Calendar

Flowers depend upon friends like bees, butterflies, birds, and even you! "Bee" a flower friend and find out how you can help local wildflowers and their pollinator partners.

Registration not required, walk-ins welcome. The program is open house style with self-guided and naturalist-guided hands-on activities and crafts.  Please arrive within 30 minutes of program start time to enjoy all of the activities. Program activities will end promptly at the event end time.

This program is geared for children ages 4 and up. All children must be accompanied and supervised by an adult at all times.

Help out your community by becoming a South Orange County Fire Watch volunteer!

Offered only once a year, this training is the first step to join our fire watch team. The session will focus on: understanding basic fire behavior, identifying signs of wildfire, dealing with suspect behavior, providing useful fire information, and contacting proper fire authorities.

Ages: 18 and up

Please join us for Volunteer Orientation and Training!

This fun and informational orientation is the first step in joining us as an official Nature Reserve Volunteer. Learn about The Nature Reserve's history, philosophy and mission, as well as skills for working with the public. Meet other volunteers and learn how you can help preserve Nature Reserve lands through conservation and education.

 Ages: Adult, 18 and up

Thank you for expressing interest in volunteering for The Nature Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo.

Enjoy an evening outdoors, as you gaze into the night sky, learn the constellations, and peer through the telescopes of our guest astronomers. The Nature Reserve astronomers are all volunteers who enthusiastically share their telescopes and expert sky knowledge with you. (What to bring: warm clothing, flashlight with red cellophane/lens to reduce light pollution, binoculars, optional beach chair.)

Interpretation Level: High
Difficulty Level: Easy
Ages: 8 and up

Please join us for Volunteer Orientation and Training!

This fun and informational orientation is the first step in joining us as an official Nature Reserve Volunteer. Learn about The Nature Reserve's history, philosophy and mission, as well as skills for working with the public. Meet other volunteers and learn how you can help preserve Nature Reserve lands through conservation and education.

 Ages: Adult, 18 and up

Thank you for expressing interest in volunteering for The Nature Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo.

Did you know that in the evenings, male tarantulas wander around in search of food and females? They only live for about 1 year. Female tarantulas dig deep burrows in the ground and remain there, waiting for crickets and other insects to walk by and become dinner. They live for 20 years! Their relatives, the trap-door spiders, live in burrows in the ground. Some species build a hinged door over their burrow, and spring up when an insect walks across it. Black widow spiders mostly come out at night. When an insect gets stuck in its web, the spider rolls it up in silk, waits for it to quiet down, then bites and injects its venom. Soon after, the spider feeds on its dinner.

Aren’t you glad that you are too big to become dinner for a spider?!

Join us with guest speaker, Bob Allen, for an evening of photographs, stories, and specimens of tarantulas, other spiders, and night-time insects of Orange County.

Ages: 8 and up

Join guest leader, Bob Allen, to get up close and personal with tarantulas and other arthropods! We'll be on the lookout for male tarantulas making their annual late summer search for females.  We will also look for trap-door spiders and other critters of the evening.

This event will partially take place alongside a private road overlooking oak groves, grasslands and more. Participants will initially drive on the road from site to site to look for tarantulas and other  many-legged critters and later take a stroll on a trail to view them.

Interpretation Level: High
Difficulty Level: Moderate
Ages: 8 and up

Please note: participants must be registered or on the wait list by 4:00 pm on Friday, September 13.

Join us at The Nature House at Ranch Camp in Rancho Mission Viejo for Hiking 101! We'll start by learning about the "Ten Essentials" you should have when hiking, trail tips, and make a minimalist first aid kit! Then head out on a guided hike along the trails around Ranch Camp, to learn more about the local plants and animals.

Interpretation Level: High | Difficulty Level: Easy - Moderate | Trail Length: 1.7 miles | Ages: 6 and up