Kick off summer by joining in on free, outdoor activities and family fun at the 10th annual National Get Outdoors Day on Saturday, June 9 from 10 am to 3 pm at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Washington.

Kids and families can enjoy climbing a rock wall, meeting live birds of prey, catching a fish from a pond, participating in obstacle courses, soccer, archery, crosscut sawing and more! Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl, Ranger Rick, and their friends will be on hand to greet visitors. A historic fur trade encampment will re-enact life at Fort Vancouver during the 1840s.

National Get Outdoors Day is a national free event that encourages people, especially youth, to stay healthy and experience the outdoors by embracing our parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other public lands and waters. The Gifford Pinchot and Mt. Hood National Forests, Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, City of Vancouver, Parks Foundation of Clark County and many other public, private, and non-profit groups are partnering together to present this event, which is the second largest National Get Outdoors Day event in the country.

“We are appreciative so many partners and friends have come together to help get folks outside for healthy family fun,” said Gina Owens, Forest Supervisor for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. “Participants will have opportunities to learn outdoor recreation and our shared stewardship of our public lands.”

At Get Outdoors Day, visitors can also explore the annual Brigade Encampment, which re-enacts the return of Hudson’s Bay Company fur brigades to Fort Vancouver. Costumed re-enactors will demonstrate cooking, crafts, games, dances, and music of the 1840s. Hands-on activities and black powder demonstrations of replica 1840s weaponry will also take place.

“The Brigade Encampment allows people to see what life was like in the Pacific Northwest nearly 200 years ago,” said Fort Vancouver National Historic Site Superintendent Tracy Fortmann. “Volunteers at the Encampment will demonstrate outdoor skills, music, dancing, and other cultural traditions of the fur traders and their families.”

For additional information about Get Outdoors Day, visit: https://tinyurl.com/getoutdoorsvancouver

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What: National Get Outdoors Day & Brigade Encampment

Where: Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, along East 5th Street, near Pearson Air Museum, 1115 E. Fifth St., Vancouver, WA 98661

When: June 9, 2018, 10 am to 3 pm

Cost: Free

Contact Info:
Contact: Gala Miller, US Forest Service, (360) 891-5014

More at https://www.nps.gov/fova/learn/news/goday2018.htm