Mississippi Sanctuary & Olin Nature Preserve050

The 37-acre Mississippi Sanctuary and the nearly 300-acre Olin Nature Preserve are privately owned by The Nature Institute. Both are contiguous lots, located on the banks of the Mississippi River and containing a representative spectrum of the region's landscape features and natural communities, including limestone bluffs, sinkholes, bottom land forests, and upland hill prairies.

The Nature Institute uses the preserve and sanctuary to foster an awareness and appreciation of the natural world through preservation, restoration, and education. Numerous workshops, classes, homeschool programs, and summer camps for youth take place throughout the year at the Talahi Lodge, the facility's environmental education center Visitors to the presevers can find an extensive arboretum with hundreds of tree varieties of trees, an impressive network of walking trails, 300 native plant species, more than 150 species of nesting and migratory birds, and nesting and den sites for the endangered Bald Eagle and Timber Rattlesnake.

The preserve is closed to the public from November 1- March 15 each year in order to protect the preserve as a roosting site for bald eagles. In other months, the preserve is open during business hours only, and visitors must check in at the office before hiking or exploring within the preserve.