Allegheny Mountain Showcase – New Year’s Eve and First Day Hikes

A New Year’s Eve celebration at Garth Newel and First Day Hikes provide a great opportunity to ring in the in the new year while saying good-bye to the old.  Welcome the Allegheny Mountain Showcase – the calendar edition.

Garth Newel Music Center presents The Muse in Music on Tuesday December 31^st with a concert beginning at 7pm.   The piano trio of Teresa Ling on violin, Isaac Melamed on cello and Jeanette Fang on piano will present the Piano Trio in A Minor by Tchaikovsky and the Primavera Portena from the Four Seasons of Buenos Aires by Piazzolla.   The concert will be followed by dinner and dancing.  Tickets for the dinner-dance are sold out, but there are still tickets available for the concert.

The Garth Newel Piano Quartet

On New Years Day, Garth Newel will host the “Primary Colors” concert at Noon followed by an optional champagne brunch. The Garth Newel Piano Quartet will play the Piano Trio in G Major by Debussey and the Piano Trio in D Minor by Arensky.  As of December 27^th, tickets are still available for the concert and the brunch.  More information is available at garthnewel.org or 540-839-5018.

If fresh air and outdoors activity are more your style, you may want to check out of the several First Day Hikes offered at all 38 state parks in Virginia.  You can join a park ranger and master naturalist for a First Day hike at Douthat state park.  The moderate hike is a little over three quarters of a mile and follows Tobacco House Ridge trail from the intersection of Blue Suck Falls trail to White Oak campground and offers an outstanding view of Douthat Lake.  The hike begins at 1pm at the park’s Discovery Center.  You can find more information and a complete list of the First Day hikes in Virginia at dcr.virginia.gov.

Ten West Virginia state parks will offer guided First Day hikes on January 1^st including Cass Scenic Railroad state park.  Hikers will meet at the Cass Visitors Center at 1pm for a 3-mile round trip hike on a flat crushed gravel surface. Park Interpreter Kailey Gibson-Price will lead the hike.

Blackwater Falls is also offering a First Day guided hike that begins at 10am.  The hike will be on the one-and-a-half-mile Balsam Fir Trail.  Hikers will meet at the Nature Center near Pendleton Lake.

Both the Cass and the Blackwater Falls hikes will take about an hour to an hour and a half depending on weather conditions.  Hikers will receive a First Day patch at the conclusion of the hikes.

Hikers are reminded to dress for trail and weather conditions and please bring water and snacks. You can find more information about other guided hikes at wvstateparks.com.