wye marsh wildlife centre

We took the children to the Wye Marsh this afternoon. Although I have visited this Wildlife Centre in the spring & summer (ideal time to go with young kids), the milder winter temperatures and continued woodland activities made for an exciting afternoon regardless. The option is available to cross country ski or snow shoe the trails, but the snow was hard enough to walk on today.We started with a delightful Birds of Prey demonstration that allowed children (and their parents) to get up close and personal with various owls and falcons. Afterwards, we took a stroll along well-marked pathways, feeding the chickadees (kids love the fact that they would perch on your hand!), and became acquainted with 2 swans blocking our path. The kids overall loved the afternoon. For anyone looking to travel to Wye Marsh for the first time, I recommend visiting during the warmer months - this will give you the full nature experience!

Beautiful wooded ski trails and museum at Wye Marsh. Snowshoeing also and many species of birds around.

The Wye Marsh Wildlife Center is full of all kind of Canadian Wildlife....not in cages but in their own habitat. You can take a guided canoe ride through the marsh and experience the wild birds, fish, frogs and the beautiful trumpeter swans.. Not up for a canoe ride - stroll along the boardwalk out into the marsh and dip net some of the living creatures from the marsh waters for a closer look, then release them back into the wild. The Birds of Prey are awesome to see, they`ll even let you have them land on your arm. Inside the Wildlife center is full of attractions, information and pamphlets, lots of room to meet your friends.You can even book a wedding ceremony on site, either inside the centre or outside in the marsh or covered enclosure.Truly an amazing outing for people of all ages

We have gone to Wye Marsh for a couple of years during the Winter. There is cross country skiing, several trails of varying difficulties. There are snow shoes to rent. Also just walking trails for walking through the woods.It is a great place for birding. There are many varieties and people friendly. Several of them will eat sunflowers from your hand. If it is hard for you to get around there is a nice inside viewing area to watch the birds eat from many feeders on the patio. One of the best things to see are the graceful trumpeter swans that are there all year long.Inside the building there are exhibits of a few live animals and exhibits telling about several of the animals that live in the marsh. During certain days of the week there is a show telling about birds of prey.A wonderful place to take a quiet walk and observe nature.

A trip through one of the truly unspoiled nature sites where critters flourish and the opportunity to see trumpeter swans is assured. A pleasant stroll through a wooded area onto a boardwalk that takes you deep into the marsh. You need to be mobile as some trails require walking paths through the woods. An education of the local flora and fauna and depending on the time of year, migratory birds are regularly spotted. I enjoy the chattering of the chick-a-dees ,who by the way will often eat from your hand. Turtles are common and a great indoor viewing area is an added bonus. The gift shop offers a variety of items to purchase to refresh memories of your visit. I enjoy visiting several times a year as the marsh takes on seasonal beauty.

A few different activities to do and things to check out. Board walk, lookout tower, cross country ski trails, snowshoeing, bird of prey displays and shows etc....

The trails at the Wye Marsh are, in my mind, the best in Ontario. There are some 25 km of usually well groomed and track set sets running through the bush. Along the trails the slier will often be accosted by many hungry chickadees looking for seeds (great fun!) and you will see the tracks of many other animals. In sum, these are great trails for recreational skiers. I use them as much as I can. There is a day use fee but many of us are members which allows unlimited access.

Took my grandson who was entriged with the owls, the info session on bee keeping and the nature trails. We canued through the march with a guide who explained the uses of native plants and about the aquatic fowls, fish and turtles.

We had a great time at the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre on a late August weekend afternoon. We definitely recommend the canoe trip. We went with guide Nick, saw lots of frogs, some turtles, and learned some new things about the plants (and natural poison ivy remedies) along the way. The nature walk was also interesting and enjoyable, and guide Nick (a different Nick) was friendly and helpful. The “birds of prey” area was, however, rather uncomfortable. Though Nick seemed very well-meaning, it was hard to see the majestic birds locked in small wooden sheds. Some of them were also tethered to perches and seeing one trying to fly off and then having its rope yank it back to the ground was pretty tough to seeSo, in summary: a very good time at Wye Marsh, but ditch the “birds of prey” area!

