New Attractions To Be Unveiled Saturday At Edgar Evins State Park

Edgar Evins State Park will hold grand openings for two new attractions this weekend.

The new Hillside storybook trail will be unveiled Saturday. The trail, just under a mile in length, will feature blown up pages from a children’s book posted along the way.

Park Manager Kenny Gragg said the book being used is Where Butterflies Grow, which comes from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

“It fits in quite well with a lot of what we have going on here at the park, in the butterfly garden,” Gragg said. “We are also working on some butterfly corridors through the park.”

Gragg said the park got the storybook trail idea from Long Hunter State Park in Hermitage.

“I think we took the idea and made it better,” Gragg said.

The park will also unveil a new aviary that will soon be home to rehabilitated raptors and serve as an addition to the park’s interpretive center.

“The good thing about an aviary and having these birds on display is that people will get a chance to see them up close,” Gragg said. “People don’t necessarily get to see up close like they will with the aviary here.”

Gragg said the birds that will be housed at the aviary will be common to the area. He hopes to have owls, vultures, and even Red-Tailed Hawks.

“All the birds on display have been injured and will be non-releasable,” Gragg said. “They’re not able to survive in the wild on their own.”

Gragg said the birds won’t have a permanent residence in the aviary until the park receives a permit, but they will be on hand during Saturday’s grand opening.

A permit for the aviary will hopefully be awarded within the next few weeks, he said.

Saturday’s event will take place from 10 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.