First PRIDE hike through Wilderness Park is Saturday

By Brittany Ward
April 5, 2018

Courtesy Friends of Wilderness Park/Facebook.

This Saturday at 10 a.m., Friends of Wilderness Park and OUTLincoln will be having a one-hour guided tour through Wilderness Park.

The tour begins by meeting at the 1st Street parking lot entrance between Pioneers Boulevard and Old Cheney Road. Guided by Carolyn Nolte and Penny Castello, this event is the “brainchild” of Nolte, a board member of the nonprofit that works to preserve and improve the park.

“We wanted to offer an LGBTQA friendly outing (pun intended) in a beautiful area,” said Costello.

Adam Hintz, a past president and current board member, started the Wilderness Hiking Club. Costello said the club meets on the second Saturday of each month.

“Anyone to get their boots on the ground out there anytime,” Costello said.

This is the first year a PRIDE hike has been arranged, however, guided hikes through Wilderness Park have been happening for years. Ongoing and past events at the park; it has been a popular destination for Lincoln Public Schools’ science teachers to have projects and class, volunteer clean-up events in collaboration with Lincoln Parks and Recreation and sponsor scholarships for Wilderness Summer Nature Camps, organized by the Pioneers Park Nature Center.

Friends of Wilderness Park’s mission is to sustain the ecological integrity or Wilderness Park through education, preservation and community collaboration.

“In short, we want to connect, or maybe reconnect is more accurate, people with nature” said Costello.

Wilderness Park is approximately a 7-mile long riparian corridor (part of the floodplain closest to the channel) along the Salt Creek, stretching from 1st and Van Dorn to Saltillo Road in Lincoln. The park slows for floodwaters to spread out and reabsorb rather than flow into residential areas. Many unique plants and wildlife call Wilderness Park home, including bur oaks and bobcats. Each year, thousands of people utilize and enjoy the park from cyclists, dog lovers, equestrians, photographers and everything in between.

The organization is currently accepting applications for Summer Nature Camp Scholarships and the Native Plant Sale is underway. Upcoming events are KZUM and How’s It Growin’? Nature Walk with Bob Henrickson on April 14 and Community Cedar Cutting in Wilderness Park on April 21. More information on Facebook or on the website.

Brittany Ward is an editorial intern with KZUM.