Baxter Outdoor and Environmental Education Programs
Baxter Conservation Area offers outdoor and environmental education programs for students and community groups from preschool to grade 12 and beyond. Join us in our outdoor classroom and give your students the opportunity to explore and connect with nature. Our education programs provide students and visitors with interactive, hands-on, curriculum-based experiences where they will learn about the natural world and their relationship with it. We also offer outdoor education programs where students will learn navigation and outdoor survival skills as well.
Baxter can accommodate up to 60 students per day. All equipment is included in our programs and each program runs approximately 1.5 hours in length. Below please find descriptions of each of the programs we offer. Descriptions are offered as general guidelines — if there are specific objectives that you would like to accomplish, please let us know. Although grade levels are recommended for each program, these are also only guidelines. Please select any desired fields to narrow your search.
| Half Day Program | $200 / group * | maximum 30 students, 90 minutes with an RVCA instructor |
| Full Day Program | $275 / group * | maximum 30 students, two 90 minutes with an RVCA instructor |
| Self-directed | $2.50/person * | Interested in just visiting the conservation area with your class but not booking a program? The cost is $2.50/person. This does not include the use of buildings other than access to public washrooms. To reserve facilities, contact staff. Staff must still be contacted to book a self-directed visit. |
| Overnight Tent Camping (accommodations only) | 1-15 people - $75/night * 16-30 people - $150/night * 30+ people - contact for pricing * Additional buildings also available for rent (link to facility rentals) |
Take you class on an overnight adventure to our group camping area! Plan your own activities or book our education staff to provide programming during your stay (see above for pricing). |
* plus applicable taxes
Baxter’s Cancellation Policy: A minimum of fifteen (15) business days notice is required to cancel education programs at Baxter Conservation Area.
This policy gives schools/groups on our waiting list sufficient time to try and fill the program opening. If Baxter Conservation Area is notified of a cancellation less than 15 business days in advance of your scheduled visit, a cancellation fee of $50.00 will be charged.
In the event of severe weather conditions (i.e. thunderstorms, snowstorms, etc.), Baxter staff will make contact with your school/group by 7:00 AM the morning of your trip if we need to re-schedule or cancel the program on that day. There will be no charge for a cancellation made due to school bus cancellations or severe weather conditions on the day of your trip.
Baxter Education Program Descriptions
RVCA (1140)
Children categories
Department (68)
Main Office Phone Numbers : 613-692-3571 / 1-800-267-3504
Staff Directory
October 22, 2019
Hutton Creek Marsh getting makeover thanks to generous grant
October 22, 2019 – A provincially significant wetland will get a makeover this winter, thanks in part to a $55,000 grant from Wildlife Habitat Canada. The Hutton Creek Marsh near Lombardy has become a monoculture: choked and overgrown with cattails, only 10 per cent of the marsh is now open water. Crews will construct three 0.5 acre ponds and 500 metres of channels to help return the wetland to a healthier hemi-marsh state (50 per cent vegetation and 50 per cent open water). This will provide new fish passages and areas for spawning and feeding, and will support critical life…
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Media Release
October 10, 2019
Have your say on the future of Foley Mountain!
Oct. 10, 2019 – We’re updating Foley Mountain Conservation Area’s management plan, and we want your input on the future of Westport’s favourite outdoor oasis. The updated plan will guide the next 10 years of resource management, habitat enhancement, programming, infrastructure upgrades and other developments at Foley Mountain to best meet the needs and desires of visitors, donors, nearby businesses and other stakeholders. “We welcome public input, especially from our regular visitors and supporters who spend a lot of time in the park,” said Rebecca Whitman, site supervisor at Foley Mountain. “This is your chance to tell us what you love…
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Media Release
Oct. 7, 2019 – Several changes are in the works for drinking water protection zones and chemical storage rules in the Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Region. Under Ontario’s Clean Water Act, municipal drinking water sources such as lakes, rivers and wells are protected from contamination through a combination of intake and wellhead protection zones, rules for chemical use and other threats, and risk management plans for landowners whose activities pose a risk to drinking water supplies. The changes: There are two proposed amendments to the Mississippi-Rideau Source Protection Plan and Assessment Report under Section 34 of the Clean Water Act. 1. North…
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Media Release
September 30, 2019
Conservation 2020: Fundraising campaign to protect local natural areas
Sept 30, 2019 – They say hindsight is 20/20 – and future generations may not like what they see if we don’t act now to protect and conserve our natural areas. That’s why the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation is excited to launch Conservation 2020: a major campaign to raise $125,000 toward keeping our natural areas in public hands forever. The Foundation is a proud steward of more than 1,259 hectares of healthy, protected ecosystems throughout the Rideau River watershed. These are crucial habitats — forests, wetlands and shorelines — that work hard to reduce our risk of floods, clean our water,…
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Media Release
September 17, 2019
Official Plan Drop-In Session Merrickville-Wolford
Sept 17, 2019 – Join us to view draft regulations mapping for provincially significant wetlands in Merrickville-Wolford. The Village of Merrickville-Wolford is updating its Official Plan. As part of this initiative, the Village is designating additional provincially significant wetlands based on mapping provided by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. These wetlands will be regulated by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority under Ontario Regulation 174/06 — Development, Interference with Wetlands and Alterations to Shorelines and Watercourses Regulation. Come visit Conservation Authority staff to view the draft mapping and learn more about the regulation of these environmentally sensitive areas. Official Plan Open Houses…