Our group of two families including four kids (ages 9-14) travelled here from Awenda to bike their trails and walk around the marsh afterwards. The service personnel at the front desk were very friendly and issued us a map with some options for bicycling telling us that all the trails were marked. We chose to cycle down the old rail trail with the kids wanting to do some of the "advanced" trails. Our group split into two with the majority of us biking the first advanced trail. We ended up coming out a sideroad and didn't see any markings. We suspected the trail went uphill that the map pointed towards. A trail re-entered the forest that the six of us decided upon but it was after that we became very disoriented using the sun as a direction indicator. Our group ended up riding an old path much of which went through poison ivy and coming out at yet another sideroad after a grueling uphill ride. Using our phones with GPS, we decided to reverse about 15 minutes of riding to get back down towards the main trail where the two others in our original group had been waiting for us. After biking through what looked like an old motorcross trail, we were able to make our way downhill using I think another Wye March trail to the rail trail. Using our phones again, we found where our other riders were and biked towards them. The trail was very poorly marked and we had no idea which one we were on but ending up on Freshets Creek Trail which was extremely sloppy. Our entire party finally met up together and slogged through what was supposed to be a biking trail for about 10 more minutes. I spotted the rail trail on a ridge so we all cut our way over towards it to avoid further riding in the swamp. Getting back on the trail, we rode back to the visitor centre and the kind staff let us use their dish soap so we could wash any poison ivy off our legs.We enjoyed a well-derved picnic lunch and then visited the marsh area and found it to be quite enjoyable. There is much to see and do for all ages.Regarding the bike trails and being an avid rider, I kept wondering to myself what would happen if riders weren't prepared. Whether they not be experienced or not have enough hydration, etc, it could create a dangerous situation. We did not see many other tracks which makes me believe these are mainly ski trails but advertised as bike trails to broaden the appeal to visitors. Nonetheless, I would certainly not recommend them to anyone considering the lack of signage, maintenance, and condition of what are supposed to be advertised cycling trails. I reviewed the area using an internet map site. I wasn't surprised at where we had gone but figure we got disoriented on the first advanced trail due to lack of signage. Thankfully it was early in the day when we headed out. If it was later in the day, it would have been an overnighter in the bush for sure.

We were looking for something low key to do on a Sunday afternoon and the Wye Marsh was great. Loved seeing the swans, birds and marsh. We couldn't get over how green everything was and the marsh was beautiful with the lilies in bloom on the water. The staff were very friendly and the trails were well marked and easy to follow. It is great that the place is pet friendly and we were able to bring my dog so long as she was on a leash. Overall, a great afternoon and a nice hike.

I hadn't been to the Wye Marsh since I was a kid on a school trip and really didn't remember much about it but a WagJag deal came on and it fit our budget for a day trip. I figured we'd spend a few hours looking at trees and frogs, the kids would get bored/hot/tired and we'd leave to find a park for the kids to play at. I was ssooooo wrong!My kids (8,6 and 3 yrs old) loved it. We spent over 5 hours there and the kids didn't want to leave. The highlight was the 'birds of prey' demonstration during which ALL the kids in the audience got to put on the handling glove and have the hawk fly down to land on their arm. Not just a 'one special volunteer' but ALL the kids!!!! That one thing has become the highlight of my kids summer and they still talk about it very enthusiastically.We did the guided canoe tour (where I mistakenly thought that it meant the guides paddled and we toured so thought it would be nice, relaxing break -- wrong, they hand everyone a paddle) and even my three year old was captivated and entertained throughout by all the frogs, fish, birds, plants and trailing her fingers in the water to 'catch' stuff.We saw them open up a bee hive to show us how honey is made, we walked the trails, we touched, we saw, we learned so much and most importantly the kids had a blast and want to go back!!!

The marsh itself is beautiful. The day we went it was cool with drizzle but that didn't dampen our enjoyment of the marsh. The staff there were friendly and knowledgable, and the merchandise is of good quality and relevant to the marsh. The trails are well marked and well looked after.

very informative and easy to navigate through . lots of great views and information about local wildlife and the great sonservation work they do there, especailly with their Trumpeter swan population

Really nice place for a walk (although I have lots of nice places to walk near home for free). Sadly the boardwalk is damaged so we couldn't use the whole length of it. What really made the entrance fee worthwhile was the birds of prey show. At about an hour, with 5 birds, it was great fun. We have seen a few other bird shows but we've never seen them being fed (mainly mice). Everyone got to pet an owl! The best part was that all the children were allowed to don the glove have a red tailed falcon land on them! A super show!