.

Great place for a hike and some bird watching. Unfortunately visitor center is closed. Damn virus. But bring a picnic snack and youll have a great time.

Beautiful area, good trails, nice nature center. Volunteer staff well informed and friendly.

This is a beautiful nature center close to the Cities. The visitor center has some nice exhibits of local animal life; snakes, frogs, turtles, toads - but what was surprising were the owls, perigrine falcon and the eagle housed at the center. The trails are beautiful, well maintained and easy enough for our 6 year olds to hike. We also got to see two eagles, a nest, a beautiful view of the river and a float plane take off. We spent several hours here and didnt even cover all of the grounds. We will definitely be back.

Amazing park with great trails and awesome views. Nearly all the trails are paved and are not very long. The inside of the visitor center features some cool animals, including a bald eagle! Ive never seen one so close before. The maps are somewhat hard to follow though.

Best nature center in all of minnesota! Very well taken care of trails and buildings

Such a beautiful area to explore and so many pathes to hike.

Went here for a 2nd grade field trip, the staff is knowledgeable and very good with kids like they all seemed like kids themselves. it was about Animals and how they adapt to winter it was preety neat honestly the experience the best part was see a Bald Eagle get released into the wild that got recovered from internal Injuries.

Small but all live animals inside. Didnt walk the trails so cant give review. Friendly staff.

Great quiet spot of land being returned to native species, terrific for spring and summer mushrooms wild asparagus, wild and planted flowers, St. Croix scenery and eagle nests.

Nice trails and overlook. There are ravines to travel as well.

Nice walk. Animals are cool

Fun nature center with good trials, just remember that the buildings are currently closed which means no bathrooms.

A lovely gem! The nature center has native raptors and reptiles on exhibit and the surrounding land has a wonderful network of trails both on top of and below the bluff. Plus, a working apple orchard.

Beautiful space. Wonderful staff great for some outdoor activities or a wedding!

Nice hiking paths. The beach was okay. It was more sticky mud than sand.

Butterfly tag and release celebration What an amazing day! Always a favorite place for us to go ️

Perfect, even on a wet cold day.

Beautiful Day!

Beautiful. Lots of nice walking trails.

Really nice place to bring the family. We walked all the trails. Checked out the exhibits with loads of infoWas really cool to see eagles up close too. The staff are very well educated and answer all of our questions about the nature center and animals etc. Awesome awesome place to go with kids

Wonderful nature center with over 400 acres on the St. Croix River. Their Masters of the Sky annual program brings visitors up close to rare birds with informative talks.

Beautiful park worth with lots of open space and places to walk. We were there for the bi-annual raptor release went hosted by the UM Raptor Center which was so fun, but we would definitely go back just to experience the park and the apple orchard.

A wonderful place to visit.

Absolutely love this place. Peaceful and great nature experience with the kids.

Carpenter Nature Center is a great place to go for a hike all year around, but especially in the fall. It is my favorite place to buy low pesticide apples. Check out their Apple Shack!

Tuckered him right out!!!!

It was a gorgeous day to be walking the trails. We looked briefly at the birds housed in the main building - its heart-warming to see the new life these injured birds are given. And the trails take you thru beautiful terrain.

Beautiful, unexpected place! Has touch and see room, live Raptors and animals, art work created by children. Nice pavillion. You could have a wedding and reception there. Paths to walk. Apple orchard - you can add sponsor a tree and get 40 of pounds apples. We had a lovely time exploring the buildings and paths. Would love to bring my students out here for educational programs.

My family loves this place. Nice interpretive center with wildlife and guidebooks. Incredible landscape and walking paths. Eagle nest on the river, a small gorge to explore. Wonderful in all seasons.

The trails were fun to walk. We had a great time! The staff was friendly and helpful.

This place is beautiful! And they have bunnies and turtles!

Best apples in the area! You have to visit the Apple shack!

Another of our special places to hike. From St Paul it only about 25 minutes and its worth the drive. It has trails down at river level, or you can walk above. Above has a few small rises, but doable for most anyone. Above it is paved also. Theres a overlook where you can watch a eagles nest, or just rest and watch the St Croix. After Hastings is about 15 minutes further, with great antiques stores. In the summer they have a river festival which is really fun.

Watched the bird show today. The birds that for went directly over our heads. The staff walks around with the bird too so you can get some great pictures of them.

Plenty of trails to hike, bluffs along the river and all kinds of classes to enjoy. Free admission and parking.

Beautiful grounds & numerous paths to explore!

Perfect place for short day walks and also has many trails of youre looking for a deeper connection with nature. Lots of wildlife along the way, and indoor facilities as well!

This place is absolutely amazing! I drive from Inver Grove Heights to hike here.

Beautiful and valuable resource, watched the annual raptor release! Wonderful

Raptor Release is an awesome event! Bring your camera and enjoy nature at its finest.

Went there for raptor release. Had to leave because they were serving roasted nuts. My kids are severely allergic to nuts. So they place looked nice from the car

Great trails, great staff, wonderful exhibits, cool birds to see, and access to the St. Croix river. Cant wait to go back.

Beautiful views! Nice getaway from the city, but not a long drive away! This place works off of donations, so if you have some cash, help them out!

Always love the outdoors!! But the eagle and owl really captured my heart!

Beautiful place. Birds of prey exhibit is especially nice

A nice quiet place. Please donate

Beautiful place

A quiet place to explore nature, inside exhibts are informative but rarely change.

