Article by Cambrie Kowal. Photo by Melissa Bates.
“I am really excited about this trip because it gives me the opportunity to visit places that have been on my bucket list since childhood.”
That is what St. Cloud State graduate student Rohith Sai Gude said in anticipation for the fourth annual national parks spring break road trip hosted by St. Cloud State Campus Recreation. Gude participated in the spring break trip last school year, which motivated him to sign up again.
Gude grew up in India watching popular Hollywood movies which featured many national parks in the west, instilling a dream within him to visit those locations one day.
He said, “This trip is making that dream come true, bringing back nostalgic childhood memories.”
Campus recreation hosted its first national parks trip back in 2022, which was planned the summer before by Melissa Bates, who was the Assistant Director of Outdoor Recreation and Memberships and Marketing at the time, alongside former Director of Campus Recreation, Calvin Diggs.
“It was a hit,” Bates said. Which has inspired and motivated her to continue this type of trip as a tradition as she has stepped into her new position on campus as the Associate Director of Outdoor and Campus Recreation and Student Development.
This year registration for the trip opened in October and it only took 30 minutes for the trip to book up. Bates and Kylie Schnars, the Fitness and Wellness Graduate Assistant, will be driving 10 St. Cloud State Students back across the west to seven different nations parks including: Zion, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Mason Verde, Canyonlands, Arches, Rocky Mountains, Badlands and Theodore Roosevelt.
“I’ve learned from every trip,” Bates mentioned. “In the past we did not go to the Rocky Mountains because of the snow, but I learned last year that we can navigate that quite successfully.”
By communicating with the park rangers of Mount Rainier, Bates discovered all the trails that were suitable for hiking in the snow without specific winter gear. Which is why this year the Rocky Mountain National Park was added to the agenda.
The van will depart from St. Cloud today and if everything goes according to the plan they will arrive back in St. Cloud Friday, March 7. There is a lot of planning that goes into a trip like this and the planning is a constant business that is involved throughout the whole trip.
“The planning process was so fun!” Schnars noted, “Melissa and I sat down a few times and talked about some must-do’s and some places we should try and stop at so we could make the most out of the trip.”
Initially though, their vision was to take a trip through the southeast and Bates’ alma mater. Unfortunately, they had to revert to taking another trip through the west because of the hurricanes that occurred in 2024.
Because Bates is so familiar with travel and has been to many of the national parks on this year’s agenda she is looking forward to the educational, conservational and historical perspective that students and herself will receive.
“I think this is a wonderful opportunity and experience for students!” said Schnars, “it gives students the opportunity to see new things that they also may have never gone to see in their life!”
Throughout the four years that this trip has occurred, it has since been elevated by a grant called the National Park Trust that St. Cloud State Campus Recreation was awarded. There are two grant qualifications that need to be met during this school year; a national parks road trip and a collaboration with a resource center or with a marginalized community.
After the spring break trip students interested can look forward to a collaboration between campus recreation and the LGBTQ center to host a queer climbing event at the rock wall on campus.
Every year campus recreation puts all of their programming on Husky Connect before students get to campus. Students who are interested can sign up early to claim their spot on any outdoor trip during the school year by emailing Melissa Bates.
After each campus recreation trip so far students have asked, “where are we going next year?” and there is good news for the students asking that question, because another spring break national parks trip is already in the works.
“Next year I really do hope we are able to go to the southeast,” stated Bates.
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