National Park Family Day is a FREE, family-friendly event that brings your northwest national parks to you! It has been said that the National Park System, which includes many of our nation’s most precious, revered and significant treasures, reflects who we are as a people and as a nation—that America’s spirit is reflected in the National Park System.

This year’s event on Saturday, May 19th 10am–4pm hosted by NPCA will be even bigger and better than before with a multitude of hands-on, kid-friendly activities. Park Rangers from Olympic, North Cascades, and Mt. Rainier National Parks will be on-hand for demos and to answer all your park questions. Local organizations will be on-site teaching families about the wonders, culture and history of our national and local parks, conservation, and wildlife. Kids will also have the opportunity to become Family Day Jr. Rangers and enter the Raffle Drawing to Win Fabulous Prizes including an America the Beautiful—Annual Park Pass!

Family Fun Activities:
11am to Noon—Live Wildlife Encounter with the Woodland Park Zoo

12:15 to 2:15pm—Camping 101 Demonstrations
How to Make Delicious Camp Treats, Identifying Animal Tracks, Learn to Set up a Tent, while covering the Ten Essentials for Safe Hiking & Camping, Stay Safe with the Lost But Found, Safe & Sound Program

2:30 to 3pm—What Are You Trying To Tell Me?
Wolf Body Language by Wolf Haven International

Participating Organizations Include:
National Parks Conservation Association, National Park Service, Seattle Parks & Recreation, Puget Sound Energy, Seattle Tilth, Mt Rainier National Park, Washington’s National Park Fund, Woodland Park Zoo, Student Conservation Association, Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, National Wildlife Federation, Green Trails Maps/NW Link, Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center, Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, EarthCorps, Wolf Haven, Washington Wild, Outdoor Recreation Interagency Center, Red Tricycle, Mountain to Sound Greenway Trust, North Cascades Institute, Seward Park Audubon Center, Bike Works, Washington Native Plant Society, YMCA/B.O.L.D, Oregon Caves National Monument, NatureBridge, Olympic National Park, Talking Rain, and Snoqualmie Tribes.

View the 2012 Family Day event graphics project page. See previous years family day event graphics from Fort Vancouver NHS and Seattle.

National Geographic has a cool selection of vintage U.S. Parks posters. The posters were produced in response to the Great Depression as part of the WPA, artwork was created for public buildings while assisting struggling artists. Our current Great Recession has inspired more and more people to get out and enjoy a relatively cheap national parks vacation. There is always a silver lining. The poster above kind of reminds me of The Way In materials we designed for the Washington Parks and Forest Coalition.

This free event hosted by NPCA and NPS is filled with fun, hands-on activities for the entire family. This event will feature kid-friendly activities including rock climbing, wildlife encounters, a wild puppet show, and Junior Park Ranger programs. Park Rangers from Olympic, North Cascades, and Mount Rainier National Parks will be sharing stories about the wonders of our national parks.

Proudly sponsored by Puget Sound Energy, Slalom Consulting, Discover Your Northwest, The Mountaineers, REI, KCTS 9, and NWCN.

From Wired:

The area around the mountain was devastated by the collapse of the northern flank of the mountain in what amounted to one of the largest landslides ever recorded, which buried 24 square miles of land under as much as 600 feet of debris. The nine-hour eruption blew 520 million tons of ash over 230 square miles and knocked down 14 billion board feet of timber. Fifty-seven people died, including one geologist, and more than $1 billion in damage (1980 dollars) was done, making it the most destructive eruption in U.S. history. Video of a few minutes of the eruption can be seen below.

I am going to climb this monster in August!

By the way, Mount St. Helens should be a National Park, write your representative.

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is the gateway to the Pacific Northwest national parks and the only national park in the Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area. In the heart of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve, the National Park Service at Fort Vancouver invites its community to Family Day. FREE of charge.

NPCA and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park host Seattle’s first annual NW National Park Family Day, at Steward Park on May 2nd. I can’t think of a better way to start the week than with a new project that celebrates our abundance of national parks in the NW.

Most Seattleites are well aware of the NW’s majestic beauty. Seriously, with mountain views in all directions we are quite spoiled. But did you know that Washington state has 14 National Park units? 12 of them are within 175 miles from Seattle. Of course everyone sees Mount Rainier NP on a clear day, and longs to go to Olympic NP to see the rain forest, sea stacks, or hot springs, but have you heard of the others? In Pioneer Square we have Klondike Gold Rush. To the north of Seattle we have Ebey’s Landing, San Juan Island, North Cascades NP, Ross Lake, and Lake Chelan. To the west we have Lake Roosevelt, Nez Perce and Whitman Mission. To the South there is Fort Vancouver, and the Lewis and Clark Trail. Wow. That makes for a numerous road trips, each brimming with their own natural wonders and historical significance.

We designed National Park Family Day Event graphics in 08 and 09 for a similar event hosted by NPCA and Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Not too worry Portlanders, Fort Vancouver is hosting this annual event on Saturday, May 15th.

Here’s a Google map of the NW National Parks. NPCA.org is a another great resource planning your next park visit!

Clans of the notoriously skittish Northwest Homo-Sapien are invited to shake off their cabin fever and roam wild for an afternoon at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Luring people in with free admission and inventive graphics influenced by the region’s topography, the Northwest National Parks provide a few moments with each unit’s Alpha. Environmental groups such as the National Park Conservation Association know that with each smile and friendly exchange vitality of our country’s irreplaceable national parks is ensured for future generations. Educational activities for the children and guided tours foster a communal atmosphere, turning new patrons into park regulars.

Seattle’s National Park Family Day Event will be on Saturday, June 25th.

Our design challenge was to communicate the gravity of the situation and inspire people to act. The deep blue hues in the color scheme denote the ominous effects of nature. The bright green signals the hope of renewal.

Alluring photographs juxtapose the majestic with the catastrophic. Doely and Geyer capture the grandeur of Olympic, Rainier, and North Cascade national parks. The Park Service’s photos depict the devastation and the information graphics highlight those areas. Our simplistic approach to cartography clearly conveys  landmarks and park boundaries. You can connect each photo with its location on the park map. This makes the destruction real and relevant. Every aspect of the exhibit emphasizes the need for help.