LCNP Tour Guide Program

The Conestee Foundation is developing a team of volunteer park guides to assist groups with park tours.

The Conestee Foundation is frequently asked by school groups, scout troops, civic organizations, or nature study groups to provide guided tours of Lake Conestee Nature Park.  These requests are often more than our staff can respond to, so we are training volunteer tour guides to assist with these requests.  Our objective is to train and maintain a core team of about 12-15 volunteer tour guides.

LCNP Tour Guides will be trained in the basic knowledge and history of the park.  The basic training will include:

• Safety, security, and park patron protection at LCNP
• Non-allowed activities at the park
• Orientation to the trail system and key park features
• History of human activities in the park and surrounding communities
• Historic Conestee Mill
• Historic Lake Conestee Dam
• Natural history of LCNP
• Wildlife at the park
• Major ecosystems of the park
• Environmental conditions in former Lake Conestee
• Orientation to the Reedy River watershed
• The Conestee Foundation and LCNP
• Volunteer opportunities at LCNP

The park guides will be asked occasionally to conduct tours (typically 2-3 hrs) for various small groups. These requests will be rotated among the guides to minimize the scheduling burden.

Dave Hargett, Executive Director of the Conestee Foundation, will typically conduct the training.  Training will take place at 1:30-4:30 pm on the first Tuesday of each month (typically, subject to change), with the first Thursday as a rain date.  If you want to sign up to be a LCNP guide, contact Drew Gonick, Project Coordinator, at conesteepark@gmail.com.

Volunteer park guides that completed the orientation program on 22 February are from left: Jonathan Smith & Betsy George

A hearty group of volunteer tour guide trainees braved the 35 degree weather on 7 December to learn about LCNP. From left, Lynne Nachman, Larry Candler, Bob Thorn, Fred Echeverria, and CF Ex Dir Dave Hargett

Volunteer LCNP guides that completed the orientation program on 4 January 2011 are from left: Jim Gossett, Anne Martin, Tom Kester, and Paul Serridge.