Love Your Park Challenge kicks off in West Virginia on December 26/NPS

West Virginia residents are being challenged to explore three units of the National Park System in their state throughout 2019.

New River Gorge National River Superintendent Lizzie Watts says the Love Your Park Challenge gives area residents and visitors a fun way to explore the New River Gorge National River, Bluestone National Scenic River, and Gauley River National Recreation Area. The campaign originally was conceived as a way to celebrate three significant milestones at the parks in 2018, the National Park Service is offering the new challenge as a way to keep the celebration going into 2019 through a variety of recreational activities and stewardship projects at the parks.

“In 2018, we celebrated three anniversaries at the parks, in fact, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Bluestone National Scenic River and the Gauley River National Recreation Area is coming up soon, on December 26,” said Superintendent Watts. “We also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the New River Gorge National River earlier this fall, as well as the 50th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. And we are not ready to stop celebrating yet! We want the Love Your Park Challenge to be a fun way for folks to get to know our parks and to show their love for them in a multitude of ways.”

The Love Your Park Challenge is co-sponsored by Friends of New River Gorge National River. Participants can chose from more than 50 activities to earn points by exploring or by helping out in the three national parks of southern West Virginia throughout the year. Prizes will be awarded to every finisher, with additional prizes going to the first 100 finishers, as well as to anyone who shows their “love” for the parks by finishing before Valentine’s Day in 2019. The challenge ends on December 31, 2019, and all finishers will be entered into a drawing to win a grand prize from Friends of New River Gorge National River.  A list of challenge activities and log sheet can be found at this web page. 

To kick off the challenge, the National Park Service and Active Southern West Virginia will offer a special hike at Grandview, West Virginia, on December 26 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This hike offers “bonus points” towards the Challenge and is a great way to experience the park in winter. Follow “Get Active in the Park” on social media for more information about this special event and other free guided activities that are part of the popular “Get Active in the Park” series. Winter sports demos such as cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, and more will be offered as weather permits. A current calendar of events can also be found at this page.