Alabama State Parks earn 17 TripAdvisor Awards for 2017
TripAdvisor, an industry leader in online travel reservation services and user reviews, has presented 17 Certificate of Excellence awards to 11 Alabama State Parks for 2017. The 17 awards are the most ever for Alabama’s State Parks, tying last year’s number of honors from the world’s largest travel site. Gulf State Park earned four awards, and Joe Wheeler State Park Lodge earned its first Certificate of Excellence mention. DeSoto State Park was awarded a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor for its mountains, nature and wildlife areas, such as the splendid DeSoto Falls, along with one for the overall park. (Photo / Mike Perrin) Gulf State Park was honored for its overall park, its piers and boardwalks, its campground and for the Hugh Branyon Backcountry Trail. Lake Guntersville State Park, DeSoto State Park and Joe Wheeler State Park received two awards each. Along with its first award for lodging at Joe Wheeler State Park Lodge, the park also was honored for the overall park experience. Gulf State Park was awarded four Certificates of Excellence from TripAdvisor for 2017, including one for the Gulf State Park Pier. The pier offers 2,448 feet of fishing space along its rails. (Photo / Lynn Jordan) “We all know how important Joe Wheeler is in attracting tourists to North Alabama,” said Tami Reist, president and chief executive officer of the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association. “The park is such a wonderful place to spend time in the outdoors in Alabama, and we are so pleased that TripAdvisor’s users recognized it this year.” DeSoto State Park was mentioned for its mountains, nature and wildlife areas, along with an overall park certificate. Guntersville picked up a lodging award for the Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge and an overall award for the park. In 2016, Lake Guntersville State Park was ranked No. 1 on TripAdvisor’s “25 Travel Destinations with Skyrocketing Vacation Rental Interest” list. TripAdvisor, which has more than 500 million reviews and opinions posted online, is a major driver of tourists to new destinations across the country. The Hugh S. Branyon Backcountry Trails were singled out for an award from TripAdvisor. The trails are part of the Gulf State Park. (Photo / Alabama State Parks) “We’re thrilled that TripAdvisor users love our parks as much as we do,” said Greg Lein, Alabama State Parks director. “Our staff works hard to make sure visitors have first-class experiences enjoying our beautiful state, and it’s nice to be recognized. Joe Wheeler State Park Lodge earned a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Award for 2017. (Alabama State Parks photo) “Services like TripAdvisor are important to get the word out about our parks to people who love the outdoors, but may have not considered visiting Alabama. We have a great track record with repeat visitors, proof that when you come to an Alabama State Park you’ll enjoy your experience. There’s something for everyone at our parks.” Every park in the Alabama State Parks System is benefiting from the passage of Amendment 2 in last November’s election, which by prohibiting parks’ funds from being transferred allows for renewed maintenance projects. Regular maintenance and other improvements help influence visitors to make Alabama State Parks their outdoors recreation destination. The other awards from TripAdvisor were for best parks. Those honorees are Cathedral Caverns, Monte Sano, Oak Mountain, Wind Creek, Cheaha, Lakepoint and Chewacla. Republished with permission of Alabama NewsCenter.
