Saturday, May 20th from 1-4 pm. A bicycle ride at Forks of the River Wildlife Management area is always a great outside activity. We’ll spend some time walking through fields of sunflowers in addition to riding. If you have binoculars bring them to to look at the many birds and butterflies that live in these fields and nearby forests.
A bicycle ride at Forks of the River Wildlife Management area is always a great outside activity. We’ll spend some time walking through fields of sunflowers in addition to riding. If you have binoculars bring them to look at the many birds and butterflies that live in these fields and nearby forests.
We will go the first weekend before the National Park Service program at Elkmont in the Smokies. Don’t worry, there will still be many fireflies when we go. We will be providing a handout detailing preparation and logistics for this outing. For natural history information about the fireflies see the Park website: https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/fireflies.htm
RSVP BY JUNE 15. With nearly-continuous Class II-IV rapids like Lost Guide and Accelerator and views into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Upper Pigeon delivers. More info here: https://noc.com/trips/pigeon-river-rafting-upper-pigeon. The NOC requires youth to be at least 8 years old and weigh over 70 pounds. The Sierra Club will pay the rafting fee for the youth and all adults will pay their fee of $40. RSVP for more details.
This 5-mile tandem canoeing trip on the scenic French Broad River to Cruze Landing will be a real treat! Interesting rock formations, wildlife, and lunch on an island will be enjoyed along the way. Participants must be 7+ years old.
Picnic with swimming, canoeing, hiking, and fishing on the banks of Melton Hill Reservoir.
Saturday, October 7th from 10 am to 2 pm. We’ll spend a relaxing afternoon in the open fields of Cades Cove, one of the most beautiful spots in the Smokies. On this outing join butterfly experts from the Great Smoky Mountain Institute at Tremont, to learn about Monarch Butterfly migration and catch and tag butterflies that are migrating through the area.
Saturday, November 4th. Time TBD. We'll take on the Mountain Challenge program at Maryville College.
Lost Sea adventure begins with a guided tour of the caverns (https://thelostsea.com/groups/). This involves a ¾ mile round-trip walk on wide sloping pathways. We will be taking the Flashlight Tour that takes us into one of the darker corners of the cave for a real caving experience (please bring flashlights.). Along the way, we will learn cool history about the cave!
Join us at Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies! Everyone will meet at the ticket entrance at 12:15, finalize our group tickets, and get inside in time to experience the Penguin Parade at 1:15. We will then have plenty of time to tour the many parts of the aquarium – Ocean Realm, Shark Lagoon, Touch a Ray Bay, Tropical Forest, Coral Reef, Discovery Center, and Penguin Playhouse – and to take in the live shows.
The visit will start with a special zoo encounter provided by the Zoo Knoxville Education Team. After that, the matches are free to take in the various zoo exhibits at their own pace.
We will start the day at the Appalachian Bear Rescue Visitor and Education Center located in Townsend. Here we will learn about black bears and how we can co-exist with them. Then we will travel to the nearby Little Greenbrier Schoolhouse in the Great Smoky Mountains where we will eat lunch and see what it was like to attend a one-room schoolhouse nearly 100 years ago. We will take a 1-mile walk (2 mile round trip) to the Walker Sister's home. https://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/historyculture/walker-sister