Noah Johnson Daily Press A youth casts his line in the pond at the DNR Pocket Park during opening day Wednesday.

ESCANANBA — The DNR Pocket Park is back for the season, and it’s free to the public.

Located on the Upper Peninsula State Fairgrounds, the DNR Pocket Park opened to the public in August of 1999 during the Upper Peninsula State Fair. At that time, the pond was stocked with roughly 6,000 bluegills. Twenty-five years later, the Pocket Park is still thriving, offering a variety of activities to choose from.

The park celebrated opening day on Wednesday, welcoming first-grade students from Lemmer Elementary as part of the Camp Skeeter program before officially opening to the public at 2 p.m.

Chief Interpreter Jalen Simms is ecstatic to be back in season and wants the community to come and enjoy all the amenities that Pocket Park offers.

“Wednesday through Sunday, we’ll be open for the season,” he said.

There’s a little something for everybody at the park, including catch-and-release fishing, where guests can use a worm or corn to catch one of the over 1000 bluegill stocked in the pond.

If you’re ready to put your marksmanship to the test, head over the pellet range for target practice. If you get tired of pulling a trigger, head over to the archery range to pull a string and fire arrows in the target range. Each of the activities is free to the public.

“Archery is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., pellet guns are 2 to 4 p.m., and fishing is all day,” Sims said.

The park will also host several events this season, including educational programs, interactive classes, and much more.

“I’ll be hosting DNR D&D again this year. We have a 13-week campaign that I made all focused around nature and whatnot and like DNR stuff. So, that’ll be cool,” Sims said.

Just around the corner, the park will host the 32nd Kids Free Fishing Day on June 7, and later in the season, after the annual U.P. State Fair, the park will host a hunting education program.

“That’ll be a big one that we’re starting. That’ll be probably after the state fair… but we’re excited to get that going,” Sims said.

In addition to the main activities and special programs, the park is also unveiling its new garden.

The garden will feature corn, strawberries, perennials, and even a blackberry bush and a raspberry bush.

“We’ll be using that to then host programs like our outdoor cooking things. So, it’ll be directly getting used in our programs,” Sims said.

“We’re focusing on teaching people how to compost, how to grow their own food, and then also a little bit of outdoor cooking, how to cook different things over the campfire or outside.”

The public can also support the DNR and Pocket Park by purchasing specific licenses.

Sims explained that the DNR is mainly funded through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses.

“A very, very small portion of our budget comes from taxes. We’re most mostly self-funded,” he said.

He encourages the public to obtain a hunting or fishing license, as it helps make activities and programs organized by the DNR possible.

“Even if you don’t hunt or fish and you’re just like a hiker or something, you could still support conservation by getting a hunting and fishing license,” Sims said.

He added he encourages the community to visit the park this summer, as Sims and company are always looking to bring fun to the area.

“We’re so excited to get people out here. This is what this place is meant to be used for. You know, people are supposed to be here. So, we’re just trying to pack every day as much as we can,” Sims said.

The park is located at 2401 12th Avenue North in Escanaba at the fairgrounds.

To find more information on Pocket Park as well as upcoming events, visit www.michigan.gov/dnr/places/state-parks or on Facebook at Michigan DNR Pocket Park.