On Saturday, June 9 from 7am to 4pm The Coopers Rock Foundation will host their 23rd Annual Celebration of the Outdoors. Come to the Overlook Pavilions to register. A $5 donation is asked for participants over the age of ten. Participate in an educational workshop or take a guided hike. There’s something for every age!
Email questions to celebration@coopersrock.org
Schedule of Activites:
Please note: *= drop-in activity.
7:30 am
Birds- A Great Excuse to Get up Early!
8:00 am
Birds- A Great Excuse to Get up Early!
9:00 am
Elfin World and Nature’s Moss Gardens
Coopers Rock Exploration Hike
Build a Bird Box
Find the CCC Fireplaces*
9:30 am
GPS and Geocaching
10:30 am
Kids Trail Sign Painting*
Orienteering Part One: Tabletop Map and Compass
Hug-a-Tree (Don’t get lost in the woods!)
Rock Climbing*
Old Time Music Jam*
12:00 pm
Smokey the Bear and Lunchtime Activities*
1:00 pm
Orienteering Part Two: Finding your Way in the Woods
Let’s Get Wet!
Cool Spots Hike
Hike the Hemlock Trail
2:30 pm
Nature Hike for Kids
Activity Descriptions:
Birds- a great excuse to get up early!
LeJay Graffious 7:30-8:00 am
8:00-8:30am
Birds offer a colorful, musical connection with the biodiversity in nature, and birding can lead you to a greater appreciation for a variety of habitats. Join us in a spring identification through song as well as by sight. Bring binoculars if you have them. Limit:15
LeJay Graffious is a professional educator of thirty-six years. He donates time to administration of the Brooks Bird Club as well being a past president, serves on the WV Bird Records Committee, coordinates the Morgantown Audubon Christmas Bird Count, does DNR Point Count Surveys and leads other bird watching field trips.
Elfin World and Nature’s Moss Gardens
Sue Moyle Studlar 9:00-10:15 am
Take an easy walk in the woods near the Overlook and discover island paradises on an elfin scale: great boulders in a sea of leaves, where diverse mosses, liverworts, and lichens live, sometimes in harmony and sometimes fighting for space. We will also discuss moss gardening and how it relates to the natural “moss gardens” we will see on our Rattlesnake Trail Walk. Bring a magnifier if you have one to see the intricate beauty of the Elfin World. Meet at the Overlook Pavilion. Limit: 15.
Dr. Sue Moyle Studlar is a visiting associate professor of biology at WVU. She specializes in the “forests of Lilliput:” mosses and their ecology.”
Coopers Rock Exploration Hike
Gwen Jones 9:00-11:00 am
Wear sturdy hiking shoes. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Limit: 15
Gwen Jones is the President of the Coopers Rock Foundation. A teacher and avid birder and hiker, she has lots of stories and loves to walk in these wonderful woods.
Build a Bird Box
Rob Bailey 9:00-3:00 pm
Make your own bird house out of western cedar. Pieces are prepared in a “cut out” puzzle fashion. Requires an extra small fee to cover the cost of materials. Open event: Walk-ins welcome. Limit: 20.
Rob Bailey is a 1975 Agriculture graduate of WVU, and an alumnus of TABS, Terra Alta Biological Station. He has built flying squirrel lodges with associated coconut sunflower seed feeders, blue bird houses, and osprey nest towers on Wallops and Chincotigue Islands for NOAA.
Find the CCC Fireplaces
9:00-3:00 pm
This self-guided hike through history will take you to stone fireplaces that were built between 1936 and 1942 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Pick up the map at Pavilion #1.
Introduction to GPS and Geocaching
Mike Metz 9:30-12:00 pm
We will learn the basics of navigating using Global Positioning Systems and hunt for a few geocaches! GPS units will be available for use, but bring your own if you have one. Limit: 15 Mike Metz is a volunteer firefighter and works in the LiDAR program in the Natural Resource Analysis Center at WVU.
Paint a Trail Sign
Adam Polinski 10:30-1:00 pm
Kids—make your very own Coopers Rock Trail Sign to take home! Open Event: Walk-ins welcome!