Linda B. Reynolds: Enrich the lives of your children, vote ‘yes’ on Amendment 2
Several people have written op-ed pieces on the upcoming Amendment 2, which will allow state parks to keep the money they generate. I want to emphasize the state parks as a great big outdoor classroom, teaching all subjects and providing a great time in the process. I spent almost 20 years as the naturalist at Lake Guntersville State Park and I visited schools in 10 counties. Also, those schoolchildren came to the park on field trips. I had pre-school, elementary, junior high, high school, and university students. Then there were the professors who were studying something unique like bats, salamanders, fish, etc. One professor even came from the University of Northern Ontario to study our various crabapple trees. Almost every time I went to a school, shortly after, a child would come to my park office and announce that they were camping (for the first time). Then they would say, “You came to my school”. Lake Guntersville State Park is lucky to have old homesites clustered around a number of springs. It also has an old cemetery, so not only did we study the plants and animals, we studied history. We studied English language from the poetry on the tombstones and art history from the symbols on those grave markers. The numerous baby graves led to discussions about how important it is to be vaccinated. We used the golf course sometimes at night when planetarium personnel would do astronomy events. We went on night hikes to listen to owls and see glowworms. One time, I had just read that city children sometimes have trouble walking in the woods. A few weeks later, I had an inner-city Girl Scout troop for a hike. A few yards down the trail, they began to fall down. Then I told them what I had read and we all got the giggles. After a few mishaps, all was fine and we had a great time. I am a firm believer in exposing children to the natural world and there is no better way than taking them to a state park. At Lake Guntersville State Park, I gave kids opportunities to help our program. We did not do the Junior Ranger thing. We had Associate Naturalists. They donated exhibits to the Nature Center display, they helped care for the orphaned animals that I always seemed to acquire — especially the opossums. They helped clean the aquarium, bathed the Box turtles and chauffeured me in the golf cart when I needed to monitor the bluebird boxes. They helped with the trail work and learned something in the process. We had college students from all over the U.S. who served as interns. Now they are teachers, National Park workers, or serve in some other outdoor professions. I never tired of seeing the expression on a child’s face: a 4-year-old with a butterfly, or a child of any age when they saw their first bald eagle. Several parks have naturalists on duty, and if they don’t, they can probably round up a volunteer to guide a class of children. And, parents, hiking with your children is a fun and exciting thing to do. And it’s CHEAP! Today’s children are tomorrow’s park users and we all need to nurture their interest in what is outside. Every state park has something unique: waterfalls, CCC structures, caves, lakes, beaches — something wondrous. So come on folks, mark that ballot for Amendment 2. ••• Linda B. Reynolds, is a retired park naturalist for the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Greg Lein: Alabama parks face an uncertain future, for now all parks are open to enjoy
In the wake of the announcement to close five state parks and cut services and hours at other parks around the state, there have been many questions asked about the future of our state parks and what citizens can do to help. The best way to support the parks is to get out and visit them! ALL of Alabama’s State Parks are still open to guests and we hope citizens will get out and visit them as our peak fall foliage viewing time arrives over the next few weeks around the state. This week will be one of the last opportunities for many to visit these parks before they close. On October 15 the following parks will close their gates: Bladon Springs, Chickasaw, Paul Grist, Roland Cooper and Florala. I want to be clear with the public that currently all parks are open. We are working diligently to formulate a plan for the future of the state parks system. Finding a long-term solution is difficult as the parks system is faced with an unprecedented situation. Over the past five years $15 million has been transferred from the parks’ budget to the general fund budget. There is difficulty in creating long- and short-term plans for the parks because there is so much uncertainty about the future of the parks’ funding. The future of the parks becomes a philosophical question of value: Do Alabamians believe the state should operate and manage a parks system affordable to all? Or will financial constraints force the parks system to move to a model where only affluent citizens can afford a day hike at their local park? In the future, if the Legislature continually transfers funds from the state parks system’s coffers, our parks will continue to be forced to adjust services accordingly. Our parks system has tightened its belt since 2012 when these transfers began. Despite seeing our money siphoned to other areas of government, we’ve been successful in helping our entire system thrive. For the first time in nearly two decades all facilities at the parks are operational, and we were able to have one of our best peak seasons ever this summer. Unfortunately, we’re now seeing nearly all of the revenue made off this record season transferred to the general fund. The state parks system is just that, a system. Some parks, like Lake Guntersville and Gulf State, gross more than tenfold what smaller parks gross each year. All parks have benefitted from money spent at each and every park. The money goes to a fund shared by all parks, and the larger parks absorb the costs associated with parks slated to close across the state. With our funds depleted again, we’re not able to sustain this model and these smaller parks no longer have the necessary funding to operate. Our parks have entered into many concessionaire agreements, where private businesses operate attractions at the parks, with the parks system receiving a portion of those revenues. Attracting and maintaining these concessionaire agreements will be difficult for the parks in the future, as no business wants to make a risky investment at a park that could close in a year, two years, maybe five years. These concessionaires have been important in growing our parks system by helping to attract guests. These attractions were a reason the parks had such a successful summer season. As the leaves change and fall colors paint the state, I encourage you to visit your parks. Consider hosting a Thanksgiving picnic at one of our parks or braving the trails at one of the Halloween attractions offered at numerous parks. The future of the state parks system depends on the people who love the parks getting out and visiting them. We hope you’ll join us this fall at one of our beautiful state parks. Greg Lein is the director of the Alabama State Parks.
