The Cheoah Ranger District on the Nantahala National Forest now has two new Kids in Parks TRACK Trails, designed to turn an ordinary hike into a fun-filled, discovery-packed adventure.

At the Massey Branch Fitness Trail and the Cheoah Trail, both located across from the Cheoah Ranger District Office in Robbinsville, visitors will now find new trailhead signs with activity guides that allow young hikers to learn about and connect with the natural features found along the trail. On the Cheoah Trail, explore the historic site of the 1940s Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp. The Fitness Trail has a variety of different exercise stations along the trail.

After their hike, kids can register their TRACK Trail adventures at kidsinparks.com to earn prizes designed to make their next outdoor adventure more meaningful and to encourage continued participation in the program.

The TRACK trails on the Cheoah Ranger District were created in cooperation with the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation-Kids in Parks Program with funding and support provided by the Duke Energy Foundation, Graham County Travel and Tourism, and the Graham Revitalization and Economic Action Team.

The goal of Kids in Parks TRACK Trails is to engage children and families in outdoor recreation to foster lifelong wellness and meaningful connections to nature. Since the program’s inception in 2009, more than 1.5 million TRACK Trail adventures have been completed. Other trail locations, hiking tips, and information on nature and safety that is beneficial for parents, teachers, and people of all ages can be found at www.kidsinparks.com.

The Palmetto Conservation Foundation has partnered with the Kids in Parks program to install a new TRACK Trail along the Palmetto Trail in Peak, SC. Children and families are invited to hike the new TRACK Trail, which was opened in conjunction with National Trails Day.

The trail in Peak is located on a section of the Palmetto Trail called the Peak to Prosperity Passage. Like the passage name, this new kids trail is going to help lead kids and families to new levels of prosperity through outdoor recreation, improved physical activity, and connection to place.

“We are excited to have partnered with Kids in Parks and to offer the TRACK Trail program at our very popular Alston Trailhead. Featured at the new Alston Trailhead kiosk are the hands-on brochures which will guide trail users to understand the Peak to Prosperity Passage history along with the many wild creatures and native fauna specific to this area,” said Mary Roe, Palmetto Trail Executive Director.

The Kids in Parks program has created a nationwide network of TRACK Trails, which introduce young people to the wonders of nature. “With each of these trails, we hope to engage children in the joys of outdoor exploration for their well-being and the future stewardship of these amazing public spaces,” said Jason Urroz, Program Director for Kids in Parks, a program of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.

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In 2008, the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation launched a new program aiming to get kids and families out exploring the high-elevation corridor. Ever since, the Kids in Parks program has mushroomed into a national endeavor with designated trails from San Diego, California, to Nags Head, North Carolina.

Kids in Parks was recognized for its decade of accomplishments when it won the Youth Engagement Award at the SHIFT Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The annual SHIFT Awards recognize individuals, initiatives and organizations that contribute to conservation through human-powered outdoor recreation.

“I don’t know that we envisioned that we would be in San Diego or in South Dakota, but we definitely set out to design it so it was going to be the next big thing in children’s nature programming, at least in the Blue Ridge,” said Kids in Parks Director Jason Urroz, who has been on board since the program’s inception. “It just so happens that nature deficit disorder, childhood obesity and people not spending time outdoors isn’t a Blue Ridge problem. It’s happening everywhere.”

The original idea behind Kids in Parks was to make outdoor exploration more accessible, simple and interactive for families by clearly identifying kid-friendly trails and having some sort of interpretation available to help kids learn about the plants, animals and other natural features they were seeing.

The program was developed as a self-guided experience offering brochures to help kids interact with and learn about the trails, dubbed TRACK Trails. Most TRACK Trails are 1- or 2-mile hikes with some sort of interesting feature along the way.

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You’ll find Prairie Ridge Ecostation in west Raleigh, a few miles from the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh.

The museum’s outdoor learning lab offers all kinds of activities for all ages, including weekly play days and storytimes. You’ll also find short, easy-to-navigate trails for little ones.

The ecostation’s Forest Trail, is a half-mile hike that takes you from a prairie to a pond to a forest and, finally, a nature playground.

The Forest Trail is part of the Kids In Parks TRACK Trail system, a national program that aims to get kids and families outside and exploring nature. The site lists kid-friendly trails in about 10 states across the country, including many in North Carolina. Each TRACK Trail comes with self-guided brochures with details about things you might see along your walk and signs so you don’t get lost. You can find TRACK Trail brochures for the Forest Trail in Prairie Ridge’s nature playground.

According to the ecostation’s website, explorers here reported finding “savannas” in this part of the world as early as 1540. It’s likely they were created by lightning fires or fires set by Native Americans to clear land for planting. Elk and bison might have helped maintain them.

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With its cooler days and colorful foliage, fall is an ideal time to hike one of the Kids in Parks TRACK Trails. Now there are even more to explore. Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation just added trails at Mount Mitchell State Park (off the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 355), Shenandoah National Park, and Prairie Ridge EcoStation in Raleigh, North Carolina.

At Mount Mitchell, the hike starts at the upper summit parking lot. From there, hikers can quickly reach the top of Mount Mitchell or explore the trails that cut through some of the most unique habitat in the Southeastern United States. The peak is the highest point east of the Mississippi River at 6,684 feet. The temperature is often lower at this elevation, so bring layers of clothing.

Fox Hollow Trail in Shenandoah National Park is now outfitted with guides that lead hikers through the woods to discover the remains of the historic Fox family homestead. There are also Kids in Parks activity guides at Limberlost and Blackrock Summit trails.

