Use Your Birding & Nature Vacation to Revitalize Your Mind and Body.
Lodging Packages
Check-in with your selected lodging provider the afternoon before your first trip, and check-out the morning after your last trip.
Festival Event Check-In by Your First Field Trip
If your first field trip is:
Monday (All-week and First-Half-week)- meet Sunday at Burnwood for a casual cookout welcome, between 6 PM and 8 PM.
Thursday (First-Timer, Second-Half-Week)- meet Thursday for Birding by Butt at Opossum Creek Retreat; coffee is ready at 6 AM, breakfast at 8 AM, outings begin at 9 AM.
Thursday (Returning, Second-Half-Week)- choose any field trip; by your selection we'll either see you at the Meadows before 9 AM for Birding by Butt, or at Burnwood at 6 AM for any other trip.
Items provided upon check-in include a printed checklist, personal itinerary, name tag, and t-shirt.
To sum up a typical day:
6am breakfast at Burnwood
6:15-7am field trips depart from Burnwood
11am-12pm picnic-style lunch
2-5pm field trips return to Burnwood
4pm presentation in the Meadows at Opossum Creek Retreat
5pm appetizers and happy hour
6pm dinner
7pm presentation
Breakfast
Breakfast is provided hot buffet-style at 6 AM under a pavilion at Burnwood.
Cranberry and Infinity Loop trips have a breakfast provided on the bus.
Birding by Butt (Thursday only), coffee is ready at 6 AM and breakfast at 8 AM.
Trip Times
Field Trip transportation is provided. Trips depart from Brunwood between 6:05 and 7 AM. Exceptions: Cranberry, Infinity Loop, and Birding by Butt.
Cranberry and Infinity Loop trips depart from Burnwood as quickly as possible with provided bagged breakfast waiting for you on the bus; trips return by 5 PM.
Birding by Butt, you roll in to the Meadows at Opossum Creek Retreat when you're ready - coffee is on at 6am, breakfast at 8am, outings begin at 9am; ends with lunch at noon.
All other trips depart from Brunwood by 7 AM and return by 2 PM.
At 4 PM we offer a casual Presentation, however, afternoons are your own! Enjoy personal time with a nap, journaling, or in the hot tub. Go for a scenic drive around Park areas or around Fayette County. Explore the National Park. Plan ahead for an adventure activity like Bridge Walk or a Canopy Tour. Stroll through downtown Fayetteville and Oak Hill.
2026, Apr 27 - May 2: Registration Opens in Stages. Subscribe for email notification!
The following trips are offered each day as indicated. Select your daily itinerary upon registration. Select one trip each day on your registration form.
After a trip is full, it cannot be clicked/selected on the registration form. When only 1 trip remains available, it is preselected for you on the registration form. Trips fill on a first-come basis and are handled individually/manually by Rachel. Occasionally, an influx of registrations cause trips fill faster than updates can occur, and adjustments are communicated to you.
2026 FESTIVAL UPDATES ARE UNDERWAY
Monday - Wednesday
6am – 5pm Infinity Loop
7am – 2pm Babcock
7am – 2pm Kanawha Falls
7am – 2pm Sugar Creek
7am – 2pm Fayette Station, Two-Point-Oh!
Thursday
6am – 5pm Cranberry
7am – 2pm Sugar Creek *Jeep Tour to the bottom! +$80/person*
7am – 2pm Fayette Station, Two-Point-Oh!
8am – 12pm Birding by Butt (coffee is ready at 6am, breakfast at 8am, outings begin at 9am; ends with lunch at noon)
Friday
6am – 5pm Cranberry
7am – 2pm Babcock
7am – 2pm Kanawha Falls
7am – 2pm Sugar Creek
7am – 2pm Fayette Station, Two-Point-Oh!
Saturday
6am – 5pm Cranberry
7am – 2pm ACE Reptiles & Amphibians
7am – 2pm Muddlety to Carnifex
7am – 2pm The Summit
7am – 2pm Wolf Creek & Rail Trail
Lunch
Lunch is provided on field trips, picnic style, prepared by the respective outdoor adventure center that owns the bus, Adventures on the Gorge or ACE Adventure Resort.
4 PM Presentations
Casual afternoon presentations start at 4 PM daily and last approximately one hour, located in the Meadows at Opossum Creek Retreat.
Mo. Dr. Thomas Pauley: Amphibians & Reptiles of NRG WV
Tu.
We. Tom Stephenson: topic TBD
Th. Dr. Bill Hilton Jr: banding birds
Fr. Mandy Talpas: Conservation Efforts in Hawaii
Sa. Guide Panel: topic TBD
Dinner
Sunday Festival check-in is a casual cookout welcome for all-week and first-half-week birders; roll in between 6 PM and 8 PM, at Burnwood.
Monday through Saturday, appetizers and happy hour at 5, and dinner starts at 6 PM in the Meadows at Opossum Creek Retreat; beverage options and outdoor seating are provided.
7 PM Presentations
Evening Presentations immediately follow dinner, at 7 PM in the Meadows and include outdoor broadcast viewing areas. Please be patient and flexible as speakers and topics may change, and technical difficulties impact start/stop times.
Mo. Jim McCormac
Tu. Dr. Bill Hilton, Jr Operation Ruby-throat & Hilton Pond North
We. Katie Fallon - and ambassadors from the ACCA
Th. Jeffrey Gordon
Fr. Mark Garland
Sa. Farewell Pizza Party starts at 6 PM with music by Ryan Brandenburg
Please be forgiving as the speaker line-up may change due to unforeseen personal schedule changes and technical difficulties. Field trip times and routes are approximate and may vary due to accessibility, bird movement, weather or road conditions, and other unforeseen variables.
Farewell Pizza Party
Saturday at 6 PM - pizza, beverages, and live music by Ryan Brandenburg, singer-songwriter with Appalachian folk roots!
"Appalachian music has deep roots in the British Isles, particularly in the North of England, the Scottish Lowlands, and Gaelic-speaking regions of Ireland and Scotland. Early settlers brought these musical traditions to the Appalachian Mountains, where they blended with other influences to create a unique and vibrant style. Appalachian ballads are often based on historical events or legends. These ballads were passed down through generations, evolving over time.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, new instruments like the guitar, mandolin, and autoharp gained popularity in Appalachia, thanks to mail-order catalogs. These instruments were incorporated into string bands, alongside traditional instruments like the banjo and fiddle. Appalachian musicians also developed unique instruments to add rhythm and bass to their music. Hambone (originated from enslaved Africans), a form of body music that involves using the body as a drum set, was incorporated for rhythm. Spoons and washboards for percussion, while the washtub bass, often made from a metal wash tub, a stick and strings, provided a bassline.
Appalachian music has often been a powerful tool for social commentary with ballads and songs about the hardships of life in the coal mines, such as "Sixteen Tons," giving voice to the working class and helping shape the region's cultural identity.
Growing up Appalachian, these are the sounds I heard at family gatherings and, most wonderfully, on summer nights on the ridge where my parents were born. Music came up from the community on the mountain in true 3D sound, starting with someone on an unseen front porch as they started picking a guitar, then a banjo joined from another, then a harmonica..." - Rachel Davis.
♦ Detailed location information and maps are provided to those with registrations, in April.
