the wildcat glades conservation & audubon center

Now, to preface, I did not go during office hours so I did not get to experience the nature center yet.However, I met a group of people to go hiking here. It is beautiful! There is a lot of land to walk and if you take the full route it is probably right at 3 miles. Half of the hike is paved and fairly easy to walk. The other half is actual hiking and you will need a good pair of walking shoes. There are some steep cliffs that you walk along, but the paths are still plenty wide. There are some decent inclines and if you have not hiked in a while it might wear you out. Aside from the hike itself, the scenery is simply amazing. You walk along the creek the entire way and through some wooded areas, along the bluffs and across an old bridge. You can go down to the water in many, many areas. There is seating benches sporadically throughout the hike. Be advised, you might want to take a water (as I did not) and there are no restrooms along the hike. Other than that, come and enjoy what nature has to offer you!

Very educational about the area. The outside trails and hiking area was clean and fun for all ages. Different trails can be followed. Some short, others longer with hills. Great day with the family

The inside of this building has lots of great exhibits and MDC staff are very knowledgeable. The exterior and grounds are "rustic," meaning they are meant to look natural and have little landscaping.

Great place for nature walk and fishing. The visitors center building was very green and had a live roof. The river looked very clean and inviting. Would go there again.

plan to take a picnic and we walked the trails, check out events calendar before you go as my granddaughter was able to join in a group of " bug explorers' .

I grew up close to this park and it was where we played baseball and fished back then. If you have kids this is a great place to bring them. They have a display area inside that has some local critters to look at and some educational information. Trails are easy and this is a neat area to explore.

What a great way to spend the day. The facility was great, and the staff was fun and there is certainly plenty to look at.

We've been traveling to Joplin for a yearly golf tournament for more than 20 years and this is the first time I've heard of Wildcat Glades. If you like to walk/hike - don't miss it.

The facility was very nice. The staff was friendly and offered to help with any questions that you have. The grounds were nice and wild life abounded.

We found Wildcat Glades very interesting. The nature Center is surrounded by plants common to the area and has a roof that has plants on it to insulate the building. There is a very large aquarium inside that holds the fish that can be found in the little stream/river that runs through the Center. The person at the desk was very helpful and knowledgeable. There are viewing areas where one can sit and watch birds coming to the feeders as well as hiking/nature trails.

Wildcat Glades is less than 5 minutes south of I-44. It's a terrific place to pull off the highway, stretch your legs and rest your eyes on something other than endless highway. The Audubon Center has great exhibits for kids. The natural area around the Center is beautiful and there are hiking trails. There are also many food options if you head north onto Main Street of Joplin or go one exit east and go to Range Line (where there are tons of restaurants).

I love to go to the Glades for all different reasons: take a nice walk on the hiking trails; picnic lunch; a quick swim in the creek; BBQ with friends; or just some peace and quiet on a weekday. They have a wonderful trail system and a really nice visitor center and teaching facility, as well. The people running it are really nice and helpful, and they offer special programs throughout the park on a regular basis.

My son and I recently stopped to walk the trails with our 2 dogs. We had barely gotten out of the car when an extremely rude conservation agent hurried over to my son, waving his arms, and yelled "we don't really allow dogs here!" Everyone else stopped and stared at us as if we had committed a haneous crime; my son was embarrassed and I was angry! As we were returning to our car, we observed a man walking his German Shepard past the building toward the trails and no one said a word. We drove to the parking area down by the water and continued our walk, passing at least 6 other dogs with their owners. If dogs aren't allowed, then signs should be clearly posted and enforced for everyone, we saw no signs. My real issue is the way in which the agent handled the situation. He could have simply walked over to us and explained the policy since it wasn't posted rather than yelling and waving his arms and upsetting my son and our dogs. Did I mention that the dogs are labs, one is small 40 lbs and the other was a 15lb puppy at the time, not huge menacing dogs. Overall, the trails are nice, but nothing spectacular going on in the building.

Stopped by to view the center and take a walk with my wife. Was disappointed when we walked in. The gentleman behind the counter just looked at us. Didn't say a word until I asked a question. The center itself is nice although very, very small. The trails are nice.

Not much to see at Audubon building-animal skins, snake, spider, few fish, few exhibits, gift shop. Wouldn't go back but volunteers working in there were friendly.