On Saturday the chief park interpreter held a class for volunteers who are involved in interpretation of the park to the visitors. There were ten students and even the park superintendent attended. The title was "A to Z of Government Canyon" and the subjects ranged from aquifer to Zizelman, and everything in between. The day began with about an hour in a classroom and then we headed out on to the trails of the park. We stopped frequently to discuss different things and how to present them to the public. We covered everything from answering visitors questions to dealing with visitors who don't follow park rules. 

Although the weather could have been better and drizzled on us part of the day,  everyone agreed that the class was great and we all learned a great deal. This park is blessed with one of the most talented interpretative rangers that we have had the privilege of working with. John Koepke is an amazing guy and an inspiring instructor. We hiked about 5 1/2 miles in the course of the day and were back at park HQ by 3pm.  

This is one of those parks that really have little to offer to the drive through visitor. But if you are one who walks or hikes or if you are a mountain biker, this is a pretty special place. The natural area covers more than 11,600 acres and less than 100 acres are developed, with the rest just having trails into it. There are more than 40 miles of trails for hiking, about 2/3 of them also open to mountain bikes and about 15 miles of trails that are open to hiking with a leashed pet. It is a very unique place.