Quarry Hill Nature Center

The nature center is pretty outdated, but overall it’s a fun place to take the kids. And Fallfest is always a great time. Beautiful woods and trails for hiking, biking, skiing and snowshoeing.

I have benefitted from Quarry Hill for 30 years! I remember going there as an elementary student and now as a teacher, I take my elementary class there. A lot has changed in 30 years! Thank you Quarry Hill for providing great opportunities for kids of all ages. I have many fond memories and am making more each year. My students love the classes. Top Notch stuff!

We visited today after the fresh snowfall. I thought we were going to rent cross-​country skis or snowshoes but they said no rentals today, gotta have the trail expert verify the trail conditions and that won’t happen until tomorrow. Bummer, minus 1 star. The parking lot was half full and the people that brought their own skis were having the times of their lives. We ended up walking the trails, which was still great.
Lots of childhood memories. Growing up in Rochester, we would have school field trips to Quarry Hill for the education programs. They use the pond, forest, prairie, stream, limestone quarry, and miles of trails to teach about the wonders of nature and outdoor fun. My favorites were going inside the dark scary historic sandstone caves, climbing the limestone wall, and the science classes in the nature center.

Quarry Hill is a wonderful place to meet up with a friend and get a little walk going or to take your kids and walk around the trail. There is a pond too and a little education center. The kids typically will do a field trip here sometime during the year… and if you are in need of leaves or milkweed for school projects – go on. They do several events thru the year also that are very interesting and have some summer programs for the kids too…

Awesome place to be. We have enjoyed our times there as a family many times. We love to walk and explore the grounds. I know that cross country skiing is available in the winter, but we have not been able to take advantage of that yet. Is particular visit was to ‘Creatures of the Night’ in October. So much fun for the kids and adults. We have done that many times. This is one place that we donate to be members of every year.

a friend and I took our kids for a day trip with our young broods. We thought of going up to the twin cities, but soon opted for something closer to home. Myself, being one of those moms that expects my children to learn history, appreciate nature, and other subjects children hate, decided to go here for the first time. I asked the cashier how much for admission. she said it was FREE!!! FREE!!! It is winter, so we didn’t go exploring outside, but there was plenty of things to look at here. Our toddlers went about running and screaming their approval. The live animal displays were wonderful. The huge fish tank with native stock was neat and educational. Even the bee exhibit was neat (to a bee-​phobic mom). There is also a children’s library with books to check out or to sit back and read. The toddler-​sized chairs were a hit. The bathrooms were spacious enough to get all of kids a potty break at the same time. We will definately come back this summer. I hope more people discover this fun (don’t tell the kids also educational) gem.

Having grown up in Rochester, Quarry Hill was one of those places well-​known to young children and teenagers alike. As kids we would come here on field trips, get samples of pond water to analyze, sort through owl scat, band birds caught in the nets, look for fossils in the quarry rocks, and explore the caves. It was magical.
On my last trip to Quarry Hill I was sad to see that they’d closed off Dead Man’s Cave (now white-​washed labeled as ‘Quarry Hill caves’ or some such nonsense). There are now giant garage-​style doors blocking the entrances. I can’t express how sad it is that Rochester has decided to close one of the few interesting things in this otherwise rather culturally lackluster town. A moment of silence please.
So, for those of you who don’t know about the Dead Man’s Cave, I’ll put a memorial here. Legend had it (probably part truth and part fiction) that in the days before refrigeration, one of the hospitals in town dug out this limestone cave during ‘The War’ (I? II? — it was never made clear to me) to store fruit/​vegetables — and the occasional dead body when the ground was too frozen to properly bury them. Thus, Dead Man’s Cave was born. I remember walking through that cave and thinking about dead bodies stacked to the roof during a particularly cold MN winter. Kinda a cool bit of Rochester history, huh? Too bad it’s gone.

We just moved here this Summer and my son and I have been here 5 times. The trails are great, the education center is clean, friendly staff, great displays and animals. Don’t miss the caves.