State parks celebrating 75th anniversary with contests

In honor of the 75th anniversary of Nevada State Parks, the state is hosting two sets of contests open to park visitors.

Winners will receive prizes offered by State Parks or donated by various companies or non-profit organizations that either supply outdoor recreation equipment or offer services to the public within parks. The prizes include such things as outdoor theater production tickets at Sand Harbor and Spring Mountain Ranch, weekend cabin or yurt stays and kayak or ATV tours.

The first contest is comprised of two separate photo contests. In the first one, contestants can choose to visit any 12 different state parks over the next six months to qualify for a random drawing. The idea is to photograph the entrance sign at each park entrance, with or without family members in the photo, to prove you've been there.

The second photo contest involves more traditional photos in any of following three categories: park scenery, wildlife and family fun in the park. Winners will be judged and awarded prizes, including publication on State Parks' web site and in a future Nevada State Parks calendar.

The second contest set involves three geocaching challenges, including a northern region, southern region and a statewide challenge. Participants will need to use a Geographic Positioning System unit to locate a hidden cache in a number of designated state parks. Each cache will have a stack of business size cards unique to the park in which they are located. Participants are encouraged to collect cards from these parks and to send them to designated park offices with an entry form

The park entrance sign photo contest and the geocache challenge contest winners will be selected by random drawings. The drawings will take place as part of the Nevada Day celebration in Carson City in October.

Deadlines and information on each of the contests and their entry forms can be found on State Park's website at www.parks.nv.gov.

The Nevada Legislature first created the Nevada State Park system on March 26, 1935.