A Targeting Adventure at Panola State Park
On Sunday, November 10th, Michelle and I lead our first trip as National Park Trust ambassadors to Panola Mountain State Park. This beautiful local park is located just outside of Atlanta, making it a perfect place to visit as a student at an urban college campus. Our goal for this trip was to showcase some of the fun activities and opportunities that can be offered and found at many Georgia state parks.
On this trip, we took thirteen students to the park. While half the group participated in an archery lesson, the other half went on a guided hike around the park. My group started with archery, where Nick, the park naturalist, taught us the fundamentals of archery and group management on the range. We spent an hour practicing these skills and competing against each other. The participants enjoyed it so much that some even met with the naturalist afterward to ask about how to get more into archery.
Afterward, my group switched and went on a guided hike with the park’s long-time volunteer, Bill. Bill has volunteered with the park for over seven years and has a wealth of information to share about the park’s history and natural environments. We learned about soft and hardwood forests as well as forest succession. He also discussed the park’s unique geology and the rare flora found there, including multiple species of lichens and plants found almost nowhere else in the world. Though the weather during our trip was cold and rainy, it did make the green lichens and mosses found of the rocky outcrops seem extra vibrant.
After concluding our hike and regrouping at the visitor center for lunch, we headed back to GSU to talk about everyone’s experience on the trip and send off our students. Some students mentioned that they felt they learned more interesting facts about Georgia’s history and ecology than they did in their college courses. This trip allowed us to showcase some of the programs and initiatives found throughout the Georgia State Park system.
