New York State Partners with The North Face to Encourage Outdoor Activity

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation today joined with The North Face to announce a partnership encouraging families to get outdoors and enjoy the state parks with the Explore Your Parks program. The initiative promotes access to healthy recreational opportunities at select state parks in the New York City metropolitan area.

"We are pleased to partner with The North Face and its Explore Your Parks program to champion healthy outdoor lifestyles and increase access for New Yorkers to a number of our popular state parks in the greater New York region," said Rose Harvey, Commissioner of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. "These successful public-private partnerships help us reach broader audiences to promote awareness of our state's incredible natural assets and enhance the overall visitor experience."

The North Face retailers provide shoppers with passes to a state park in that area, along with a custom guide that promotes activities such as hiking, biking and camping, as well as featured parks in the vicinity to find those activities. The program includes interpretive signs offering visitors tips about exercising in the outdoors, and ways for children to connect with nature and view wildlife. In New York, the participating state parks include Fahnestock, Rockefeller Park Preserve, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bear Mountain in the Hudson Valley, Riverbank in New York City and Hempstead Lake on Long Island. The program culminates with an October 8 public event from 10:00 am -12:30 pm at Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park in Yorktown Heights.

The North Face, along with American Hiking Society, Leave No Trace, National Park Trust and eight state park systems, have teamed up for Explore Your Parks across the country. The program is in its second year, expanding from a pilot in Washington D.C. with Maryland and Virginia State Parks to now also including park systems in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and Oregon.

"At The North Face, we're committed to encouraging more people to get outdoors and we want to bring attention to the dozens of unique places to explore nature close to home within our treasured state parks system" said Todd Spaletto, president of The North Face. "Because last year was such a success, this year we're expanding the Explore Your Parks program from one to seven cities to help maintain access to front country opportunities for even more people."

"The Explore Your Parks initiative is a wonderful complement to National Park Trust's Buddy Bison school program. We are delighted to be a national partner with The North Face and their family-friendly program. Students, parents and teachers, especially those from underserved communities, will benefit from and become more engaged with the numerous New York state park recreational opportunities" said Grace Lee, executive director of National Park Trust.

Consumers who want to learn about how to receive a free day pass and activity guide to local parks in their area from The North Face should visit www.exploreyourparks.com.

About The North Face®

The North Face, a division of VF Outdoor, Inc., was founded in 1968. Headquartered in San Leandro, California, the company offers the most technically advanced products in the market to accomplished climbers, mountaineers, snowsport athletes, endurance athletes, and explorers. The company's products are sold in specialty mountaineering, backpacking, running, and snowsport retailers, premium-sporting goods retailers and major outdoor specialty retail chains.

About New York State Parks

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees 178 state parks and 35 historic sites. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com, connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.

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