Submitted by Donna Petagrew via Facebook, she writes:
“My son George at the Tooth of Time summit peak (9,000 ft), Philmont Scout Ranch, Philmont New Mexico. This represented a summit in character as he had carried his teammate’s gear in order for both to reach the top together. The outdoors makes men out of boys.” — yes it does!
She won this nifty lamp sponsored by the Coleman Company!
I also have to share with you our very close runner-up (by one vote!), submitted by Cydonie Brown, of a beautiful smiling sister National …

A photo of Edward Barnieh’s sister and mother, 8 months pregnant with him, taken in February 1978 by his dad in an urban park in Bloomsbury, UK. He holds that picture up in the exact same place February 2010.

What memories do you have of your family enjoying nature? What can we imagine of our future in nature?

Get out Saturday to enjoy and support your local public lands.

National Parks are free to enter!

Click to find a location near you!
 

 What is National Public Lands Day?
National Public Lands Day (NPLD) is the nation’s largest, single-day volunteer event for public lands in the United States. In 2011, NPLD will be held on September 24, 2011. Register a site for NPLD or volunteer.
NPLD began in 1994 with three sites and 700 volunteers. It proved to be a huge success and NPLD became a yearly tradition, typically held on the last Saturday in September.  Since the …

Teresa Baker shared on Facebook her time today at the Muir Woods National Monument.
Where were YOU spotted on Sunday in the outdoors?

In collaboration with the East Bay Regional Parks, Urban Tilth, and Richmond Spokes, Outdoor Afro helped to produce today’s “Greenway to Greenway” community bike ride.
 

 
The ride was suited for all ages, and designed for riders to explore the benefits of local “green” transportation corridors that also connect us with nature.

Our group assembled at the train station, where our bikes were checked by cycle wizard Brian Drayton, founder of Richmond Spokes. After a brief intro and safety talk, we cruised 14 miles along the Ohlone and Richmond Greenways.
We stopped along the …

Submitted by Outdoor Afro contributor Reginald James, who reflects nostalgically on a recent swim in a local lake with friends.
A few weekends ago, I went swimming with a group of friends at Lake Anza at Tilden Park in Berkeley for the third year in a row.
The idea for a swim began through a 2009 Twitter conversation with my friend Charles Perkins. As a child in Berkeley public schools, Lake Anza had “childhood nostalgia” for Perkins. He remembered swimming at the lake more than the nearby WIlliard Pool while he was …

Last spring, I helped to organize a local event as part of a national campaign to get people connected to nature. As much as I wanted to share how wonderful the event was, how well attended and rich the experience, until now I was unable to do so because there was a part of the experience that day that pained me, and has since sat like a lump in the back of my throat.

All the time I hear reasons why African-Americans do not engage with the outdoors. From experience, I …

Contributed by Roger Porter, who discovers something amiss during his recent trip to the beach with his daughter. He shares a thought provoking perspective. Please leave a comment below with your reactions.
Today I found myself at Natural Bridges State Park near Santa Cruz, CA. Natural Bridges is the perfect place to go on a warm spring day because of its magnificent beach and the breathtaking views. The people are beautiful too, and they seemed to represent every corner of the world…every corner except mine. I realized as I was showing …

Join National Park Service ranger Betty Reid Soskin and Rue Mapp of the social network Outdoor Afro as they discuss the state of African American participation in our national and regional parks.
I am honored to share the stage with Ms. Betty Soskin, who will share personal memories of East Bay life and working conditions during World War II and show a short film about Richmond’s Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park.

Following Ms. Soskin’s presentation, I will highlight the variety of city and regional parks in the …

Inspired by recent Outdoor Afro Facebook and Twitter conversations, Virgina State Parks let me know about a recent article they posted, written by John Gresham, about how to enjoy the wonderful changes in the weather — thanks VSP for allowing us to share such a timely post — read on:
For many people, the season to enjoy the state parks is over.  The thermometer barely hits 50 degrees on a warm day.  Snow is in the forecast as early as Thanksgiving in some places.  It seems that the best way to …