Shenandoah National Park joins national Find Your Park movement

Shenandoah National Park joins parks, programs, and partners across the country to encourage everyone to find their park and share their stories online at FindYourPark.com. Launched yesterday by the National Park Service and theNational Park Foundation, Find Your Park is a public awareness and education campaign celebrating the centennial of the National Park Service in 2016 and setting the stage for its second century of service.

Find Your Park invites the public to see that a national park can be more than a place — it can be a feeling, a state of mind, or a sense of American pride. Beyond vast landscapes, the campaign highlights historical, urban, and cultural parks, as well as National Park Service programs that protect, preserve, and share nature, culture, and history in communities nationwide.

“Find Your Park” is also the theme for this year’s National Park Week, April 18 – 26.  Shenandoah National Park staff invite everyone to experience breathtaking scenery along Skyline Drive, climb to the top of a mountain, take a stroll through the woods, or join a Park Ranger to learn more about our birds of prey. Visiting the park is an amazing way to connect with nature, friends, and family. Entrance fees will be waived on April 18 and 19 and there will be special children’s programs at both Dickey Ridge Visitor Center (mile 4.6 on Skyline Drive) and Byrd Visitor Center (mile 51) on April 18, National Junior Ranger Day. For a complete schedule of events visit the Park’s website at www.nps.gov/shen.

On Earth Day, April 22, Superintendent Jim Northup will personally greet visitors at various locations in the Park, thanking them for being in Shenandoah during this very special week and chatting with about them about their park experience.

“National Park Week is always special for us,”  Northup said, “but this year it is especially important as we kick off the Find Your Park campaign and build up to our centennial celebration in 2016.  National parks are incredibly special places that we should not take for granted as a nation, and this week gives each of us an opportunity to renew our personal commitment to be good stewards of our natural and cultural heritage. Come out and Find Your Park at Shenandoah!”  Northup added.

Visit www.NationalParkWeek.org to learn more about how you can join parks, programs, and partners in celebrating National Park Week across the country.