Episode Guest
Katie Shephard, Chief of Education and Interpretation
Virginia State Parks
Episode Transcript
As we continue to celebrate winter in the parks today, we are catching up with Virginia State Parks. I’m excited to welcome Katie Shepherd to the Parks podcast. Katie is the chief of education and interpretation for Virginia State Parks.
Missy Rentz:
Katie, welcome to The Parks Podcast.
Katie Shephard:
Thanks so much for having me. I’m excited to talk to you today.
Missy Rentz:
It’s extra kind of seasonal to talk to you about wintering in the parks because you and I are in Richmond, Virginia, and we are in the middle of a snowstorm.
Katie Shephard:
Yes, it is snowing right outside my window. I tried to find a nice snowy background and could not,
Missy Rentz:
Virginia State Parks are brimming with activities this holiday season. Visiting parks is so unique in the wintertime, and I know, being a Virginian I was looking at all the things going on and I’m thrilled and excited about it. But I wanna talk to you a little bit about what people can expect all around Virginia this holiday season, but also throughout the winter.
Katie Shephard:
Yeah, we have tons of activities in Virginia State parks that go on out in the winter. I think winter is one of my favorite times to visit parks. I love, a winter landscape in our forests and it’s just a great time to go out and take a hike and check out all of these events. We have holiday events things for people that like to experience nature in the winter, and there’s just a lot to choose from.
Missy Rentz:
And I, I know there’s guided hikes and you can go to, you can certainly go to Virginia State Parks events, but also the Parks podcast has a whole blog post on what’s happening, in Virginia. And there’s like guided hikes. A lot of people have lights, there’s some conservation, there’s some historic, can you give us just a little bit about what we can expect around the state?
Katie Shephard:
Sure, absolutely. There’s a little something for everyone. Just a few things to highlight. So we do have a lot of holiday programming, a lot of parks put on light shows. We’ve got lighting of the bridge at Stanton River Battlefield State Park, lighting of the tunnel at Natural Tunnel State Park Lights at the Lake, at Bear Creek Lake State Park. So, lots of lights to choose from. But we also have a lot of, natural programming as well. So some of our parks have winter wreath workshops where you can bring a little bit of nature home for your holiday decor. We have winter solstice hikes, and winter’s also a great time for birding. So a lot of our parks feature, birding 1 0 1 programming at Wide Water State Park. Ferry Stone State Park has a birding for beginner’s hikes. So if you’re just learning how to use all your equipment and learning how to identify birds, that’s a great opportunity. And then since we are in winter and it gets dark a little earlier, it makes it really easy to join one of our Owl Prowl programs. So you can go out and listen and look for owls in our parks. It’s great to be at the park after dark and you don’t have to stay until 10 o’clock at night. Yeah, we can do those programs around 6:00 PM when it starts to get dark and the forest comes alive with nightlife.
Missy Rentz:
What is the owl Prow?
Katie Shephard:
It’s generally a, a short hike where you, learn about owls. The Ranger often has a device where they can call owls. Owls are very vocal and so then, sometimes you don’t see them but you hear them. And so it’s a great opportunity to be out in our parks after dark with a ranger on a trail and just experience, some things you might not get to see otherwise.
Missy Rentz:
That’s one I might need to actually check out for myself’cause owls are one of those, i’m sure I’ve heard them and don’t realize it, but I’ve not seen one yet and I just wanna learn more about them.’cause I think they’re so, they’re intriguing when you’re out in nature to, and I don’t know, I feel like it’s good luck if I see an owl. I must, it must be good luck or something for me.
Katie Shephard:
Absolutely. So I know this winter, James River State Park and Holiday Lake State Park are both doing Owl Prowls. And I saw those both on the calendar a couple times throughout December and January. So definitely check those out. I remember my first time giving an interpretive owl prowl. I used to work at Douthat State Park and the first time an owl flew in and landed in a tree right over top of our group, it was just, it was magical. I definitely remember that moment. It was a little screech owl. It was great.
Missy Rentz:
Oh, that’s so cool. One of the events that is happening that I’m, it’s a little far from me but I’m still might give it a whirl, is the Luminary Nights at Natural Bridge. I mean, Natural Bridge is pretty spectacular, anyway, and the pictures from previous years, it just looks really stunning to do that hike to luminaries.
