Outdoor Wilderness Lab: Where Learning Comes to Life
The Outdoor Wilderness Lab (OWL) is a unique outdoor education program operated by Mesa County Valley School District 51 (D51) in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Nestled in scenic Gateway, Colorado—just 47 miles from Grand Junction—OWL offers students immersive, hands-on experiences that connect them with nature, strengthen social-emotional skills, and inspire environmental stewardship.
What began as a small pilot has grown into a year-round educational hub serving students across the Grand Valley and beyond. OWL fosters leadership, collaboration, and resilience by immersing students in meaningful outdoor learning.
A Living Classroom in the Wild
OWL is based at the historic Gateway School, which has served the local community for over a century. With West Creek flowing through campus and surrounded by striking desert and riparian ecosystems, the land offers an ideal environment for science and environmental learning.
Outdoor classrooms connect directly to the surrounding landscape. Students explore everything from wildlife and water conservation to plant identification and geology, all while practicing critical thinking and inquiry-based learning. The opportunities for students to make new discoveries seem endless with each new turn in the trail leading a world of possibility.
Lessons Beyond the Textbook
At OWL, nature becomes the classroom. Students collect data from the creek, observe wildlife, and conduct real-time experiments that bring science to life. This hands-on approach fosters curiosity and encourages students to ask questions and seek answers through direct observation.
But OWL teaches more than science. Outdoor learning builds confidence, communication skills, and empathy. Through shared experiences like hiking, campfire discussions, and group challenges, students develop teamwork, resilience, and a deeper understanding of themselves and others.
One student, Sierra Conrad, reflected on her experience: “This is a beautiful experience with the forest all around. The classes are very interesting. You will love this, I promise. You will make new friends and remember this for the rest of your life. I’ve never felt so good and so brave before.”
A Home in Nature
After a day of exploration, students stay in cozy tent-cabins that provide both comfort and connection. These accommodations promote reflection, bonding, and a sense of community while reinforcing OWL’s mission: to immerse students in nature in a way that is both safe and inspiring.
Core Values That Guide Growth
OWL is rooted in four guiding values that shape both the curriculum and student experience:
- Others – Treat others and yourself with dignity and respect.
- Wilderness – Protect and appreciate the outdoors.
- Learning – Learn every day, even when it’s hard.
- Self – Adapt, improvise, and overcome challenges.
These principles empower students to grow as learners, leaders, and compassionate individuals who care for their communities and the planet.
Programs for All Ages
Since its founding in 2012, OWL has expanded to serve a wide range of students:
- Elementary Day Trips introduce younger students to nature through short, activity-filled visits.
- Middle School Overnight Trips provide sixth graders with several days of environmental science, teamwork, and personal growth.
- High School Adventures offer experiences like hiking, mountain biking, fly fishing, and rock climbing—while building leadership and outdoor skills.
- Internships give high school and post-graduate students hands-on experience in outdoor education and stewardship.
In 2025-2026, OWL will serve over 1,700 students, including over 1,000 middle schoolers on overnight trips..
Looking Ahead
As OWL grows, it remains committed to delivering life-changing outdoor education. With continued support from D51, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Western Colorado Community Foundation, and other community partners, the program continues to expand access and impact.
By combining science, adventure, and social-emotional learning in a natural setting, OWL equips students with the skills and mindset to become thoughtful, capable, and curious citizens. For many, like Sierra, OWL isn’t just school—it’s a memory that lasts a lifetime.
For more information go to http://www.outdoorwildernesslab.org
From the GJ Lifestyle Publisher:
I had the opportunity on August 1st to take a drive to Gateway as part of the Grand Junction Rotary Club's annual school supplies delivery day. During that visit to the Gateway campus, I got talking with a staff member and was reminded of the OWL program and its location at the Gateway school.
After some brief conversation that day, we arranged a meeting to talk more in depth about the program, the workshops offered to students from throughout the district and about the vision for what can be achieved with more awareness and community support.
The possibilities seem nearly endless and the experiences these students can have are sure to stick with them long after their grade-school years. When I think about the most memorable learning experiences of my own k-12 years, the things that stand out most are the practical application, hands-on lessons that teachers related to everyday, real-life usefulness.
Physics experiments like building a capsule that a raw egg could survive in unbroken, after falling 70 feet from the top of the auditorium or building a Rube Goldberg (mousetrap) machine are memories as vivid now as they were back then.
It seems our kids need much more of these enjoyable, lifetime value, earning events!
What are your most memorable learning experiences. Are they lectures and text book cram sessions. Probably not! Athletics, music, theater, speech and debate, visual arts, shop classes, field trips - especially hands-on outings and laboratory work likely make up the best remembered, most enjoyed and even the strongest influences toward a career within formal education experiences.
“You will make new friends and remember this for the rest of your life. I’ve never felt so good and so brave before.”