A Passport to Ride

Originally Published in Southeastern Rider Magazine, January 2017

First off, let me get one thing straight, I’m a big boy, so I don’t need anyone’s permission to hop in the saddle and go for ride. However, I should mention that I do invite my favorite riding partner just to keep calm in the house. It’s the sensible thing to do.

I’m still in my honeymoon phase with North Carolina, we moved from Indiana in June of 2015. Even though I was a lifelong resident of the Hoosier State, and new plenty of great destinations to ride, finding ideas for new places was always on my radar. State Parks and Covered Bridges were always great place to ride and discover new strips of asphalt.

With that in mind, I have ventured to the Pisgah Covered Bridge, so Kasey, the aforementioned riding partner, and I decided to head out and discover the area of North Carolina that had been decided were picturesque enough to be set aside as state parks.

The 2017 North Carolina State Parks Passport. A revision was being created
as I was researching and writing this article.

In addition to being introduced to the parks, we were introduced to the Passport Program.  It is billed as the “North Carolina State Park Adventure”. It works very similar to the National Parks Passport Program. You get a book that lists all of the state parks with a place for a stamp. 

To learn more about North Carolina’s Program, I reached out to Catherine Locke, who is the first Marketing Director for North Carolina Parks. It’s hard to believe, but the state’s park system was almost a hundred years old before it hired a marketing person. That Centennial Celebration was also the source for the funding to start the program.

Besides the National Program, the Passports are also based on several other states that have
several programs. Even with that head start, Catherine told me it took six months of research, collecting photographs, and writing, and another quarter year to pull everything together into a design. Kind of like some of us who plan long motorcycles trips!

Passports started being issued in April of 2015, and with the help of WakeMed Health & Hospital, 50,000 of the stamp collecting books have been given out. They are currently collecting feedback to issue a new version, with improvements based on collector’s feedback.

Just what is Catherine hearing? Lots of comments like I made as we conversed. For those of us on two wheels, the prize is the journey to the park. I never plan to take the direct route to any destination, let alone a state park. You will be reading more about that in later issues. Not to sound like a television commercial, but there is more than just collecting stamps! Get ten ink markings in your Passport, make sure you have a Park Official validate your visits, and sign a Reward Redemption Page. You read that right, PRIZES!

Catherine told me that the main focus of the program is to get people outdoors, and into the state’s parks. Most of us that ride don’t need an excuse to ride, but the program appears to be working. Retails sales of park items and visitation is up! Even lessor known parks are seeing stamp seekers coming in for look, and, of course, to collect their stamp.

For those of you in neighboring states, South Carolina and Georgia also offer a Passport Program. For now, I think I will concentrate on the Tar Heel State. Besides they are in the midst of celebrating one hundred years of state parks. Something tells me that the Passport Program will be around for long time, too.

Our first stamp in our Passport - more stamps and ride reports to come.

I was also urged to let you know that state parks depend on the people who enjoy them. So in
addition to getting your stamp, take a look at the offerings in the park store. A scenic hike can be a great break from the saddle, and good leg stretch.

We ride to be free, so having permission is not always in our head as we slip on a helmet, but having a passport is not a bad idea to have on-board.

For more information:
North Carolina Parks & Recreation: http://www.ncparks.gov/
South Carolina Parks & Recreation: http://discoversouthcarolina.com
Georgia Parks & Recreation: http://www.grpa.org/

To read more of my motorcycle stories, you can check out my Motorcycle Blog at www.Blogspot.RodneysMCBlog.com