Top 5 Reasons to Get Outside in November

The cooler fall temperatures shouldn’t prevent us from enjoying the outdoors, so here are our top five reasons to get outside in November! 

5 – No more mosquitoes! Once temperatures drop consistently below 50 degrees mosquitoes essentially shut down for the season. Some female mosquitoes overwinter wherever they can find shelter or will lay their eggs in water and then die. While all male mosquitoes die at the end of the season.

4 – Lingering fall colors. We can still see some decent leaf color from oak trees, which don’t drop their leaves as easily as other trees. The corky separation layer that grows between the leaf stem and the place where the leaf attaches doesn’t form until spring. At that point the leaves finally drop.

3 – It’s not January! In Iowa the average high temperatures during the month of November is 48 degrees Fahrenheit compared to a high of 31 degrees in January. That’s still warm enough to get outside and walk off all that Halloween candy and Thanksgiving food you ate.

2 – Duck migration is underway. Iowa is located between two major flyways along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. This means we have good chances of seeing large numbers of ducks headed south to their wintering grounds. Grab your binoculars and head to a nearby pond or lake to see if you can catch a glimpse of them. 

1 – Parks and trails aren’t as busy. The water in our campgrounds is shut off for the season, so there are less people coming to our parks to camp. The cooler temperatures also keep some of the fair weather bikers off the trails. This is good news for those of us that prefer the quiet solitude that nature provides without the distraction of other people.

So get outside and explore a Polk County Conservation park or trail near you! 

View park & trails here.