Park After Dark Night Hike

The Library Naturalist invites you to join us for the first Park After Dark Night Hike! This program will take place on Saturday, June 21, from 9 to 10:30 pm at Brickyard Nature Park (759 Concord Road). We will explore the trails with only a flashlight or glow stick! 

Don’t forget to bring your flashlights; glow sticks will be provided. This hike promises to be an exciting experience, offering a unique view of the park after dark. The Library Naturalist will offer safety and recreational guidelines for attending patrons before the start of the hike. Children must remain with their adults at all times during the hike.

At certain points, we will shut off our lights to experience the nocturnal life around us. We may see or hear different animals or birds, including opossums, raccoons, owls, bats, insects, or other small creatures that are active at night. We may even see a sky full of stars.

Registration is required for this program, and space is limited. Sign up online; more information will be provided on the registration page for minors under the age of 18. You may also call us at 765-362-2242, ext. 3 to sign up. This program may not be accessible to all. Sturdy footwear is recommended. Please dress appropriately for the weather. 

If you cannot attend this program or would like to learn more before or after attending, we have book selections on a variety of nocturnal animals and activities. If bats are your passion, we have “Stokes Beginner’s Guide to Bats” by Kim Williams (599.4 Wil), “Walker’s Bats of the World” by Ronal Nowak (599.4 Now), or “The Secret Lives of Bats” by Merlin Tuttle (599.4 Tut), which are great reference books on the wonderful world of bats. Additionally, we have “Bats: An Illustrated Guide to All Species” by Marianne Taylor (599.4 Taylor) that we highly recommend!

If the stars are more your curiosity, check out “Backyard Guide to the Night Sky” by Andrew Fazikas (520 Faz) or the “National Geographic Stargazer’s Atlas: The Ultimate Guide to the Night Sky” (523.8022 Nat — Oversize), which contains stunning photographs of our constellations. We also recently added the “Photographic Atlas to the Moon” by Robert Reeves (523.3 Reeves) and “Stargazing Around the World” by Valerie Stimac (520 Stimac).

To learn about the interesting lives of owls, we recommend reading “What an Owl Knows” by Jennifer Ackerman (598.8 Ack). More incredibly informative literature on nocturnal mammals of Indiana can be found in the book “Mammals of Indiana” by John Whitaker (599.09772 Whi). 

For more information on our Night Hike, please contact the Library Naturalist in the Adult Services Department at the Crawfordsville District Public Library at 765-362-2242, ext. 3, or email smorrissette@crawfordsvillelibrary.in.gov. The library is open to serve Monday through Thursday from 9 am to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday from 9 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from 1 pm to 5 pm.