Sunday, June 8 | 10:00am

Farm and Barn History Hours

Join us for the opening of the barn at Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm on June 8 from 10 AM to 2 PM. This was formerly the showpiece of the working farm known as River View Farm. It is also one of the reasons that River View Farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with the contributions of the Carr/Greer family to their community. Come and learn about the family, their work, and the historic exhibits featuring equipment used on the farm.

Monday, June 9 | 10:00am

Little Naturalists

Introduce your three- to five-year-old to nature! Trained guides explore topics such as food chains, hibernation, how trees grow and more with 3 to 5 year olds and their accompanying adults. The program starts indoors for 20-30 minutes where the children engage with the guides through reading nature centered books and doing a hands-on activity related to the learning in the book.  This is followed with a short moderate hike on one of the ICNA trails. Little Naturalists meet  on the second Mondays, third Saturdays, and fourth Thursdays of the month. Gatherings are held from 10:00 to 11:30 am. We prefer that people preregister for these programs. The link to register for the next Monday program is here. Siblings are also welcome to attend.

Little Naturalists follow the weather cancellation policies for Albemarle County Schools.  When the schools are closed or there is a late opening, the Little Naturalists will not meet on that day.

Thursday, June 12 | 10:00am

Spring into Summer Tree Walk

Join us for a Spring into Summer guided Tree Walk at Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm! We will begin our walk with a conversation about trees and landscapes transitioning from Spring to Summer. 

We will talk about why trees are growing where we see them and provide the best ways to ID the most common trees. We will point out some of the unique characteristics like flowering, fruit formation, and leaf patterns  The tree walk will be on established trails and is generally easy to moderate and will last about 1.5 hours.  

Space is limited to 20.

Registration: https://app.dvforms.net/api/dv/38rw54
 

Friday, June 13 | 12:00pm

Second Friday Solar Viewing

The Charlottesville Astronomical Society will present and bring their special Solar telescope(s), which will allow us to safely see sunspots, solar flares and prominences, and other features on the living cauldron that is our sun.  We'll start at noon in the education building for a short presentation, then go outside to the field next to the parking lot at 12:20.  

Cloudy weather cancels.

Although this event is free and open to the public, we ask that you contact the Charlottesville Astronomical Society at vicepresident@cvilleastro.com if you plan to attend.  Only if at least one visitor makes contact and confirms attendance, can the CAS guarantee that they will be at Ivy Creek for their presentation and telescope observing session.

Saturday, June 14 | 10:00am

Butterfly Walk - June

Join us on June 14th from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm to learn about butterflies with Mike Scott. Mike has been volunteering at Ivy Creek since 2000, teaching people about our local butterfly and moth species. While not a “school trained” entomologist, the information he shares comes from 50 years of observing, reading, raising caterpillars, and enjoying nature.

The butterfly walks that Mike leads each summer are aimed at teaching people how to quickly identify the most common species in our area by size, color, and behavior. He also emphasizes the importance of planting both nectar plants and caterpillar food plants to encourage multiple generations of butterflies in your own yard. The session will begin with about 30 minutes of classroom time and then we hit the trails to see what we can find. 

This event is free and open to the public but space is limited. Please sign up at https://app.dvforms.net/api/dv/e38106.

Saturday, June 14 | 10:00am

Farm and Barn History Hours

Join us for the opening of the barn at Ivy Creek Natural Area and Historic River View Farm on June 14 from 10 AM - 12 PM. This was formerly the showpiece of the working farm known as River View Farm. It is also one of the reasons that River View Farm is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with the contributions of the Carr/Greer family to their community. Come and learn about the family, their work, and the historic exhibits featuring equipment used on the farm.