- From home, YOU CAN share in the beauty of Nature, all free.
- Explore in many new ways, MAKE YOUR OWN Nature Journal, it’s Fun
- Travel, Explore, Enjoy – here’s WHAT TO DO!

By Dawn Montane
Many Americans, at the time of this writing, are under a “shelter-in-place” or “leave only when necessary” order from their respective state to curb the spread of COVID-19. This novel form of coronavirus currently has no cure. In an effort to keep the high-risk group of people from getting infected, this includes elderly people or people with predisposed medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease), many businesses have shut down, schools have closed, and travel plans have been cancelled.
In addition, many outdoor areas have been closed to the public, as well, to avoid crowding at popular vista points or trails. Many state parks and some national parks have closed their gates to deter visitors and keep the employees and surrounding communities healthy and safe.
With nowhere to go, besides grabbing a few essentials, there are still many ways for you to “travel” and explore the great outdoors!
Here a few ways to connect to nature from your own home:
- Nature Journal (make your own)
If you have a pen and paper, you can nature journal! Draw a bird, or a tree you can see from your window, or draw the skyline if you’re living in a city. Create and label identifying features (such as the color, pattern, or type of building), or if you don’t like to draw, descriptively describe it! Don’t forget to add the date, weather, and time to make it “official.” 🙂

- Set Up a Tent in Your Living Room
Your camping trip may have been canceled, but you can still camp! Set up your tent (or make a fort!), put some sleeping bags, pillows, a flashlight or two and make a night of it! Bonus points if you play card games in the tent or have a fireplace to set it up next to!
- Listen to the Birds
Open your window! As the sun rises, open your window and listen to how many different bird calls you can hear. Count how many, and see if you can get any “bonus sounds,” such as crickets, frogs, or coyotes! Add to your journal.
- Take Daily Walks
If you are able, take a walk around your neighborhood. Even just 30 minutes a day can get you closer to nature! Stop along the way and take joy in the simple parts of our environment – although it may not be Yellowstone, every piece of grass, flower, pine cone, and tree is important to this earth.
- Visit Parks…Virtually
Many parks have tours and videos of their attractions that can be found online. The National Park Service allows you to visit from afar and have created a page (found here: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/npscelebrates/find-your-virtual-park.htm) that has links for everything from webcams, to galleries, Junior Ranger programs and even a “Distance Learning” section for teachers and parents, so kids to learn while they’re out of school. For example, Yosemite has over 30 videos called Nature Notes all on Youtube, each is between 5-10 minutes long on topics of everything from meadows and black bears to soundscapes and waterfalls.
It feels like you’re really there as you learn. Find the Youtube Playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL890957589F8403A4.

For more on “Big Trees,” visit Episode 11 of Yosemite Nature Notes on YouTube and observe giant sequoias, the largest living things on earth. Watch it online here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBiHAGYJXVQ&list=PL890957589F8403A4&index=30&t=0s
- Watch Nature Online
If you’re quarantined in a city, town, or village that doesn’t have access to bears, lions, and birds of prey every day, you can follow this link (https://explore.org/livecams) to watch grizzly bears fishing in Katmai National Park in Alaska, or watch a bald eagle’s nest in Channel Islands National Park in California., and many other places

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes by conservation President Theodore Roosevelt: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” During his tenure, President Roosevelt set aside 230 million acres of public land in the form of national forests, national monuments and parks, wildlife refuges and more.
We are in this together, let’s enjoy what we can with we have from where we are to stay safe.