Put your best foot forward in 2025! Join Ranger Hughes for a nature walk along the Fox Den Loop Trail for Lake James State Park’s first guided hike of the year. We’ll also have free hot chocolate as a treat after the hike!   Meet in the Catawba River Area (McDowell County side) office breezeway at the day-use parking lot. This hike is 2.25 miles long and considered moderate.

What a better way to ring in the New Year than by taking a hike with a Ranger? Meet at the swim beach parking lot for a 1 to 1.5-mile hike. Participants will get a First Day Hike sticker following the hike! No registration needed. Bring water and dress for the weather. Closed-toed shoes are recommended.   Photo of First Day Hike 2018 by E. Harmon. First Day Hikes logo from the National Association of State Park Directors.

Give back to your local state park with a Day of Service. Dress for the weather, bring work gloves, and water. Project will be decided closer to the date based on weather. 

Ring in 2025 early at the annual Noon Year’s Eve celebration! Enjoy a full museum of family friendly activities and a countdown to noon with an epic balloon drop.

Ring in 2025 early at the annual Noon Year’s Eve celebration! Enjoy a full museum of family friendly activities and a countdown to noon with an epic balloon drop.

Discover the awesome power of sound! Create sound waves in a tube. Match mystery sounds. Test your hearing. Sort high and low pitches on a turntable. Can you locate a cricket and cat in a kitchen just by listening? Mix a soundtrack. Launch a sound wave toward an eardrum. How many decibels can you produce with your own voice? Team up and let out a roar in the Scream Chamber! SONIC SENSATION is on exhibit September 7, 2024 through January 5, 2025 at the Children’s Museum & Science Center at the Imperial Centre for the Arts & Sciences in Rocky Mount. Admission is $6 per person and includes the Maria V. Howard Arts Center, Living Marsh, Live Animal Gallery and more.     

Turtles and tortoises face threats from habitat challenges and the international pet trade. You can help these reptiles survive and migrate safely! Play Turtle Migration in a giant board game. Track a hidden turtle using telemetry. See how shell shapes suit different lifestyles and habitats. Design a turtle-friendly housing development. Find out what a loggerhead sea turtle sees as it swims!TURTLE TRAVELS will be on exhibit from Saturday, January 25 through Sunday, May 4, 2025, at the Children’s Museum *& Science Center at the Imperial Centre for the Arts & Sciences in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.Admission is $6.00 per person and also includes the PPNC Live animal Gallery and Living Marsh exhibits as well as exhibits at the Maria V. Howard Arts Center. 

Join us as we celebrate one of our most precious resources, water, on Earth Day 2025! Participants will engage in interactive water-related activities and learn the importance of water quality protection. From looking at macroinvertebrates to watching a 3-D watershed model demonstration, participants will learn how humans can play a positive role in the watershed. Please register for event by calling the Visitor Center, 704-528-6350.

Bring your warm jacket and join a Ranger out on Park Lake for a winter canoe ride! We will look for wildlife and learn about some of the history of the park. Limit to 8 participants, please call the Visitor Center to register at 704-528-6350.