Adams Homestead And Nature Preserve Marks 25th Anniversary As State Park With A Whole Lot Of Activities | National News

Sun and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 92F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph..

Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.

Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve manager Jody Moats talks about celebration plans in front of the homestead's Lamont Country School building at the North Sioux City, South Dakota, park. The 1,500-acre preserve, operated by the South Dakota's Game Fish and Parks, will celebrate its 25th anniversary on Saturday with a variety of special events.

The Adams Homestead and Nature Center, 272 Westshore Drive in North Sioux City, will be the site for several activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The 1,500-acres park is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a variety of family-friendly events.

Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve manager Jody Moats talks about a new pergola and building under construction at the North Sioux City park. The building will feature spaces for relaxation and will be decorated with items from the house originally owned by the family of Mary and Maud Adams. The Adams Sisters donated the 1,500-acre park to the South Dakota.

A worker mows Wednesday as youth ride bicycles on a trail at Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve in North Sioux City. The 272 Westshore Drive facility is home to more than 10 miles of hiking and biking trails.

Mary Adams looks up into the trees while listening to leaves rustling in the breeze in this Aug. 18, 1997, photo that was taken before the Adams Nature Preserve held its grand opening ceremony. Adams, along with her sister, Maud, donated 1,500 acres of her family's homestead to create what became the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks' Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve.

NORTH SIOUX CITY — As park manager for Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve, Jodi Moats' responsibilities include everything from collecting turkey tail feathers for art projects to wrangling up buffalo chips for a distance throwing contest.

But she draws the line at milking any cows.

"I refuse to add cow milking to my daily routine," she said, pointing to the menagerie of critters at Sonny's Acres. "You'll see other types of farm animals but no milking cows."

A 1,500-acre park located in the Missouri River basin outside of North Sioux City, Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve will be the site for several family-friendly activities from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, commemorating its 25th anniversary as a state park.

First established by Stephen Searls Adams in 1872, the homestead includes the family's farmhouse, a log cabin, the Lamont Country School, Stavenger Lutheran as well as Sonny's Acres, which also doubles as a working farm.

In addition, the land is home to several interpretive exhibits and more than 10 miles of hiking and biking trails.

Envisioning it as a place where people could enjoy the natural world, Stephen Searls Adams' granddaughters Mary and Maud Adams donated the homestead to the State of South Dakota in 1984. It received the state park designation in August 1997.

"Mary and Maud called Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve 'a place for inner renewal,'" Moats explained. "The visitors who come here call it a 'hidden treasure.'"

Indeed, the facility saw a huge spike in attendance at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We never closed and it was easy to be socially distanced at a 1,500-acre park," Moats said. "Ever since, more and more people have been visiting us."

Which is why Moats is so excited for the Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve's 25th anniversary celebration.

All day Saturday, kids will be able to make ink out of berries while using turkey feathers as pens. At the same time, dads can test their agility by throwing buffalo chips while moms can work on their pitching arm during a rubber chicken throwing contests.

"Rubber chickens are easier and safer to throw than real ones," Moats noted.

Other activities will include ropemaking, candle making, corn shelling, Dutch oven and threshing machine demonstrations.

"We'll even have a homemade pie contest," Moats said. "Contestants can bring in their pies at 10:30 a.m. and judging will start at 1:30 p.m."

These are types of events which were common when Stephen Searls Adams was still around. They were also activities that would probably meet the approval of his granddaughters.

"I never met Maud Adams (who died in 1995) but I did know Mary Adams (who died in 2009)," Moats, who began working at the park 22 years ago, explained. "To this day, I still think of Mary."

Looking over the 1,500-acre park, Moats is certain that the Adams family would be proud.

"Mary and Maud envisioned a place where people could learn about our prairie past," she said. "Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve has become an oasis for people wanting to unwind in a peaceful park that is right off of the Interstate 29."

Originally published on siouxcityjournal.com, part of the TownNews Content Exchange.

The annual Appreciation Shoot is going on now through Sunday. Read more