Do you want to turn “I’m boreeeeed…what do you mean go explore outside, there isn’t anything to DO outside” into “Can we turn this tablet off and go explore at Severson Dells with an Adventure Backpack?” in one simple step*?

With the new Adventure Backpacks by Severson Dells, your outdoor wanderings can turn to outdoor amazement!

These Adventure Backpacks were graciously sponsored by the Alpine Kiwanis Club and expertly curated by the Severson Dells Nature Center education team! Designed for the modern explorer, these backpacks are your ticket to experiencing the great outdoors like never before.

Each backpack is stocked with a variety of tools to help enhance your experience while out on the trail. We’ve also included a handy dandy guide of activities, scavenger hunts, and tips and tricks in each pack!

Let’s dive into each pack to learn more about what is inside them!

Beaks and Binoculars

Do you have a budding birder on your hands? The Beaks and Binoculars backpack is designed for avian enthusiasts, complete with binoculars, bird ID guides, bird song books and even a monocular with a cell phone adapter! We’ve included an “Adventure Log” so you can write down all of the feathered friends you encounter on your journey. 

Bug Watch

For those that love the “creepy-crawlies”, be sure to check out the Bug Watch Backpack. This pack comes with a bug net, magnifying bug viewers, ID guides, hand lenses, and story books to enhance your outdoor time. “Good Trick Walking Stick” is a staff favorite! 

Nature’s Palette

Move over, Monet! With Nature’s Palette, your aspiring artist can draw, paint, sketch, and color everything that inspires them. This pack includes watercolor postcards, a sketchbook, paints, crayons, colored pencils and more! When you have finished your creation, you get to keep the postcards and sketchbook! 

Rock On!

This pack rocks…literally! Explore the 458 million year old Dells and surrounding area with this pack, and really get in touch with a piece of history! Included in this pack are hand lenses, a bag of fossils to inspect, a geological calendar, and a “Mohs Scale” for testing the hardness of different rocks and minerals. 

Plant Pursuers

Let your imagination bloom with this pack! You can use this pack to identify trees, flowers, grasses, and more! Use the Super Secret Smellum Potion™ to unlock secret smells of the prairie (we recommend smelling the bergamot!). Take home a rubbing of your favorite leaf or bark, and be sure to check this pack out every season to see what’s growing! 

These packs are designed to inspire curiosity and foster a deeper connection with the natural world, and are packed with resources and tools to ignite a passion for exploration and discovery. 

The best part about these packs (besides all the amazing hands-on learning contained inside them)? They are completely FREE to check out! You can use a pack from 8am-4:30pm any day the Nature Center is open (Monday-Saturday). If you are a Severson Dells member, you can reserve a pack by calling 815-335-2915 or emailing admin@seversondells.org . All packs must be returned on the day they are checked out. 

So, what do you think? Are you ready to get out on the trails and explore with a Severson Dells Adventure Backpack? Come on in and then get out! We can’t wait to hear what you discover!