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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation's (MDC) Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center has added a new dimension to their exhibit space and hiking trail. An eight-stop audio tour is available by cell phone to give visitors the inside scoop on their own time.
"As people enter the center, they can dial the number posted on the sign, or scan a QR code, and listen to the tour to hear all about our most popular exhibits," said Sara Turner, manager of the center. "We are always looking for ways to make it easy and fun to discover nature and this is another method to increase convenience for our visitors."
The audio tour starts inside the front door and gives visitors the background information on the bee-hive, the alligator snapping turtle and the two-headed snake before they head outside to the trail. The tour then picks up along the Ridgetop Trail, explaining trail hazards, and helps hikers recognize plants, trees and aspects of the forest as they approach the observation deck. The last stop takes visitors by the replica sand prairie, an important habitat to the southeast Missouri region.
"We like to give personalized information whenever we can," Turner said. "With the addition of the audio tour component to our exhibits and trail, we hope to give people another personalized experience with information they can really grasp onto and enjoy."
The Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center is located inside Cape Girardeau's North County Park, just east of Interstate 55 (Exit 99) and Kingshighway (State Highway 61). For more information on exhibits and formal programs at the center, go online to mdc.mo.gov/CapeNatureCenter, call (573)290-5218, or text nature to 91212.
