CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUNDS IN PARKS AND FORESTS 



By SMITH RILEY, District Forester 



"The paths, the woods, the hoa'vens, the hills. 



Are not a world today, 

 But just a place God made for us 



In which to play." 



w 



HO of us but does not love the mountains with 

 their snow-capped peaks and forests and tum- 

 b 1 i n g 



that we are walking in the 

 with God of the open air." 



streams ? 

 More and more we 

 are coming to real- 

 ize that the Na- 

 tional Parks and 

 Forests of our 

 country are na- 

 ture's playground, 

 set aside as vaca- 

 tion joylands for 

 little folks and 

 big. John Muir 

 once said: 



"T h e tendency 

 now - a - days t o 

 wander in the wil- 

 derness is delight- 

 ful to see. Thou- 

 sands of tired, 

 nerveshaken, over- 

 civilized people are 

 beginning to find 

 out that going to 

 the mountains is 

 home ; 



PLENTY OF WORK IX THE AIR IS GOOD FOR TIIE.M 



Here we catch a glimpse of the Boy Scouts, in camp on the Pike National Forest in Colorado, 



at their regular morning exercises, part of the routine of camp life. 



going 

 that wilderness is a 

 necessity ; and that moun- 

 tain parks and reservations 

 are useful, not only as 

 fountains cf timber and ir- 

 rigating rivers, but as 

 fountains of life. 



"So we wander in search 

 of mountain wild flowers, 

 following the trails that 

 lead to the alpine meadows, 

 listening to the bird songs 

 as we pass, wrapped in the 

 peace of the perfect hills, 

 while all about us the infi- 

 nite beauty of things cre- 

 ated, the magic of the sum- 

 mer skies, the strength of 

 the far-flung bastions, the 

 purity of the eternal snows, 

 and the glory of the flow- 

 ers that bloom above the 

 clouds, bid us remember 



A YOUNG EXPONENT OF Ini i\ nil OPEN 



Ros)r<heeked and happy, he typifies the value of the opportunity offered 



by the recreational use of the National Forests. 



freedom of the garden wild 

 There are numberless men 

 and women who 

 see in the open 

 only discomfort 

 and apprehension. 

 Such people are 

 -tm largely dependent 

 |B upon the comforts 

 ^ of life, having re- 

 ceived no opportu- 

 nities in the active 

 days of their youth 

 to acquire a taste 

 for the things of 

 Nature and the 

 great outdoors. 

 Big places make 

 big thoughts, and 

 big thoughts make 

 big men and wo- 

 men. Can we not 

 then offer the use 

 of our Parks and 

 Forests as places 

 of education for 

 the citizens of this nation 

 in which to teach their 

 children the lessons of the 

 wilderness ? Mountain, 

 prairie, and walking clubs 

 are developing rapidly 

 throughout the country. 

 These offer outings to 

 those grownups who have 

 developed an appetite for 

 outdoor life, but only occa- 

 sionally is it possible for 

 parents to have their chil- 

 dren accompany them. 



There are two noted or- 

 ganizations, the Camp Fire 

 Girls and the Boy Scouts, 

 which take larger children 

 into the out-of-doors. The 

 children who join such 

 clubs have, as a rule, a nat- 

 ural taste for country or 

 mountain life, or have had 

 opportunities to develop 



