Arizona State Parks and the Friends of Oracle State Park invite the public to celebrate the reopening of Oracle State Park to the public beginning in February.
Bring your own picnic lunch to the park for opening day events Saturday. Admission is free that day, and gates on Mount Lemmon Road in Oracle will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Oracle State Park, Center for Environmental Education, has been closed since October 2009 due to a state budget crisis, but will open on a limited basis - Saturdays only - through April 28. Current funding will allow the park to be open again in the fall of 2012, September through November, again on Saturdays only.
During February, March, April, September, October and November, Oracle State Park will offer environmental-education programs for elementary schools and Scout groups in the greater Tucson-Pinal County area. Programs are offered on weekdays by reservation. For more information, go to azstateparks.com
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For more information about events at Oracle State Park, call the park office at 1-520-896-2425. For more information about the Arizona State Parks Board or any of the statewide programs, call 1-800-285-3703.
About the park
Oracle State Park, Center for Environmental Education, is a 4,000-acre wildlife refuge on the northern foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. The park was once the Kannally family ranch, and the Kannally Ranch House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Saturday's schedule
• 8 a.m.: Park gates open; free admission.
• 8:30 a.m.: Guided bird walk. Meet on the upper patio of the Kannally Ranch House.
• 10 a.m.-4 p.m.: Interactive educational booths, baked goods and treats at the historic Kannally Ranch House.
• 10 a.m.: Guided tour of the Kannally Ranch House. Repeated at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
• 11 a.m.: Oracle Odyssey Activity Sampler. Meet at the Group Use Area. Families and kids of all ages are invited to experience environmental-education trail activities on a 45-minute excursion. Oracle Odyssey, an environmental-education program designed for grades 4-6, focuses on habitat and interrelationships between plants, animals and people.
• Noon: Presentations in the living room of the Kannally Ranch House. Guests and speakers will include members of the Arizona State Parks executive staff and board, state legislators and members of the Friends of Oracle State Park.
• 1 p.m.: Oracle Adventure Activity Sampler. Meet at the Group Use Area. The Oracle Adventure Program offers activities using the five senses to explore the environment. The program is designed for grades 1-3, but this 45-minute excursion is popular with all ages.
• 2 p.m.: Guided tour of the Kannally Ranch House.
• 4 p.m.: Guided tour of the Kannally Ranch House.
• 5 p.m.: Park closes; it will reopen to the public again every Saturday in February, March and April with a $7 per-car admission fee.
