Enjoy the start of Autumn at a nature program in Itasca State Park. The schedule for September 7-15, 2023 is below.
Five Facts in Five Minutes: Pines of Itasca
Thursday, September 7, 2023, from 10:30-Noon
Near the Mississippi Headwaters (under the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center porch if it rains.) Only have a minute to learn about Itasca State Park? Check out a unique feature at the naturalist station as you visit the Headwaters of the Mississippi River.
Historic Buildings Walking Tour
Friday, September 8, 2023, from 1:30-2:15 p.m.
Meet outside of Forest Inn (across from Douglas Lodge)
The historic buildings of Itasca tell stories of the people who have enjoyed the park before us and contributed to how we currently experience it. Explore the history of Itasca’s oldest buildings, the people who constructed them, and how they have changed.
The Common Loon, Evening Campfire
Friday, September 8, 2023 from 6:30-7 p.m.
Meet at the council ring outside the Lakeside Museum on the picnic grounds. Gather near the shore of Lake Itasca and dive into the seasonal life of Minnesota’s State Bird, the Common Loon. Enjoy the fire, and bring s’more fixings for after the campfire talk!
Jr. Naturalist: Animals of the Old Growth Forest Walk
Saturday, September 9, 2023 from 1:30-2 p.m.
Please meet at the Jacob V. Brower Visitor Center Classroom Kids; explore fantastic forest animals and what is unique about them to survive in the old-growth forest. Please create your animal with its special adaptations.
Mississippi Headwaters Mysteries, Walk
Tuesday, September 12, 2023 from 1:30-2 p.m.
Meet under the porch at the Mary Gibbs Mississippi Headwaters Center
Did you ever wonder why two different lengths are recorded for the river? How did Lake Itasca get its name? Have those rocks always been there? Does the river ever freeze? Discover the answer to these mysteries about the Mississippi River and Lake Itasca as we walk to the headwaters.
Enjoy music in Itasca State Park on Free Park Day, Saturday, September 9.
Itasca’s Music Under the Pines: North Wind Clarinets
Saturday, September 9, 2023, from 11- Noon
Meet outside Forest Inn (across from Douglas Lodge). If inclement weather, meet inside Forest Inn.
Bring your lawn chairs or blanket outside the historic Forest Inn and enjoy late-morning music with North Wind Clarinets! North Wind Clarinets play a variety of clarinets in their quintet, from the big Bass Clarinet to the tiny Eb. They also play various music, from classics, jazz, swing, show tunes, and movie themes to rock and pop music of today. Players are Beth Hahn and Deane Johnson from Park Rapids, Vicki Magnuson from Bagley, Peg Rickert, and Sarah Sundeen from Bemidji.
Itasca’s Music Under the Pines Inner Tuba
Saturday, September 9, 2023 from 4-5:15 p.m.
Meet at Forest Inn (across from Douglas Lodge)
Jon Hodkin, a tuba player from Scotland, has been striking, towing a tuba in a trailer the length of the Mississippi River. He started the InnerTuba Mississippi River Tour on April 19 in Boothville-Venice in southern Louisiana and has been biking, playing tuba concerts, and meeting people.
Jon and his tuba will finally arrive at the Mississippi Headwaters at Itasca State Park on September 9. Join Jon at the historic Forest Inn for an extraordinary tuba concert, which will be full of wonderful music and stories from his journey.
Uncover the mysterious role of mushrooms at Itasca State Park. Mushrooms and the Forest Soil Network, Science in Nature Series
Friday, September 15, 2023, from 10:30 a.m. to Noon
You will meet at the Campus Hub at the Itasca Biological Station (along Main Park Drive; watch for signs). Walk the UofM Biological Station and Bear Paw Point Trail to the junction of Lake Itasca’s north and east arms.
Dr. Jonathan Schilling from the University of Minnesota will share the history of the Itasca Station and then lead a walk to Bear Paw Point to find and identify mushrooms. He will discuss how networks of fungal mycelium mean life, death, and ‘conversation’ under your feet and in the trees. His science spans large networks and communities down to the microscopic tips of fungal ‘hyphae’ to uncover their secrets and share how they sustain themselves for centuries in forests.
Notes: Long pants and long socks are recommended.