The Prairie Ridge EcoStation TRACK Trail is an easy half-mile route that meanders through a variety of habitats including bottomland forest and prairie grassland. A diversity of plants, animals, and other life can be found among the myriad habitats, including a pond and stream.

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At the Chilhowee Recreation Area in Cherokee National Forest, kids and families celebrated the grand opening of the Kids in Parks program’s 140th TRACK Trail, and the first TRACK Trail in Tennessee!

The trail was installed thanks to a partnership between Cherokee National Forest and the Partners of Cherokee National Forest. The TRACK Trail at Chilhowee is a combination of the Recreation Area’s McKamy Lake Trail (0.6 miles) and the Forest Walk (0.4 miles), making a one-mile figure-eight trail that leads visitors around the site’s scenic lake and through native forest habitats. Along the route, visitors can use a series of self-guided brochures to learn about and connect with the resources that make the forest so fascinating, including lichens, birds, trees, and the relationships that can be found when we get outdoors and enjoy nature.

During the grand opening ceremony, District Ranger Andy Gaston spoke about the unique setting of Cherokee National Forest and the numerous opportunities for families to spend time outdoors in eastern Tennessee through visits to the Forest and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Gary Schneider, president of Partners for the Cherokee National Forest, spoke about the importance of the forest for kids and families, detailing the numerous activities available to visitors, including swimming, hiking, birding, paddling, fishing and more.

The Chilhowee Recreation Area is unique as a TRACK Trail location because the trail surrounds a small lake, a great spot to go for a swim after a long hike on a hot day! In fact, it was HOT during the grand opening celebration, and as soon as the speeches were over the kids made a beeline for the cooling waters.

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They aren’t wearing white lab coats, but there are already young scientists collecting data at Front Lake at Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, North Carolina.

The Kids in Parks program recently opened its first Citizen Science TRACK Trail designed to engage kids in learning and caring for the park’s ecosystem while helping staff researchers and natural resource managers.

Citizen Science is a new approach to data collection that enlists the public’s help in making observations and taking readings for studies and research. With the new trail, children and families can get in on the action. Kids follow a brochure to locate marked stations around the lake, where they perform observations and experiments such as taking air and water temperature readings and using tools to measure the pH of the lake.

In addition to helping researchers, the children learn new skills related to environmental science, connecting the dots between outdoor adventures and protecting natural resources.

“We’re extremely excited to have the Kids in Parks program’s first Citizen Science-based TRACK Trail here at Carl Sandburg,” said Sarah Perschall, chief of Visitor Services at Carl Sandburg. Park staff and the Kids in Parks team collaborated to create the site-specific brochure and experiment stations.

“Over the past six years, we have created a network of TRACK Trails designed to get kids and families unplugged, outdoors and reconnected to our parks,” said Jason Urroz, director of Kids in Parks. “I think our Citizen Science TRACK Trails can only add to that connection. And, who knows? Maybe some of them will become scientists, or rangers, or ranger scientists.”

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Thanks to a new partnership between Albemarle County and the Kids in Parks program, there’s a new family hiking trail in Crozet, Virginia.

Kids in Parks is a national program designed to get kids outside and exploring. The new trailhead at Mint Springs Park is open with a kiosk stocked with interactive maps. Kids in Parks calls it a track trail, it has free guides that teach kids about birds, nature, safe hiking and more.

As families work their way along the path, kids can check off what they find and see. When they get home, they can register their hike on the track trail website to earn prizes. One track trail completed earns a nature journal, nine track trails completed earns a magnifying glass.

Kids in Parks has about 100 track trails across the country.

Mint Springs Park is open during daylight hours throughout the summer, the track trails hike is one mile long.

Kids in Parks, a signature program of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, is continuing to draw national attention for its work helping to bring kids outdoors and getting them active. Kids in Parks is based in Asheville, NC.

The group received the Association of Partners for Public Lands 2015 Partnership Award for Outstanding Public Engagement at a ceremony recently in Atlanta.

“Dynamic, effective partnerships are absolutely essential to the preservation of America’s most treasured public lands and the enhancement of their visitors’ experiences,” APPL Executive Director Dan Puskar said in a statement. “This year’s awardees represent the incredible innovation and impact that is happening throughout our public lands when nonprofit organizations and land management agencies collaborate toward shared goals.”

KIP was recently awarded $921,000 from the BCBSNC Foundation to continue its work helping kids and families connect with nature and fight childhood obesity through TRACK Trail excursions. Activities outlined in brochures provided at each trail encourage children to learn about their natural surroundings and build connections to parks and public land.

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An ambitious project that began on the Blue Ridge Parkway to connect children with the great outdoors is getting bigger.

Kids in Parks, a signature program of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, has been awarded $921,000 from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation to continue its work helping kids and families reconnect with nature through TRACK Trails.

Over the next three years, the grant will be used to expand the network of trail adventures throughout North Carolina, with a goal of designating at least one trail in every county. In the spring, biking TRACK Trails will open at Rocky Knob Mountain Bike Park in Boone. Kids in Parks will also develop an app for mobile devices to guide trekkers on the hiking, canoeing, disc golf, and soon-to-open biking paths.

Since its inception in 2008 with the first one-mile loop on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail starting at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center in Asheville (at Milepost 384), the Kids in Parks program has introduced children and families to the wonders of the outdoors and encouraged them to become physically active.

TRACK Trails – which are free to hike – can now be found in the Pisgah National Forest, at Chimney Rock State Park, the Orchard at Altapass on the Blue Ridge Parkway and the North Carolina Arboretum, among many others in WNC.

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