Sylvan Heights Bird Park is the largest bird park in North America with over 2,500 birds from 6 continents. Sylvan Heights has 18 acres of exhibits, including 6 large walk-through aviaries and 2 great wetland viewing stations. The Landing Zone is one of the newest exhibits where you can hand-feed parakeets and flamingos.  In addition to many species of waterfowl we have other birds such as emu, cranes, toucans, owls and macaws on view to the public. 

There are picnic areas if you wish to bring a lunch, a gift shop and we have PATCHES for your tribe!

The NC Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh is the largest museum of its kind in the Southeast and features four floors of exhibits ranging from extinct dinosaurs to live butterflies, plus daily hands-on programs, high-definition movies, café, store and art gallery. The Museum is open seven days a week and general admission is free.

Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education – NC Wildlife Resources Commission offers quality programs and special events surrounding wildlife education. Fun activities offered are speakers, Wildlife Expo Day, technology classes, nature photography and geocaching. They also provide fishing clinics and the programs are FREE!!!

Call Beth at 919.707.0205 for more information.

Junior Ranger Programs are designed to provide participants with the flexibility to see and interact with the park at their own pace and within the limits of their own time. Many National Parks offer visitors the opportunity to join the National Park Service Family as Junior Rangers. Interested students complete a series of activities during their park visit, share their answers with a park ranger, and receive an official Junior Ranger badge or patch.

Do you like to explore nature, help out, and protect our parks? Be a Junior Ranger! The junior ranger guide is best suited for children ages 6-12. Visit any state park, do fun outdoor activities, meet the park rangers, and do a short service project to earn a unique junior ranger patch. Collect them all!

The North Carolina Museum of History has exciting programs for adults and children! All programs are free of charge unless otherwise noted.

Dairy Queen of the Triangle serves our guests from 4 locations in Raleigh, Cary and Morrisville and is a locally owned family company. Y Guides are invited to schedule a behind the scenes tour and create their own ice cream sundae experience. If your sundae looks good enough to eat you will get the Junior Ice Cream Artist designation. Cost is $15 per parent/child pair.

Our Locations
DQ Grill & Chill (East Raleigh)
5260 New Bern Ave
Raleigh, NC 27610-1428
919-792-0127
 
DQ Grill & Chill w/Orange Julius (Morrisville)
1008 Morrisville Carpenter Rd
Morrisville, NC 27560
(919) 467-6753
 
DQ / Orange Julius (Brier Creek)
8321 Brier Creek Pkwy Suite 101
Raleigh, NC 27617
(919) 484-2230
 
DQ Grill & Chill w/Orange Julius (Cary)
631 Walnut Street
Cary, NC 27511
919-465-2100

If you have any questions about the Y Guides program, contact the Y Guides Directors, at YGuides@ymcatriangle.org or by calling 919-719-9695.

The fun continues with Trailblazers! The YMCA's Trailblazers program is a continuation for older children of the Y Guides programs. Trailblazers offers children, fourth grade and beyond, more challenging and varied experiences, while teaching leadership and responsibility.

Service to the community and the YMCA is an important aspect of the YMCA Trailblazers program. Some dads and children actually stay in the program long enough for the child to drive their dads to camp!

Popular outings for the Trailblazers program is the the Fall Outing weekend to Camp Rockmont in Black Mountain, NC, the winter ski trip to Wintergreen Ski Resort and Spring Outing at Camp Sea Gull.

Through all of these activities and events, Trailblazers continues to help strengthen the family and foster the relationship between father and child.

Through the Y Guides program, the YMCA provides the following benefits to both father and child:

1) Foster companionship, understanding and set a foundation for positive, lifelong relationships between father and child
2) Build a sense of self-esteem and personal worth
3) Expand awareness of body, mind, and spirit
4) Provide a framework to meet a mutual need of spending enjoyable, constructive, and quality time together
5) Enhance the quality of family time
6) Emphasize the vital role that parents play in the growth and development of their children
7) Offer an important and unique opportunity to develop and enjoy volunteer leadership skills
8) Opportunity to meet other families with children the same age