BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY — At the young and rambunctious ages of 4 and 5, brother and sister Wren and Mia Veteto are on their way toward promising careers as outdoor explorers. Or at least they're on the path to a life of fitness and healthy curiosity about the natural world. The siblings were honored recently at the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center as the first children to complete six trail adventures in the Kids in Parks program. “I like hiking. I went hiking six times,” said Mia Veteto, 5, of Biltmore Lake.
The siblings have actually logged many more hikes and miles on the trail, said their mom, Nina Veteto, but it only took the exploration of six TRACK Trails to earn hand-carved hiking sticks. “We met Carolyn Ward (president of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation) at a program at Mast General Store, and she told us about the Kids in Parks program. We were so excited and started doing it right away,” said Veteto, who home-schools her children. “I feel so strongly about getting them outdoors. One of the reasons I home-school is so I can maximize their outdoor time.”
The youngsters were honored by parkway assistant chief ranger Lena Koschmann and Jason Urroz, director of the Kids in Parks program, with the walking sticks carved with rivers, mountains and wildlife. Kids in Parks is a partnership of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, which are working with community partners to increase physical activity of children, to improve nutritional choices, and to get kids outdoors.
The program was funded with a three-year, $300,000 BC/BS of NC Foundation grant. Urroz said Kids in Parks is applying for another grant to continue the program after this one ends next year. “We have 200 kids registered now,” Urroz said. “You just go online to sign up and it gives parents advice on how to start. The trails are set up so you're not out in the wilderness, but you're hiking on your own.”
TRACK Trails, which stands for Trails, Ridges and Active, Caring Kids, take children and their families on self-guided scavenger hunts. The first trail was designated along the Mountains-to-Sea Trail near the Parkway Visitor Center in August 2009.
Since then, TRACK Trails have been designated at the Andy Cove Nature Trail in Pisgah National Forest, at Chimney Rock State Park and on trails on the Virginia section of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
At the start of each trail there are brochures that help guide visitors along, with different topics such as insects, ferns and birds. The program targets ages 4-9, Urroz said, but anyone from 1 to 18 can sign up.
Adults can learn just as much, Urroz said, but they can't earn the prizes such as bandanas and field guides. Those serve as incentives to lure children away from TVs and computers and into the never-ending world of exploration outdoors. There is no fee for parents to register their children.
TRACK Trail Adventures can be downloaded from the website or picked up at the trailhead. Once a trail is completed, kids go back to the website and answer some questions.
“The program is going great,” Urroz said. “We are getting seven-eight new kids a week. We're trying to get kids outdoors, off the couch and fighting childhood obesity and nature deficit disorder. If we can get children back outdoors, we can really make a change.”
Urroz said there are plans to continue expanding Kids in Parks. The next installment will be a disc golf course and nature trail at Owen High School in Black Mountain, opening Dec. 15, where children can pick up scorecards at the start of the nine-hole course that will teach them about their natural surroundings. Future disc golf nature trails are planned at Enka and North Buncombe high schools.
“Studies show that children are cognitively, physically and socially more advanced the more time they spend outdoors,” said Nina Veteto, who used to work in environmental education. “The kids love to go hiking. They run down the trail and climb trees. I tell everyone I know about it. It's free, it's safe and the kids love it.”
