PRAIRIE GROVE, Ark — Arkansas State Parks participated in the annual Green Friday, inviting the public outdoors.
Green Friday is a yearly event at Arkansas State Parks that provides programs for the public to enjoy the outdoors.
"The idea of Green Friday began several years ago when outdoor co-op REI shut its doors on Black Friday to encourage people to choose time outdoors over fighting it out in the aisles. Although, Arkansas State Parks has been encouraging people to spend time outdoors with family and friends or alone in nature for many years to destress from the hustle and bustle of life," the Arkansas State Parks' website said.
One of the many parks participating was the Prairie Grove State Park. This year the park prepared 2 scheduled battlefield walking tours, a historic house tour, and a nature journaling program. Park interpreter Mattison Griffin led families through the programs on Green Friday.
"A lot of times with state parks, you get to go out and enjoy different portions of nature. Whereas, here you get to actually dive into history that occurred here locally," Griffin said.
Their battlefield walking tour takes visitors through the eastern end of the battlefield where some of the heaviest fighting took place during the Civil War. A dozen visitors took the guided tour and had the opportunity to ask many questions about the historic battle.
"In the group that we just had, many of them were from out of town. So it was really nice to have them coming in, enjoying, learning about history in a town that they're not familiar with," Griffin said of the first group in the battle tour.
The state park interpreter said Green Friday is just one day out of the year and encourages the public to stop by any day. The state park is open from sun up to sundown with programming throughout the year. You can find out more about their events and the state park on their website.
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