Bluestone State Park
BECKLEY, W.Va. — A new initiative between non-profit Active Southern West Virginia and State Parks aims to encourage residents to explore the outdoors in West Virginia.
Community Captains Levi and Rene Moore will begin hosting First Sunday Hikes at four participating West Virginia State Parks. The program has already seen success with the National Park Service for several years. Levi Moore hopes to extend that success to state parks.
“The ability to take the success we’ve seen with our partnership with the National Park Service and expand that into our State Parks is extremely exciting since they offer even more opportunities for local community members to get outside and explore their West Virginia. Plus, it’ll help the State Parks by increasing local traffic to their sites.”
The participating State Parks are Babcock in Fayette County, Pipestem Resort State Park in Summers County, Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park in Nicholas County and Bluestone State Park in Summers County.
“Ideally, I’d like love to see us doing multiple different events in the State Parks in the New River Gorge region in addition to the First Sunday Hikes,” said Levi Moore. “My hope is that this initiative is just the beginning of an outstanding long-term partnership.”
Scheduled First Sunday Hike Dates:
- April 1 at Pipestem Resort State Park
- May 6 at Babcock State Park
- June 3 at Bluestone State Park
- July 1 at Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park
- August 5 at Pipestem Resort State Park
- September 2 at Babcock State Park
- October 7 at Carnifex Ferry Battlefield State Park
- November 4 at Bluestone State Park
Active Southern West Virginia hopes the events will demonstrate how members of the community can become involved with State Parks. Community Outreach Director Erin Ellis-Reid said Volunteer Community Captain training is free for those who want to help promote health throughout the region.
“Anyone can become a Community Captain for Active Southern West Virginia. This is a unique way to help people in your hometown to become more physically active. Everyone can be a part of the Active Southern West Virginia family by becoming a champion of health for our region.”
For more information, visit www.activeswv.org/events.