SD83 OUTDOOR LEARNING

Directions:  Hwy #1, 29 km east of Sicamous. Turn left onto Avoca Road West, after the Eagle River Campground and RV park. If you stay right, you will end up at the lower parking lot. If you turn left, up North Fork Forest Service Road and drive .8km up the road, you arrive at the upper parking lot. There is active logging on this road, so a 4 way radio is a must. *Note: If you google map this site, it comes up incorrectly as Perry River Road.

 

Description of site: Peter Jennings bought and built a home on this property in 1971. He gifted the property to the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District in 2013 to be used and protected as a conservation park. Sadly, Peter passed away on June 16, 2016. He will be greatly missed and was a good friend and inspiration to many of us. His obituary and a history of the park can be found here. One of his legacies rests in the incredible North Fork Wild Conservation park.

 

Peter described his property as follows:

 

A mere twenty hectares of wilderness bordering the North Fork - a river carrying meltwater from upstream glaciers. Amongst the wide range of plants and animals you can seek out, the 400-year-old Western Hemlock in the old forest or, dropping down to the river, scour the beach under the high cliffs for the diminuative Self-heal. You may be alerted by the hammering of the Pileated Woodpecker or, sitting in a sunny spot, have a Large Tortoiseshell butterfly alight at your side. And perhaps the pair of Bald Eagles heading up the valley towards Revelstoke are, as happened to Walter Moberly in 1865, showing you the route linking the country from sea to sea.

 

For Peter's full report on the property, click here.

 

The Shuswap Trail Alliance was contracted to design and build new trails and improve some of the older trails, while embracing their rustic and contemplative qualities. These trails are designed with schools in mind, and they will eventually include "pause points" where classes can gather for a mini-lesson or field study. They have allotted enough space for bus turn-a rounds and many of the trails are child friendly in their level of difficulty.      

 

The  trails are now completed and more detailed maps and information is available on the Shuswap Trail Alliance website trails page at this link.

 

The most current trail map can be viewed here.

 

Suitable for grades: K-12; although note that the mosquitoes are very challenging from mid-May to mid-July.

 

 

Other pertinent details: 

 

Picnic tables: Yes (upper parking lot)

Bathrooms: Yes, one at each of the upper and lower parking lots

Cell phone reception: Yes (Telus works perfect and Rogers not at all)

Adequate parking if necessary: Yes, and space for bus turn around

Shelter for students: rainshelter to be completed by spring 2017

Other useful amenities: beautiful boardwalks and interpretive signage to be completed soon.

 

Lesson plans:The following lessons were used as part of the May 16 Pro-D in 2014:

Carmen Dawkins - Hotels, Hide-outs and Restaurants

 

 

Curriculum connections: Science, Social studies, Art, Physical Education, L.A.