Glacier's Discovery Cabin a great place for kids
<p>Youngsters Aspen and Alpine (in hat) Brown, of Idaho, show off their Junior Ranger certificates while visiting the Discovery Cabin in Glacier National Park last week. On the porch is teacher-ranger Steve Bless talking to another child.</p>
Maybe you'd like to see a grizzly bear skull or feel a wolf pelt or learn more about Glacier National Park's natural history.
Visitors can do all of that and more at the Discovery Cabin. In a partnership with Glacier Associates, the cabin, which is tucked away in the woods at Apgar, is now open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The idea of keeping the cabin open arose last fall when the nonprofit group approached the Park about providing volunteers to keep the cabin open in summertime, Park volunteer coordinator Brooke Linford said.
The cabin's displays are suited for young and old alike. Youngsters can go through the Park's junior ranger program - an educational exercise that teaches them more about the Park and where they earn their own junior ranger badge.
Steve Bless, Glacier Park's teacher-ranger, will offer more specialized classes for youths.
On July 14 and 21, Bless will present a class on wildlife habitats and animal tracks, including making plaster casts, from 9 to 11 a.m. and a class on the geology from the shores of Lake McDonald from 1 to 3 p.m.