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Media Release
September 16, 2019
North Face grant helps underprivileged schools get back to nature
Sept 16, 2019 – As many as 250 students will experience the great outdoors this year – some for the very first time – thanks to a $5,000 grant from The North Face Canada Explore Fund. The Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation has been campaigning to help 50 schools access outdoor education programs at local conservation areas in the 2019/2020 school year. The North Face grant will cover tuition and transportation costs for eight priority schools across the region. The programs are run by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority’s (RVCA) certified outdoor education teachers at Baxter and Foley Mountain conservation areas. They welcome more than 10,000 elementary…
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Media Release
September 05, 2019
Minor low water conditions continue in Rideau Valley watershed
September 5, 2019 – Despite recent cool and rainy weather, a Minor Low Water status remains in place for the Rideau Valley Watershed under the Ontario Low Water Response Program. Watershed residents and businesses are encouraged to conserve water during dry conditions. Temperatures have fallen in recent days and rainfall has increased, but the average 90-day rainfall measured at climate stations in and around the Rideau Valley Watershed remains below 80 per cent of normal for this time of year, which is a key indicator for Minor Low Water status. In the past 30 days, average rainfall has been just…
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Watershed Conditions Statements
September 05, 2019
Minor low water conditions continue in Rideau Valley watershed
September 5, 2019 – Despite recent cool and rainy weather, a Minor Low Water status remains in place for the Rideau Valley Watershed under the Ontario Low Water Response Program. Watershed residents and businesses are encouraged to conserve water during dry conditions. Temperatures have fallen in recent days and rainfall has increased, but the average 90-day rainfall measured at climate stations in and around the Rideau Valley Watershed remains below 80 per cent of normal for this time of year, which is a key indicator for Minor Low Water status. In the past 30 days, average rainfall has been just…
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Media Release
September 03, 2019
Angling for a walleye recovery: habitat project targets Wolfe Lake fishery
Sept. 3, 2019 — The RVCA and its partners are angling to help walleye stocks recover in Wolfe Lake. With a generous grant from the TD Friends of the Environment Fund, RVCA staff teamed up with volunteers from the Wolfe Lake Association and the Westport Area Outdoors Association to create two new spawning beds on Scanlan Creek at the end of August. Walleye stocks have been falling across Ontario, and in Wolfe Lake the population is noticeably on the decline, according to lake association fishing director Margie Manthey. “The depletion began in the 1980s and 1990s,” said Manthey, who hasn’t missed…
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August 28, 2019
Open House for Mud Creek Hazard Mapping study
August 28, 2019 — The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) has completed a hazard mapping study for Mud Creek in Manotick, from 3rd Line Road North to the Rideau River. Members of the public are invited to an upcoming open house to review hazard and regulations maps. The new mapping shows areas that are subject to natural hazards such as flooding and unstable slopes. The mapping will be used by the City of Ottawa when updating its Official Plans and Zoning Schedules and in the review of development applications under the provincial Planning Act. RVCA will also use the mapping to guide…
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Media Release
August 15, 2019
Ottawa Greek Fest goes carbon neutral!
Aug. 15, 2019 – Ottawa Greek Fest is one of the capital’s hottest summer festivals, but this year it’s keeping it cool with a pledge to go carbon neutral through the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation. The charitable foundation helped the festival calculate its estimated carbon footprint from the gas, propane, diesel and electricity used over the course of its 11-day food, music and art extravaganza at the Hellenic Centre near Hog’s Back Falls. That calculation will translate into 120 trees planted locally across the Rideau Valley watershed, adding to Eastern Ontario’s forests and natural spaces and offsetting the event’s carbon…
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Media Release
August 15, 2019
Minor Low Water Conditions in Rideau Valley Watershed
August 15, 2019 — As the warm, dry weather continues, conditions in the Rideau Valley Watershed now meet the threshold for Minor Low Water status under the Ontario Low Water Response Program. Watershed residents and businesses are encouraged to conserve water during dry conditions. After a cool and wet spring with very significant flooding in some areas, July and August have been mostly warm and dry across the Rideau Valley watershed, with some localized rainfall in early August. The average 90-day rainfall measured at climate stations in and around the watershed is just shy of 80 per cent of normal…
Published in
Media Release
August 15, 2019
Minor Low Water Conditions in Rideau Valley Watershed
August 15, 2019 — As the warm, dry weather continues, conditions in the Rideau Valley Watershed now meet the threshold for Minor Low Water status under the Ontario Low Water Response Program. Watershed residents and businesses are encouraged to conserve water during dry conditions. After a cool and wet spring with very significant flooding in some areas, July and August have been mostly warm and dry across the Rideau Valley watershed, with some localized rainfall in early August. The average 90-day rainfall measured at climate stations in and around the watershed is just shy of 80 per cent of normal…
Published in
Watershed Conditions Statements
