Tennessee: Pigeon Forge, Annual Wilderness Wildlife Week - Kids Playing with Mother Nature.
The annual Wilderness Wildlife Week in the Great Smoky Mountains may sound like it’s an activity for gung-ho outdoorsmen, but the truth is that the eight-day January event in Pigeon Forge is designed to appeal to the entire family ages 4 to 94. It's a week of fun meant to be shared.
Wilderness Wildlife Week began the same year as Winterfest and was at first a Saturday afternoon activity. In two decades participation and interest have grown resulting in eight days of programs and activities to spotlight Great Smoky Mountains National Park. More than 100 experts on nature and outdoor life present programs on many topics, and there are daily hikes and excursions into the national park. During this year’s event almost 20 of the more than 230 programs have been created with youngsters in mind and many programs that might seem geared to adults thoroughly captivate the younger set.
On the Wilderness Wildlife Week “children’s activity menu” you will find:
• “Animal Olympics” An interactive program that compares human senses and abilities to those of wild animals.
• “Oh! Possum” A chance to meet a marsupial.
• “Those Ain’t Teddy Bears in Great Smoky Mountains National Park” A session about the icons of the Smokies.
• “Kiddin’ Around” A hands-on introduction to mountain music and instruments for kids.
• “Wings of America” A live bird show from the American Eagle Foundation.
Topics on the “regular menu” include elk, osprey, whooping cranes, butterflies, hummingbirds, mountain folk medicines, leave-no-trace camping techniques, hypothermia and tales about searching for lost hikers as told by a retired backcountry ranger. There’s even one called “Whose Scat Is That?” Most activities are indoors at the Music Road Hotel’s convention facilities, and there are about a dozen hikes every day in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (almost 5,000 miles were hiked in 2009), and there are several owl prowls during the week for people who want to give a hoot.
About 150 experts—rangers from the National Park Service, biologists, botanists, nature photographers, animal rehabilitators, and Smoky Mountains residents—donate their time to present a week of lectures, classes, photography shows, musical performances and demonstrations. Wilderness Wildlife Week in January is Pigeon Forge’s annual salute to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and to Mother Nature in general.
Make it happen. Wilderness Wildlife Week is part of Pigeon Forge Winterfest, a four-month event stretching from November through February every winter. Wilderness Wildlife Week details, including program and hike descriptions and presenters’ credentials are online at
www.MyPigeonForge.com/wildlife or by calling toll-free to 1-800-251-9100.
Content and images provided by Pigeon Forge CVB. Copyright 2010.
