Free Entrance to all National Parks on September 27th

All 397 national parks will offer free entrance on Saturday, September 27th for National Public Lands Day. The 21st annual event is offered to encourage everyone to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors. You can visit www.nps.gov for a list of parks and information to help plan your park adventure.

“National Public Lands Day reminds all of us of the vast and diverse nature of America’s open spaces, from small neighborhood parks to large national parks, and the importance of each one,” said former National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We are fortunate that more than 600 million acres of public land, including national parks, provide all of us with cherished places where we can go to unwind, recreate, or learn.”

Many people will lend a hand to help the land and spend part of National Public Lands Day volunteering on work projects. More than 175,000 people are expected to plant trees, clean watersheds, remove invasive plants, replace signs, and otherwise beautify 2,000 public sites throughout the country. Visit www.publiclandsday.org for more information.

Other Federal agencies offering free admittance on September 27th include the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, and the U.S. Forest Service.

If you do plan to visit Rocky Mountain on National Public Lands Day, or anytime this fall, please note that our website offers a wide variety of accommodation listings for both Estes Park and Grand Lake to help with all your vacation planning.



Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

Grand County National Public Lands Day

Grand County will celebrate its 19th annual National Public Lands Day tomorrow, September 28th. Grand County’s event, draws more participants, completes the largest amount of work and is the longest-running of any event in the nation.

Due to recent flooding on the Front Range, several other northern Colorado venues have had to cancel or delay events, but the show will go on in Grand County with a few minor changes.

Rocky Mountain National Park bowed out of this year’s event to allow their resources to assist with flood recovery in Estes Park. However, Headwaters Trails Alliance has added a project thanks to volunteers from the Girl Scouts of America and the Grand Foundation.

To participate in one of Grand County’s five NPLD projects, arrive at 7 a.m. at Camp Chief Ouray (YMCA) in Granby, grab breakfast and sign up for one of the following projects:

Colorado River Trail: Reroute a portion of new U.S. Forest Service trail on the west side of the Colorado River below AA Bar Barn.

Blizzard Pass Trail: Build two turnpikes near Grand Lake on FS Road 120. Project will also include general trail maintenance and drainage structures.

Vasquez Creek Trail: (Great for kids and soccer families) Meet at 10:30 a.m. at Hideaway Park pavilion and help pick up trash along the Vasquez Creek Trail to Confluence Park. If time allows, head to Wolf Park for a tree planting project.

Upper Colorado River: Clear a 15 mile stretch of the Colorado River of garbage, debris and river campsite improvement work.

Idlewild Trail System: Help build new non-motorized trail to increase accessibility and loop capability near the historic Idlewild Ski Area.

Children are welcome on all projects, and there are plenty of kid-friendly jobs for them.

At the end of the day, volunteers meet back at Camp Chief Ouray for pizza and lasagna dinner, dessert, live music and door prizes.

For more information and to download volunteer packets visit our webpage.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

Canyon Lakes Postpones National Public Lands Day Until Oct. 5

Due to the recent flooding events that have impacted the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland, the Canyon Lakes Ranger District has decided to postpone and scale back plans for National Public Lands Day.

Because a considerable amount of work has already been done to make this event a success, and because the work at the Bellaire Campground is still important, the decision has been made to continue with the tree and shrub planting project as a work day, while dropping some of the other events that were planned for that day.The fourth-annual National Public Lands Day event will be held Oct. 5, 2013, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This year’s event takes place at the Bellaire Lake Campground south of Red Feather Lakes.

Tree and Shrub Planting: Work with professional silviculturists planting native shrubs and 1,200 ponderosa and limber pine seedlings to replace some of those lost to the current mountain pine beetle epidemic. Ages 4 and up can participate.

Every adult volunteer will receive a “free day pass” to a National Park and a commemorative cup that will also be used to help water the newly planted trees.Volunteers should wear appropriate clothes, footwear and sunscreen. Make sure to register and bring water and a camp chair for lunch. Register at http://canyonlakesnpld.eventbrite.com/.

For questions, please contact Kristy Wumkes at 970-295-6721 or kwumkes@fs.fed.us.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

Free Entrance to all National Parks on September 28th

All 397 national parks will offer free entrance on Saturday, September 28th for National Public Lands Day. The 20th annual event encourages everyone to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors. Visit www.nps.gov for a list of parks and information to help plan your park adventure.

“National Public Lands Day reminds all of us of the vast and diverse nature of America’s open spaces, from small neighborhood parks to large national parks, and the importance of each one,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We are fortunate that more than 600 million acres of public land, including national parks, provide all of us with cherished places where we can go to unwind, recreate, or learn.”

Many people will lend a hand to help the land and spend part of National Public Lands Day volunteering on work projects. More than 170,000 people are expected to plant trees, clean watersheds, remove invasive plants, replace signs, and otherwise beautify 2,000 public sites throughout the country. Visit www.publiclandsday.org for more information.

Other Federal agencies offering free admittance on September 28th include the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, and the U.S. Forest Service.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com