For parents wondering what to do with the kids home all summer, there is a little known nature and discovery center tucked away off a Hodgdon dirt road that is packed with free outdoor adventures.
The Twin Ponds Nature and Discovery Center, celebrating its 10th year, might be one of Aroostook County’s best kept secrets.
More and more parents worry about children staying indoors on phones, on social media or playing online games, and as children lose touch with nature, they don’t get to explore their natural curiosity or experience the peace that being out in nature brings, said the center’s founder, Sara McQuarrie. The center aims to give kids and families up-close nature adventures that could spark the next generation of conservationists.
“I love nature and I love working with children and I thought it would be great to have a place where families can come and interact with nature together,” she said. “The more that kids, at a young age, learn about nature and learn to appreciate nature the more they will be willing to protect it when they are older.”
McQuarrie, a certified interpretive guide with the National Association for Interpretation and a Maine master naturalist, started the center after she read the book, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder.”
The center offers families adventurous outdoor activities and hands-on classes where kids can experience interactive learning about nature throughout the summer.
Families can hike the trails, explore a life-sized eagle’s nest, visit the pond with regular water exploration activities, build a fairy house for the fairy village along the trail, pan for gold, mine for minerals and crack geodes.
“Nature helps children develop resilience, independence and a sense of wonder by giving them opportunities to explore, take risks, and learn from the world around them,” McQuarrie said. “I think there is so much anxiety and depression with our children and the natural setting is so calming.”
They can also visit the center at the beginning of the trails and weigh themselves on vintage scales that let them know what they would weigh on each of the planets.
“I usually have things set up at the pond and people can look through the pond water and that is free as well,” McQuarrie, who is also a teacher, said.
This past weekend, she had the Globe Water Tent from the University of New Hampshire at the center to help children explore what’s in pond water.
Information about the center is purely word-of-mouth and McQuarrie would love to have more families visit, she said.
As a registered Maine Guide McQuarrie is also planning some guiding trips into Baxter State Park for families starting in July, she said.
“These will be small day hikes for families,” she said. “We can hike and look for fossils.”
Twin Ponds Nature and Discovery Center will be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays starting July 7. Classes are scheduled in the mornings and the center is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and from 1 to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays for visiting.
It’s always free to visit, walk the trails and interact with nature, McQuarrie said. There are fees for some of the classes.
A packed July class schedule is posted on Facebook, including the following.
– The Squirrel’s Secret Stash on July 7, where children step into the paws of a squirrel getting ready for winte
– Animal Architects on July 8, where children decode the structural secrets of wild animals, test their own building skills against gravity and the elements, and discover how nature’s blueprints inspire human technology
– Puddle Jumpers and Water Wonders on July 14, where participants will tap out rainstorm rhythm, explore the water and engineer a floating toy boat from tree bark
– Worm Runway: Life Underground on July 15, where children will hunt for and learn about earthworms and roly-polys.
McQuarrie’s new young adult novel, Strength Hidden, published by Maine Authors Publishing, is available at the center.
It was just awarded the 2026 IPPY Gold for Young Adult Fiction from the Independent Publishers Book Awards.
For more information, check out Twin Ponds Nature and Discovery Center Facebook page.
