National Great Outdoors Month

National Great Outdoors Month is celebrated in June and serves as a reminder to enjoy and appreciate our state parks and wildlife refuges. This observation, begun in 1998, encourages us to explore our parks and enjoy the beauty that awaits us in our natural world.

National Great Outdoors Month is celebrated in June and serves as a reminder to enjoy and appreciate our state parks and wildlife refuges. This observation, begun in 1998, encourages us to explore our parks and enjoy the beauty that awaits us in our natural world.

Sumter National Forest (S.C.) Stop 5
Episode 5

Video

Rudy and Jim see the tell-tale signs of a beaver, coming in the form of chew marks on the base of a large tree. A skeleton of a gray fox is found nearby. A gray fox has ridges on the skull, whereas a...
Sumter National Forest (S.C.) Stop 7
Episode 7

Video

Rudy and Jim find an unusually large Devil’s Walking Stick, which is usually around one third the size of the one shown here! Horse Sugar, Yellow Bellwort, and Birdsfoot violets are more species of...
Sumter National Forest (S.C.) Stop 3
Episode 3

Video

Rudy and Jim move to the Long Cane Division of Sumter National Forest. Here, Umbrella magnolia is starting to bloom. Christmas fern and Jack-In-The-Pulpit, Faded trillium, Wild germanium, Baneberry...
Sumter National Forest (S.C.) Stop 6
Episode 6

Video

Here close to a stream, there is a high population of Mountain laurel trees, rhododendrons, Tuliptrees, Fraser magnolias, Halberdleaf violets, Rattlesnake plantains, Heartleaf, Poor Robin’s plantain...
Sumter National Forest (S.C.) Stop 1
Episode 1

Video

On this episode of NatureScene, Rudy and Jim visit Sumter National Forest. This area offers a wide variety of habitats, and springtime is the best time to visit these rolling hills. Here at the flood...
Sumter National Forest (S.C.) Stop 2
Episode 2

Video

This area features a wide variety of trees, such as beeches and maples. Lots of wild flowers popping up in this area as well, like Dwarf iris, and Rue anemone. Buckeye shrubs and Sweet shrubs can also...
Savannah River Site (S.C.) Stop 5
Episode 7

Video

This area is known as a “dry wetland” Here, Button bush, and Red maple trees thrive here. Under a nearby wooden board, Rudy and Jim find a Mole salamander, and a Ring-Neck snake. And in a nearby tree...
Savannah River Site (S.C.) Stop 6
Episode 8

Video

Rudy and Jim stop by another wetland, filled with Sphagnum moss, Swamp Tupelo trees, Sweet Bay trees, and Virginia Chain fern. All these plants thrive in areas such as this one, with increased...
Savannah River Site (S.C.) Stop 4
Episode 6

Video

A boardwalk takes Rudy and Jim from the hardwood area of the previous stop into a swamp forest. Here, Bald Cypress trees and Tupelo trees dominate. Lizard Tail, commonly found in this area, gets its...
Savannah River Site (S.C.) Stop 1
Episode 3

Video

Underneath the pine trees, another community of plants resides in the area: Yellow-ray flowers, Purple Vein milkweed, and Catbells.