Field Trips
COMMISSIONERSView Dates:
To book field trips, please use the booking link provided above. You will be provided a calendar which displays available dates for you to choose from. Please email us so that we can best meet scheduling needs for you and your students. See you soon!
BOOK A FIELD TRIP NOW
Booking Field Trips:
You may use the “Ready to Book?” drop-down menu found at the top-left of this site to book field trips up to three years in advance.
Trouble With Booking?
Email us at parksprograms@canyoncounty.id.gov with booking issues. Attaching screenshots or images of booking calendar problems to your email can help us identify and resolve technical issues quickly.
Our flagship field trip program, Stories in Stone is a place-based archaeological experience designed for 4th grade students who are studying Idaho History. Students engage with the rich cultural and natural history of southwest Idaho via guided tours and interpretive programs that allow students to immerse themselves in the landscape of Idaho’s first archaeological park—Celebration Park.
- Travel back in time with a hike through the Bonneville Flood melon gravel to explore the park’s unique Petroglyph collection.
- Learn about traditional Native American cultures during a Lifeways presentation in the Canyon Crossroads Museum.
- Get a glimpse into the boom-and-bust of local mining towns and railroads during a scenic walk across the historic Guffey Railroad Bridge, built in 1897.
- Become a mammoth hunter on the Atlatl range. Are you a hunter or a gatherer?
Directions to Celebration Park
Offered: Every weekday, March through June, and August through October
Timeframe: 10 am to 2 pm
Capacity: 120 students
Recommended Grades: 4th and up
Student Workbooks Available: Yes
Teacher Resources:
Students in grades 5+ use the indoor and outdoor classrooms of Celebration Park as a lens for learning about wildfire and its relevance for their communities in southern Idaho.
- Fire Science Lab, a hands-on laboratory in the Crossroads Museum, introduces students to the physics and chemistry of fire.
- Students explore the plants and animals of the sagebrush-steppe landscape and learn how they are adapted to wildfire on an Ecology Hike.
- On the Atlatl range, students hone their dart-throwing skills and learn about how prehistoric cultures used fire.
- Finally, students learn about the history of wildland fires and their management in our region during a Fire Tools show and tell.
Directions to Celebration Park
Offered: Every weekday, March through June, and August through October
Timeframe: Approximately 10am to 2pm
Capacity: 120 students
Recommended Grades: 5th and up
Student Workbooks Available: Yes
Teacher Resources:
Aquatic and riparian habitats are the centerpiece of this 2nd and 3rd grade field trip at Lake Lowell Park in Nampa. Students learn about Lake Lowell, hydrology, and the types of fish and macroinvertebrates that live there.
- An active game of Feeding Frenzy teaches about habitat, and how water quality impacts both fish and an important prey source – aquatic macroinvertebrates.
- Students learn more about macroinvertebrate identification and water quality parameters during a hands-on scientific investigation activity.
- Explore the relationships among hunting and fishing and wildlife conservation against the backdrop of the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge at Lake Lowell. Students also practice their archery and atlatl skills to compare two tools that revolutionized the culture of hunting.
Directions to Lake Lowell Park
Offered: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in April and May
Timeframe: Approximately 10 am to 2 pm
Capacity: 100 students
Recommended Grades: 2nd – 3rd
Student Workbooks Available: Yes
Teacher Resources:
Summer Stories/Archaeology Adventures is the summer version of our classic archaeology field trip program, geared towards younger students and summer weather.
- Travel back in time with a hike through the Bonneville Flood melon gravel to explore the park’s unique Petroglyph collection.
- Learn about traditional Native American cultures during a Lifeways presentation in the Canyon Crossroads Museum.
- Younger visitors play a traditional Native American Hoop-and-Dart game using hand-tossed darts, or older students can hunt mammoths with an Atlatl.
- Make and take home your own artistic creations with an investigation of Native American Ceramics.
Directions to Celebration Park
Offered: Weekdays in June, July and August
Timeframe: Approximately 10 am to 1:30 pm
Capacity: 40 students
Recommended Grades: Kindergarten and up
Student Workbooks Available: No
Teacher Resources:
Brought to you by Canyon County Parks and the Bureau of Land Management’s Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (NCA), the Winter Desert program is an immersive experience of the Celebration Park landscape in winter.
The field trip is offered on Thursdays and Fridays in November, January, and February, to groups that do not exceed 50 students. The program combines themes of natural and cultural history and is structured so that students are indoors for 2 of our 45-minute programs and outside during the 2 remaining 45-minute programs.
Indoors:
- Meet the Raptors with an Environmental Education Specialist from the NCA and learn how raptors, eagles, and owls survive the winter and how to identify different birds of prey.
- Learn about traditional Native American cultures during a Lifeways presentation in the Canyon Crossroads Museum.
Outdoors:
- Take an Ecology Hike through Celebration Park and learn about biotic adaptations in winter.
- Become a mammoth hunter on our Atlatl range. Are you a hunter or a gatherer?
or - Get a glimpse into the boom-and-bust of local mining towns and railroads during a scenic walk across the historic Guffey Railroad Bridge, built in 1897.
Directions to Celebration Park
Offered: Thursdays and Fridays in November, January, and February
Timeframe: 10am to 2pm
Capacity: 50 students
Recommended Grades: 5th and up
Student Workbooks Available: No
Teacher Resources:
This program, available upon reservation to Boy and Girl Scout groups, partially fulfills the requirements of the Indian Lore Merit Badge. The full program lasts approximately two hours.
- Travel back in time with a hike through the Bonneville Flood melon gravel to explore the park’s unique Petroglyph collection.
- Learn about traditional Native American cultures during a Lifeways presentation in the Canyon Crossroads Museum.
- Become a mammoth hunter on our Atlatl range. Are you a hunter or a gatherer?
Directions to Celebration Park
Offered: Saturdays, year-round
Timeframe: 10am to noon
Capacity: 40 Scouts
Recommended Grades: 4th and up
Student Workbooks Available: No
Unable to make it to the park this year? We offer virtual versions of our Stories in Stone, Wildland Fire, and Winter Desert Ecology field trips. These interactive presentations last one hour, but please plan to book for a two-hour time block in order to work out any technical issues that may arise.
Virtual field trips are offered between 10 am and 2 pm.
To book a virtual field trip, please email us at parksprograms@canyoncounty.id.gov to start the process.
Virtual – Stories In Stone Flyer
Virtual – Winter Desert Ecology Flyer
Bus scholarships in the amount of $150 are available to help defray the cost of transporting students to and from Canyon County Parks field trip locations. Scholarships are intended for schools that would otherwise be unable to attend. We award scholarships twice per year, around May and November, via a random drawing. To enter your school for a chance to win, simply reserve your field trip for an upcoming school year using our online booking system and make sure to select “Yes” under “Interested in Bus Scholarship Drawing.” For more information on the bus scholarship program, see below. Bus Scholarship Flyer
Mailing
1115 Albany St.
Caldwell, ID 83605
Phone
208-454-6884