Nature Center opens in Clark County Wetlands Park
The Clark County Wetlands Park features a new Nature Center. The 45,000-square-foot complex boasts an 8,335-square-foot exhibit gallery, an 85-seat auditorium and information center in the heart of Wetlands Park, Clark County’s largest and most rustic park. The Nature Center and park are open and free .
“With the opening of the Nature Center, Clark County Wetlands Park is a must-see destination for visitors of all ages,” said Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, whose district includes the park. “Our new Nature Center offers many interactive exhibits that children and adults alike will enjoy. It also gives the public the opportunity to enjoy a full experience when they explore the park and learn about its unique place as part of our local history and desert ecosystem.”
The 2,900-acre Clark County Wetlands Park is at 7050 Wetlands Park Lane, about a mile east of Boulder Highway off Tropicana Avenue.
The deck of the new Nature Center features panoramic views of the 210-acre Nature Preserve, which has 13 miles of hiking trails and is home to 212 species of birds and more than 70 species of mammals and reptiles.
Clark County Wetlands Park was envisioned in the 1990s and created in 2001 during the building boom to preserve natural wetlands and habitat area, improve water quality and control erosion along the Las Vegas Wash. Reclaimed water from the Las Vegas urban area flows through Wetlands Park and allows a permanent plant community to thrive.
The Nature Center Exhibit Gallery features educational exhibits. A giant butterfly and other native insects fly overhead on a solar-powered conveyor belt. Visitors can guess the smell of plants and animals at one exhibit and learn to distinguish different animal droppings at another.
Other activities teach visitors how to create food chains, read animal tracks and match eggs with the animals that lay them. The Critter Crawl area features a 12-foot snake, ride-on dragon fly and a large coot nest children can climb into.
In addition to bringing interactive learning experiences to Wetlands Park, the Nature Center was designed to meet gold-level Leader in Energy and Environmental Design standards. A nature store inside the gallery and a café nearby are scheduled to open in the future.
The Nature Center is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week. Outdoor park hours are dawn to dusk.