Katie Shephard:
It is very cool. I went last year and checked it out. And it is magical. The bridge is all lit up. You’re hiking along the trail by luminary. They have campfires, cocoa. It’s a great experience. Some nights they do a horse-drawn carriage. It amazes me, they can fit that down the trail, but it works that you do have to register for in advance. And I would guess that those seats go pretty quickly. So you definitely wanna check those dates now.
Missy Rentz:
That’s amazing. Okay, so in also in states like Virginia, like weather’s diverse here. Richmond is getting snow. We don’t get snow this time of year, so it’s particularly diverse right now. But you have the snowy mountains, but you also have the beach and it can be sunny and warm for winter over there. So there really is a little bit of something for everyone depending on where you are.
Katie Shephard:
There is there, just depending on where you go. You might be hiking in the mountains and see snow or down at the beach and have some nice sun. The best time of year that, that’s really obvious is our First Day Hikes. I have given First Day Hikes in, the teens and bundled up and everybody’s cold, but people are still excited to be there. But I’ve also given them on beautiful, sunny, 60 degree days.
Missy Rentz:
Virginia is a state that really embraces First Day Hikes and First Day Hikes is, our state parks, throughout the country, encouraging people to spend January 1st going out on a hike. And you have things going on at all of the state parks, or at least almost all of the state parks. What can people expect on January 1st?
Katie Shephard:
Absolutely. So First State Hikes is an initiative of America’s State Parks, which is a organization that supports all our parks, all our state park systems across the country. And we do have activities going on at all of our parks. Even our brand new state park, Hayfields State Park, which just opened in September. They even have a First Day Hike planned. And, each park is a little bit different. Some parks offer, multiple hikes because they have big crowds that come out and they wanna be able to accommodate everybody. Some parks have self-guided hiking opportunities, but January 1st is a free day to visit our Virginia State Park so there’s no parking fee. People can go out and join one of the guided hikes. Some of them require advanced registration, and you can find that information on our website. Some of them you can just show up and enjoy the hike and learn a little bit about the park or a little bit about the history of the area and just start the year off on your right foot.
Missy Rentz:
And I love that because after the holidays, you have the hustle and bustle that right now we’re all looking forward to. But afterwards it’s nice to get back outside and move our bodies and start the year off on this good note.
Katie Shephard:
Absolutely. It’s one of my favorite activities that we do throughout the year. We have before I took this position, I worked at Bell Isle State Park for about 10 years, and I just saw the same families come back every year. It was a tradition for them, and that is really cool.
Missy Rentz:
Katie, we’ve talked a lot about what’s going on for the holidays, what’s going on, First Day Hikes, what else is happening in Virginia this winter that we should be aware of?
Katie Shephard:
Sure. So we’ve talked a lot about our ranger guided opportunities, but there’s also a lot of self-guided opportunities. So if you just wanna be out in our parks, but you need an activity for your kids while you’re there, we offer junior ranger booklets, park packs that you can check out, scavenger hunts, new River Trail State Park, just open a new track trail. So that’s a guided brochure you can use as you walk along the trail. So even if one of our guided opportunities that schedule doesn’t work for you, you can still come out to our parks and have a lot of fun and do an activity.
Missy Rentz:
One other thing I wanna bring up is a high priority of the Virginia Parks is accessibility. Yes. And there’s something out there, whether it’s accessibility, mobility issues or whatever there’s opportunities.
Katie Shephard:
There are. We launched our track trails program in the last year. So if you do have mobility needs, there are six of our parks that offer assistive devices that help you get out on our trails. We have accessible trails throughout our park system trails that are easier, that are paved, good for wheelchairs. So there’s a lot of options.
Missy Rentz:
I’m excited to be in Virginia for this winter to experience it, and I hope all of you, Virginians, or those who are coming to celebrate, make it to one of our amazing state parks. You can find out all of this information on the Virginia State Parks website or visit TheParksPodcast.com. And we have a blog, a Winter in the Parks blog that links to every state activities. Katie, thank you for updating us and letting us know what’s going on in Virginia. I think it’s gonna be really exciting here.
Katie Shephard:
Thanks for having me.
Missy Rentz:
Thanks for joining us today. Happy holidays to you, Katie, and happy holidays to you listeners. Until next time, we’ll see you in the parks.
Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please be sure to like and share on your favorite podcast platform. Music for the parks podcast is performed and produced by Porter Hardy. For more information, please follow us at The Parks Podcast, or visit our website at TheParksPodcast.com.