VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — You can experience everything from the mountains to the beaches through the Virginia State Parks system.
That’s why they wanted to add new viewfinders geared toward people who experience colorblindness, so they can experience parks and all their beauty too.
“If even one family gets to experience something totally new in the outdoors, that’s really important to us,” said Laura Papp, chief ranger of visitor experience at First Landing State Park.
The new viewfinders are on the first overlook on the Cape Henry Trail — to your right side if you are coming from the parking lot.
“We’re hoping that by offering a color blind EnChroma viewer in each of our 42 different state parks in Virginia, that we can reach as many visitors as possible who may benefit from experiencing nature in a new way,” Papp said.
For the millions of people who experience color blindness in the United States, Virginia State Parks estimates that about 340,000 of them may visit each year. Part of the inspiration behind adding these new viewers was one of their own.
“It was inspired by one of our own park rangers, Ethan Howes, who works as the chief ranger of visitor experience at that natural tunnel,” Papp said. “He is colorblind himself. He was able to experience the magic of seeing the mountains in Tennessee State Parks and wanted to bring that to our visitors here in Virginia.”
The viewers have a special lens that allows for colors, especially reds and greens, to feel more bright and appear more vibrant, and this area of the park is perfect for the viewers, because this swamp in the wintertime experiences the Rainbow Swamp phenomenon.
“As those leaves start to fall down and break apart in the wintertime and the natural oils separate, it can leave the surface of the water with a rainbow prism,” Papp said, “so we were hoping that this location might allow people to experience a wide variety of colors while they’re out on a walk here at First Landing.”
And it was all paid for through the Round Up for Parks Program, where you can round up to the nearest dollar when you make a purchase in one of Virginia’s 42 state parks.
“In the past, our Roundup for Parks Program has helped fund bicycle repair stations [and] water bottle filling stations,” Papp said. “But I think this EnChroma viewer project has been potentially one of the most meaningful projects that we’ve been able to accomplish.”
Roughly a year after installation, all 42 state parks in Virginia have a EnChroma viewfinder.