Wampum chapter of North Country Trail teams with Tiger Pause to get kids out hiking

ENON VALLEY ― “How many of you have been hiking in the woods before?” a North Country Trail volunteer asked 20 students, ages 8 to 14, on a recent hike through a Beaver Valley portion of the trail.

"Only four small hands went up," recalled Tina Harkins, spokeswoman for the Wampum Chapter of the North Country Trail, which had partnered on the hike with Tiger Pause Ministry to give children from Beaver Falls a chance to experience the outdoors in a way that they can’t see it on the city’s downtown streets.

"The children had fun looking for a scavenger hunt list of items given to them by volunteer Yvette Jester, hiking about a mile into the woods and back in a trail section that is nestled between the Pennsylvania Turnpike and the Little Beaver Creek, observing the local flora and fauna, and skipping stones into the creek," Harkins said. "The students enjoyed a light lunch provided by volunteers and were encouraged by their Tiger Pause counselors to 'leave no trace' and clean up after themselves before departing.

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State and national parks and trails such as the 4,800-mile North Country National Scenic Trail became a pandemic escape for many. Kids can benefit from being out in nature as much or even more than adults, the Wampum trail association believes.

The Wampum Chapter hopes by exposing the children to hiking, a young, more diverse generation of hikers and future trail volunteers will emerge.

The Wampum Chapter hosts group hiking and trailwork-related events for other youth groups, church groups, schools or businesses. The group builds, maintains, protects and promotes the North Country Trail from its connection with the Buckeye Trail in the historic village of Zoar, Ohio to Alpha Pass at McConnells Mill State Park in Lawrence County.

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"We would love to have like-minded individuals join us in our mission," Harkins said, encouraging people to follow the chapter on social media.

Scott Tady is entertainment editor at The Times and easy to reach at stady@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: North Country Trail and Beaver Falls groups team up to get kids hiking