New facilities

ready for Elk Knob

Community Day
By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

Interim visitor facilities at Elk Knob State Park in Watauga County are in place in time for the park’s Annual Elk Knob Headwaters Community Day, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation.

The facilities are among the first significant improvements to the five-year-old state park and will be featured, along with local performers, musicians, naturalists and crafts makers, during Community Day, which is Saturday, Sept. 13.

The new facilities include a ranger contact station, three parking areas and picnic grounds. A maintenance compound is in the design stage, and construction continues on a new hiking trail to the 5,520-foot summit of the knob itself.

“We’re very proud of these new facilities that will help visitors enjoy this developing state park and the community should share that pride,” park superintendent Larry Trivette said.

“The park staff has had tremendous help from volunteers, and the upcoming community day will be a chance for all of us to celebrate the achievement.”

The Elk Knob maintenance and ranger staff did much of the preconstruction preparation and landscaping and built the picnic grounds, while volunteers have logged nearly 1,500 hours in the ongoing summit trail project.

The park started as a state natural area in 2003 and became a state park last year. With additional purchases, the park now encompasses 2,891 acres, including land on the adjoining Snake Mountain and on the Peak in neighboring Ashe County.

The community day event is sponsored by the Elk Knob Community Heritage Organization, Elk Knob State Park and the Appalachian State University Sustainable Development Program with support from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. The celebration is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and features entertainment and a covered-dish lunch. ASU’s Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Program will collect oral histories and scan photographs during the event.

Admission is a covered dish, delivered before lunch. No glass containers or alcohol is allowed, and beverages will be provided.

Elk Knob will also participate in Take a Child Outside Week from Sept. 24 to 30.

Elk Knob is located on Meat Camp Road. For more information, call (828) 297-7261.

Elk Knob Headwaters Community Day

Schedule of Events: (subject to change)
11:00 a.m. Dollar Boys
11:40 a.m. Maggie Idol
11:45 a.m. Welcome –
Larry Trivette, superintendent of Elk Knob State Park
Bernie Edwards, board president, EKCHO
11:55 a.m. Prayer – Scotty Eller
noon Forget-Me-Nots
12:50 p.m. Sweet Briar Jam
1:30 p.m. Back Porch Bluegrass
2:00 p.m . Saunders Family
2:50 p.m. Hubbards Family
3:30 p.m. The Lost Faculty

Cultural Demonstrations and Activities: (subject to change)
Pottery by Jimmy Saverly and Jennifer Gardner
Horse-drawn Wagon Rides by R.J. Main
Corn Shuck Dolls by Susan Hazlewood and Janie Dotson
Medicinal Herbs by Diana Donovan
Chair Caning by Amy Michels
Quilting by Evelina Idol and Geneva Roark
Yarn Spinning by Jane Plaugher
Old Time Games and Environmental Programs by North Carolina Park Rangers