Discover Your Place in Nature

Come and explore Severson Dells, with our hiking trails, visitor center, The Grove Nature Playscape and gift store. We offer a wide range of engaging programs for all ages to connect with nature.

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    Discover a Sense of Belonging

    Everyone belongs in nature. Join us as a member and discover a sense of community with other nature lovers and the wild world itself! Your membership helps to make nature education more accessible to everyone now and for future generations. Click below to learn more about the benefits of joining as a member of Severson Dells. 

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    Field Notes Blog

    Carbon Sequestration at Prairie's Edge

    By Emma Zimmerman • April 7, 2026
    As we begin the process of rewilding the former Elliot Golf Course, now named Prairie’s Edge, one of the first steps is to gather baseline data so we can track our progress over time. One of the biggest changes we expect to see as the land transitions from a golf course to native habitat is how much carbon it can store. To understand why this matters, it helps to start with carbon itself.

    Birding for Tots: Your Child's First 'Big Year'

    By Lauren Bonavia • April 2, 2026
    People are increasingly taking up birdwatching as a hobby - and it’s for good reason. Some even aim for a ‘Big Year’, or seeing as many birds as possible in one calendar year. Regardless of your level of commitment, one thing is sure: spending time in nature, off screens, and meaningfully interacting with the people and world around us benefits our health, society, and the environment.

    Five Nature Books You Should Know

    By Caroline Pacheco • March 18, 2026
    If you’re a reader interested in learning more about nature, then you’ve probably browsed a few book lists looking for recommendations and quickly got overwhelmed by the sheer amount of nature books that exist. There are certainly some classics such as Silent Spring or Walden , but it can be hard to decipher what to read when selecting more current publications. At Severson Dells, our staff is full of voracious readers (seriously, three different people got books about octopi in the holiday gift exchange) and are happy to provide some recommendations! These recommendations are more recent publications, within the last ten years, and have all been read and enjoyed by at least one member of the staff here at Severson. They vary in topic, but all share the common thread of getting people engaged in the nature around them.

    Land Acknowledgement Statement

    Severson Dells Nature Center and Preserve are located on the traditional lands of the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Meskwaki, Winnebago (Nebraska) and Potawatomi.  We recognize these people, among others, for their stewardship of this land.


    To learn more about territory acknowledgments and to find out more about the land you are on, visit:         Native-Land.ca | Our home on native land. Please contact us if you have additional information or suggestions.