Great for hiking and birdwatching. Trails are well maintained.

We love the trails, like the one along the St Croix River. The eagle and other birds at the Nature Center are so interesting. And we love the Apple Shack there - in season, we always buy some apples.

Very long walks super nice out there and everyone who works there is very friendly as well

Bought apples. They were very delicious.

I have been coming here since 1987. I have many, many fond memories. I loved to see all the improvements happen over the years. Great staff and great spot to escape to nature, close to home. I will continue to frequent here as long as we live nearby.

We love this nature center / lots of live and animals & birds inside / lots of great trails easy short ones & expert long ones / always a great go to spot for outdoor wild life / only bad thing it closes at 430 every day

Beautiful setting, nice people, wonderful mission.

Beautiful. Knowledgeable staff interesting information. Lots of activities. Tons of trails and wildlife.

Really pretty place they have added more since I was last there, walking paths are great

Clean, quite and beautiful.

Beautiful site with excellent nature displays. Only downside is the limited hours.

Great hikes and walking trails

My kids loved the raptors, snakes, turtles, etc. that are on display. Very, nice facilities. Clean bathrooms. Paved and non-paved trails. Very friendly staff/ volunteer staff. You can watch the captive eagle inside, then go down trail to lookout and watch family in nest in the wild!

This is a beautiful place with a clam feeling. I really liked the pumpkin patch and apple orchard. The apples on the trees were beautiful.

An relaxing yet educational visit to a very scenic area.

Always a great place to see eagles and other birds with great views of the river and friendly, knowledgeable staff.

Very nice. Great views of of the river valley

Great spot along the St. Croix river. Nice hiking trails. Theres a lookout where you get a picturesque view of the river with a bald eagle nest. I look forward to going back and exploring more! Plus, it beats being inside!

This place is a fantastic nature experience and a good way to see some raptors up close. They close pretty early, so its not very accessible for working families. Plan to come on a day off and bring a picnic lunch!

This place is truly beutifull and there is lots of wildlife. There is a bald eagle nest with a baby you can view at a platform overlooking the river vally.

Peaceful

Carpenter Nature Centres an excellent place to go for information on local species of flora and fauna.Its also a very good spot to relax, soak in the beauty of nature and take some photos, especially during the fall when the leaves change into their fall brilliance.

I was here for the Apple blossom 10K race on May 20th 2018. It was a great event and the staff was very helpful and knowledgeable. The park itself is beautiful!

Awesome place to visit.

We had our wedding reception here and it was perfect! Alan was so helpful and had everything we needed- we set up and tore down. He and staff were there taking garbage and got the sound system up for us. Smooth, helpful and a beautiful location. A hidden gem, and well worth looking into for hosting larger events at. Durning the reception Alan came around asking if anyone wanted to watch an Eagle be set free- adults and kids alike loved it!Highly recommend Carpenter Nature Center!!

I performed with my band during the Apple Fest at the Carpenter Nature Center. Its a lovely place. You could pick your own apples, taste and buy ciders, jams, etc. I want to come back one day check out the rest of the center.

Attended the raptor program and it was excellent! Everyone working/volunteering there was knowledgeable and helpful and seemed very happy to be there. Very uplifting experience!

Beautiful.

A free educational nature center with rescued raptors and other wild life.Very informative and knowledgable staff.Nice place to go for walk on trails upto St Croix river.

Absolutely top place to visit the staff are awesome they tell you everything you would possibly want to know thanks to all at Carpenter nature center your the best

Nice hiking trails. Paved & dirt. Gorgeous view of the St. Croix River. Good place to see birds. We usually see eagles. The scenic overlook includes a great view of an eagles nest.

Great place for a school field trip. They have a great program and seem to know when to move to the next lesson.

This is a beautiful place! Come on down!

Beautiful nature center and trails! The short hike to the River Overlook is easy and worth it for the view.

Beautiful facilities, landscape, and views. Our three-year-old loves seeing the animals in the visitor center and then exploring the paths.

Absolutely gorgeous location on the St. Croix river. Killer apples (they dont gouge you on the prices either!) and great walking trails. This is a must-visit place if youd like to experience some nature close to the Twin Cities.

What a wonderful place. The oak Savannah is positively delightful, my kids love running free there.

Beautiful park, good place to take family hikes as the trails a are relatively short.

Nice trail system and the nature center has some live birds and reptiles. Good for kids birthday parties

We went here today for the fall festival and picked apples and pumpkins and had a blast! The staff were everywhere and very helpful with information and so friendly. They had a live band and a naturalist explaining the animals as well as a bake sale. The store sells jars of jams mustards apple butters and a wide variety of squash and decorative gourds were available. They didnt have a ton of food to choose from, apple brats or popcorn, but we ate on the way. Theres also a large wooded trail that overlooks the river, so you could plan to spend at least an afternoon here. Parking is what youd expect but seemed ample. The best part was no wait to get in! This ones a hidden gem!

Cool place. Will have to go again to explore more

I stopped here by chance for apples after a day of trout fishing. Not only were the apples delicious but the price was amazing. Great spot to walk, and enjoy a beautiful fall day.

Awesome interpretive center, trails, and hills for sledding.

We had a wonderful time. We got to see a bald eagle released. The kids loved it.

Went to Masters of the Sky. Cool bird show.

Went with my daughters school for a field trip. The people where very kind and it was beautiful :)