This past weekend, major parks, beaches, and many trails were closed in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. But fear not, many of our favorite parks and organizations are offering fantastic online content to help satiate our appetites for natural beauty, park history, and more.
First, be sure to check out this book list: Bringing the Outside In: Picture Books for Kids Featuring the Great Outdoors. This list features titles available through The Seattle Public Library’s Digital Resources. We hope sharing some wonderful outdoor themed stories with your kids will help bring some natural wonder into their lives.
One of the outdoor experiences my family will miss the most this year is the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Our family makes a trip up to Skagit every year to see fields of magnificent colors. It really is one of the most stunning natural wonders of Washington! But not to worry, you can still marvel at these rainbow fields through Roozengarde’s Facebook page, videos, online photography tours, and even a photography contest! Be sure to check out the #colorsforcourage campaign from TulipTown.com, which offers the community an opportunity to donate bouquets to local hospitals, nursing homes, and front-line workers.
My family also loves to spend our weekends hiking our local state and national parks, but we’ve come to enjoy walking our neighborhood and discovering natural beauty just outside our door. But if you still need your park fix, no worries, your parks have been hard at work bringing you some wonderful online content. Mount Rainier National Park always provides access to their virtual tour and their experiences, which are both great ways to explore the park from home. Your rangers are also still available for questions from you or even your young ones. Just email a ranger at MORAInfo@nps.gov! You can also take virtual field trips of various Washington National Parks here, offered via Washington National Park Fund.
Our Washington Trails Association is also creating some amazing online content for outdoor lovers at home. For those of you also exploring your neighborhood’s natural beauty, be sure to check out 5 Tips To Turn Your Neighborhood Stroll Into An Adventure. They also have posted a schedule of park talks offered by local park history experts. You can catch the next one on Thursday, April 16th at 5:00 pm. For other awesome opportunities to explore and support your parks and trails during the coronavirus, check out Hiker Headlines: Staying Safe, Virtual Visit to Mount Rainier, Cascade Designs Makes Masks.
Finally, if you are interested in doing some citizen science with your family, be sure to check out the iNaturalist app brought to you via the National Geographic Society and the California Academy of Sciences. This app allows you to easily upload photographs of animals and nature from your local neighborhood, which will in turn help advance science in your community.
Celebrate Earth Day 2020 by participating in City Nature Challenge!
The City Nature Challenge will take place in two parts:
April 24 – 27 – Observe! Take and upload pictures of wild plants and animals
April 28 – May 4 – Identify! Help identify what was found
You can support this effort by being an observer, helping others identify their observations, or better yet – both!
“Are you interested in participating in City Nature Challenge 2020? Do you want to help motivate other people to participate? What questions do you have about participating in City Nature Challenge in light of current public health guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Please join us for a web-based City Nature Challenge orientation and discussion.”
Observing nearby nature in the Seattle-Tacoma area – City Nature Challenge 2020
Date: Friday, April 17th
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.
Go here to register for the orientation.
I sincerely hope we will all be able to enjoy our favorite trails, beaches, and parks sooner rather than later, but in the meantime, I hope these resources will help you find new ways to explore our beautiful state from the comfort of home.
~posted by Erin M.
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