Adam Polinski is a Coopers Rock lifer. His favorite spots in the forest are where there are big rocks and big trees together. He’s rooting for the American Chestnut to make a comeback, and has been with the Coopers Rock Foundation since it began.
Orienteering Part One: Table-top Map and Compass Skills
MARG 10:30-12:00 pm
Learn how to read USGS Topographical maps and find your way on them using a compass. Master the skills needed to navigate the woods with a map and compass.
The Mountaineer Area Rescue Group (MARG) is a volunteer search and rescue group based in north central West Virginia.
Hug-A-Tree
MARG 10:30-12:00 pm
Kids will learn what to do, and not to do, should they get lost in the woods. Limit: 15.
The Mountaineer Area Rescue Group (MARG) is a volunteer search and rescue group based in north central West Virginia.
Rock Climbing
Brett Hagerty 10:30-3:00 pm
Each participant will be given an opportunity to try rock climbing in the Upper Rock City area during this workshop. The focus will be on providing a beginning experience for those interested who are age five and older. Basic climbing technique and communication used in climbing will be taught. All necessary equipment will be provided. Wear loose-fitting clothing and sneakers. No limit. Open event– stop in and try it out!
Brett Hagerty has been climbing since his time in the Boy Scouts in the mid 1980′s and currently manages the WVU Climbing Wall.
Old Time Music Jam
Ray Hicks 10:30-1:00 pm
Open event. Bring an instrument and play along, or enjoy the music through lunch!
Smokey the Bear
noon-1:00 pm
Your friend Smokey will be enjoying a relaxed day at Coopers Rock State Forest during the “Celebration of the Outdoors,” reminding you to be a responsible recreationist and take the necessary precautions to prevent wild fires.
Orienteering Part Two: Finding your Way in the Woods
MARG 1:00-2:15 pm
Must attend “Orienteering: Part One.” Use the table-top map and compass skills you learned in the morning to shoot and walk bearings. Practice navigating to points on a map.
The Mountaineer Area Rescue Group (MARG) is a volunteer search and rescue group based in north central West Virginia.
Let’s Get Wet!
Gwen Jones 1:00-2:15 pm
Explore a Pond Ecosystem and see what we can discover! We will use an assortment of nets and magnifiers to catch, view, and then release the interesting creatures that live in and around forest ponds. Some of the creatures we may encounter and get to look at up close include small fishes, frogs and tadpoles, and various types of water insects. Come with footgear that can get wet and muddy because we will be wandering around the wet, muddy, marshy edges of the pond. Some slipping in the mud is possible! You may want to bring a change of clothes and shoes. Best for ages 10 and up. Limit: 15
Gwen Jones is the President of the Coopers Rock Foundation. A teacher and avid birder and hiker, she has lots of stories and loves to walk in these wonderful woods.
Cool Spots Hike
Adam Polinski 1:15-4:30 pm
This will involve hiking both on and off trail, visiting both natural and man-made wonders, big and small, dramatic and subtle. Come along for the ride and perhaps you’ll see something you’ve never seen before, even if you are a Coopers Rock veteran. For persons interested in a shorter hike, there are turn-around spots in the first half of the route. Hiking boots recommended. Limit:15
Adam Polinski is a Coopers Rock lifer. His favorite spots in the forest are where there are big rocks and big trees together. He’s rooting for the American Chestnut to make a comeback, and has been with the Coopers Rock Foundation since it began.
Hike The Hemlock Trail
Ray Hicks 1:00-3:00 pm
Observe the beauty and experience the serenity of this lovely area of Coopers Rock State Forest. Some driving and carpooling needed Limit: 15. Children under 10 accompanied by an adult.
Ray is a retired Forestry professor with WVU. He has extensively studied the various forest ecosystems.
Nature Walk for Kids
Jim Kotcon 2:30-4:00 pm
Join Jim Kotcon for a relaxed afternoon hike to explore the fun parts of Coopers Rock State Forest. Kids from 3-93 will learn something new and share their special secrets of the forest. Limit: 15.
Jim teaches environmental protection and plant science at WVU. He is an avid hiker and has lead many outings at Coopers Rock and throughout West Virginia.