With colder weather settling in, winter is anything but hibernation season in the Northeast. From skiing to snowshoeing, from ice fishing to snowmobiling, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the outdoors. To learn about how people can stay safe in the outdoors this winter, WAMC spoke with Karin Badey, Regional Education Coordinator with New York State Parks.
Right now, I'm working on getting programming going at Peebles Island, which hasn't had any programming for a while, and it's in a great location. It's a really novel piece of property because it's an island, and the Mohawk and the Hudson rivers meet here and there's so much nature and awesome things to check out here. So, working on programming here, and also just working on trying to get things to be more accessible for people. Our programs and some of the trails, some are hard, obviously, to make accessible, but whatever we can, we're trying to make things definitely more accessible to people.
What do you have to do to make trails in the parks, in general, more accessible?
Making sure that the slope of the trails is at a decent grade, having places for people to sit. Also making sure that the trail doesn't have roots or rocks and things that are bumpy so that people can easily walk. We're looking to get some trails for people with vision impairment, so that they can walk and have more tactile stuff for them to be able to experience the property and the signage a little bit better.
So summer is over now. That's when most people are outside and trying to experience and soak up the sun. What can people do now that it's winter safely?
There’s a lot to do at the parks in the winter time, there's everything from snowshoeing to cross country skiing, ice skating, ice fishing. There are also indoor programs, birding. A lot of nature centers have bird feeders that people can check out from the inside so they can do a little winter bird watching. It's a great time to go outside when there's snow and be able to look at the interesting stories that the animals tell from the tracks and the scat, and little stories about this animal that was being chased, and just it's great. It's so interesting to get out in the winter time.
For people who are looking to do something a little more adventurous. What does the parks have to offer for them?
Definitely, there's snowshoeing. If there's snow! For people who are just beginning to people who want to take more advanced hikes. There's lots of different options for people of all ability levels. There's also cross-country skiing. Some parks offer snowmobiling. It's open to people, but there's no class on snowmobiling per se, so there's probably some more advanced classes for tracking and things like that. You know, no ice climbing or anything like that that I'm aware of.
So, what other parks around here have programming that might start soon? Or what is there to offer?
Grafton Lake State Park has a lot of offerings. Same with Saratoga Spa, Moreau Lake State Park, Thatcher State Park. Peebles Island is going to be doing some more programming as well, and Minekill, that's out west a little bit more, but they offer some great programming, too. And a lot of the parks do winter fest or different programs where there's a lot of stuff going on in a day, and if you check out Facebook or the individual park sites, you can see what they have going on. Sometimes it might involve warming up with some hot chocolate or a fire. So definitely there's not a lack of things to do.
As an educator, do you do a lot with public schools in the state?
Yes, we do. We are extremely busy with schools, and we try and get more schools up here. We have a great program called Connect Kids that helps to sponsor schools. It's a grant program that helps schools to come to state parks and not have to worry about paying for transportation, so that helps cover those fees. Right now, the program is being reworked so it it's not open at the moment, but it would be check with the park if anybody is interested in bringing a school group and just see if connect kids is up and running.
For all these programs we talked about at the different parks. What is the cost typically for those?
It's pretty easy. A lot of them are free, which is definitely in my budget. Some of them are a couple of dollars, maybe up to five. If you're renting something like snow shoes, there may be a $5 -$10 charge, but that's as high as it gets. It's very reasonably priced and most of the time free.
For people who are wanting to get out in the winter, but maybe are a little bit afraid of the cold or getting hurt or something, what would you say to them?
I would say, just try and be prepared. Talk to the people at the park. They can offer different ideas how to dress, making sure that you have water, avoid cotton, just be prepared, and they can help you with that a little bit if you're unsure. Sometimes they offer programs on how to prepare for winter programming and winter events. And it's always good idea to check the weather, but you can also check with the parks too to see what they have offered and what is safe. And, you know, check to make sure what trails are open, what trails might be closed. There's a lot of times where you can walk on the lake, do ice fishing, but the parks are very they will close the lake if it's not safe, and they test that pretty much daily to make sure that the ice is thick enough and safe for people to walk on.
Here at Peebles Island, what kind of programs are you looking to implement? Like you said, there hasn't been anything here in a while?
We're looking to have some hikes, some history, birding, fall walks, winter walks. Hopefully we can get some if we get snow, be nice to have some snowshoeing later in the winter. In the springtime, just seeing what kind of animal tracks we have and what kind of birds are starting to come in the spring, pretty much anything. And we're always open to suggestions. We have some nature journaling coming up. We have some indoor craft activities for kids. And people are welcome to come and borrow ID books so that they can take them out on the trails and look up tracks or birds or whatever they're interested in and return them when they're done.
Anything else our listeners should know about what's upcoming with the parks?
Just that everybody in the parks is here to help out and welcome people. And we want people to enjoy the parks and have a good time, and we're open to suggestions, if people have ideas that they'd like to see at parks, and definitely reach out to a park that you're interested in and check it out. And it's great going to the different parks. None of them are the same. They're all unique in their own way, and just awesome to check out no matter what season it is.
Karin Badey is Regional Education Coordinator with New York State Parks.