Building Trails to Find a Park: National Trails Day and the Civilian Conservation Corps
Do you love hiking the trails on Lookout Mountain? Join Chickamauga
and Chattanooga National Military Park for a National Trails Day
weekend on June 6 and 7, 2015. In addition to learning about the
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and their work on Lookout Mountain,
visitors are encouraged to help continue the conservation corps legacy
by volunteering for a project.
On
Saturday, June 6, join National Park Service staff and other volunteers
for a trail workday on the Mountain Beautiful Trail, atop Lookout
Mountain. All volunteers are invited to meet at Lookout Mountain
Battlefield Visitor Center at 8:30 am, and staff will lead them to the
worksite. Volunteers can expect to return to the visitor center at
approximately 2 pm. Lunch will be provided to all volunteers and all
tools and supplies will be provided as well. Volunteers are asked to
wear long pants and sturdy, close-toed shoes. Please RSVP if you plan to
volunteer by emailing william_sunderland@nps.gov or calling 423-752-5213 x137.
On
Sunday, June 7, meet a park ranger at Cravens House at 9 am for a
three-hour mountain bike ride on Lookout Mountain. Participants will
ride from Cravens House to Camp Demaray for a presentation by living
historians portraying members of the CCC, who built the camp and many of
the trails on Lookout Mountain. Following the presentation,
participants are invited to ride with a ranger down the Upper Truck
Trail. All participants must supply their own mountain bikes and water.
This ride is appropriate for adults and children ages eight and older
when accompanied by an adult. All participants are required to wear
helmets.
Both
Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and 7, living history volunteers will be on
Lookout Mountain at Point Park discussing the impact of the CCC on
Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and the United States
as a whole. Programs will be presented on Saturday at 9:30, 10:30,
12:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30. On Sunday, programs will take place at
10:30, 12:30, 1:30, and 2:30.
The
Great Depression caused enormous stress and desperation among thousands
of Americans as the economy fell apart, shattering family stability and
throwing thousands out of work. Jobs were scarce and, unable to find
work, tens of thousands of young men took to the roads and rails looking
for work and adventure. Between 1933 and the outbreak of World War II,
the CCC gave 2.5 million of these young, single men a job, an education,
and a new hope for the future. In their wake, these young men
transformed the nation's parks and left a legacy that visitors still
enjoy today.
More information can be found on the National Park Service website (http://www.nps.gov/chch/learn/news/ccctrailbuilding2015.htm)Â or the National Trails Day website:Â http://www.nationaltrailsday.org/events/building-trails-find-park/
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