NATCHEZ — Activities for young and old will be going on at the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge Oct. 22.

The refuge will host National Wildlife Refuge Week, and there will be activities from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“This is a celebration of refuges nationwide,” refuge manager Bob Strader said. “There are 550 refuges nationwide, and this is an event to celebrate the refuges and encourage people to come out and use the refuges.”

Activities scheduled include a black bear obstacle course, guided canoe tours, pond discovery stations, a GPS station, a waterfowl management station and a drug education station.

Strader said the event is centered around a national movement to get people outdoors.

“We are hoping to get a lot of people out and to have beautiful weather. We hope people take away better ways to manage their own habitats,” Strader said.

Admission is free to the event and hotdogs and sodas will be served, Strader said.

“It’s a day for kids, for the family or anybody that wants to come,” he said.

Strader said this would be the first year the St. Catherine Creek Wildlife Refuge hosts an event to observe the national celebration.

“People will really have a good time,” Strader said. “Everything is free, so we want (people) to come out and have a good time.”

The national celebration is actually from Oct. 9 through Oct. 15, but Strader said he pushed the event back a week to avoid conflicts with the Natchez Balloon Race this weekend.

For more information about the event contact the refuge at 601-442-6696.