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Contact: Kim Coons, 423-752-5213 x139
Lookout Mountain, TN: Join Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park for a National Trails Day weekend on June 6 and 7, 2015. In addition to learning about the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and their work on Lookout Mountain, visitors are encouraged to help continue the conservation corps legacy by volunteering for a project. On Saturday, June 6, join National Park Service staff and other volunteers for a trail workday on the Mountain Beautiful Trail, atop Lookout Mountain. All volunteers are invited to meet at Lookout Mountain Battlefield Visitor Center at 8:30 am, and staff will lead them to the worksite. Volunteers can expect to return to the visitor center at approximately 2 pm. Lunch will be provided to all volunteers and all tools and supplies will be provided as well. Volunteers are asked to wear long pants and sturdy, close-toed shoes. Please RSVP if you plan to volunteer by emailing william_sunderland@nps.gov or calling 423-752-5213 x137. On Sunday, June 7, meet a park ranger at Cravens House at 9 am for a three-hour mountain bike ride on Lookout Mountain. Participants will ride from Cravens House to Camp Demaray for a presentation by living historians portraying members of the CCC, who built the camp and many of the trails on Lookout Mountain. Following the presentation, participants are invited to ride with a ranger down the Upper Truck Trail. All participants must supply their own mountain bikes and water. This ride is appropriate for adults and children ages eight and older when accompanied by an adult. All participants are required to wear helmets. Both Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and 7, living history volunteers will be on Lookout Mountain at Point Park discussing the impact of the CCC on Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park and the United States as a whole. Programs will be presented on Saturday at 9:30, 10:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, and 3:30. On Sunday, programs will take place at 10:30, 12:30, 1:30, and 2:30. The Great Depression caused enormous stress and desperation among thousands of Americans as the economy fell apart, shattering family stability and throwing thousands out of work. Jobs were scarce and, unable to find work, tens of thousands of young men took to the roads and rails looking for work and adventure. Between 1933 and the outbreak of World War II, the CCC gave 2.5 million of these young, single men a job, an education, and a new hope for the future. In their wake, these young men transformed the nation's parks and left a legacy that visitors still enjoy today. |
Last updated: May 23, 2015