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Parkway Continues to Host Ranger Programs; Cone Estate Hikes and Jeopardy Games from June 13-17

June 12, 2012. The Blue Ridge Parkway Ranger Programs will continue to host variety of guided tour s around the Cone Estate and parkway locations around Blowing Rock this week.

Rangers have been hosting guided tours of Flat Top Manor, the beautiful, former home of Moses and Bertha Cone all summer. These tours occur all summer on Saturdays and Sundays at 9, 10 and 11 a.m. and into the afternoon at 2 and 3 p.m. But the Rangers will be playing host to several additional guided outdoor hikes starting this Wednesday afternoon. These events will go on until Oct. 21. 

At 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 13, a ranger will lead a two-mile hike to discover the beautiful wildflowers on the Cone Estate. Particpants are advised to meet on the front porch of Milepost 294. The program, titled “Wildflower Walk” will last about one and a half hours and runs every Wednesday at the same time. 

Rangers have been hosting educational programs involving the wildlife and history of the parkway Friday and Saturday evenings this summer. These events will continue this upcoming week. 

On Friday, events will move to the Julian Price Park Ampitheater at Milepost 297, the Parkway will host “Share the Journey: Let’s Play Jeopardy on the Parkway! Participants will test their knowledge about the great and small beauties that define the parkway.

You can test your knowledge once again on Saturday at 7 p.m. by visiting the “Duck, Duck, Goose” event, also being held at the ampitheater at milepost 297. Do ducks shed? Do Canadian geese migrate? Discover these answers and more in the Parkway’s water fowl installment of Jeopardy. A ranger will host this 45-minute event on wood ducks and Canadian geese. 

Events will wrap up Sunday evening with a tw0-mile hike of Moses and Bertha Cone’s final resting place, the Cone Cemetery. Rangers will educate participants on the life of the Cone Family, both their good and bad times. The hike will begin on the Cone Manor porch. Water, walking shoes and a flashlight are recommended for this 1.5 hour hike. 

All programs are free and open to the public.