The Lehigh River Bike & Boat Challenge and the Float Your Boat Competition on September 20 provides the opportunity for residents to touch the resource in a fun way in the Lehigh Valley. Pre-registration is required for both events.

Get ready to flex more than your muscles at this year’s Lehigh River Bike & Boat Challenge hosted by Wildlands Conservancy.

Exercise your brain by using a map and clues to guide your way up and down the Lehigh River! Teams of two or three will undertake an eight-mile loop course by biking, boating, and orienteering from Sand Island, Bethlehem to Canal Park, Allentown.

Along the way, teams will use a map they are given at the start to find clues to a puzzle they must solve to enter themselves into a drawing for a grand prize. Starting at Sand Island, Bethlehem, teams will start their journey biking towards Canal Park, Allentown on the canal towpath.

After reaching the park, they will suit up in personal flotation devices (PFDs) and paddles to canoe a stretch of four miles back down the Lehigh River to Sand Island.

Teams are made up of either two or three people and must pre-register for $50.00 per team. Equipment will be provided by Wildlands Conservancy. Participants must be at least 10 years of age.

Deadline for registration is September 16. Call Kevin Fister, outdoor recreation manager at Wildlands Conservancy, at 610-965-4397, ext. 35 or visit the Wildlands Conservancy website.

The Float Your Boat Competition, hosted by the City of Bethlehem, is open to any individual or group who would wish to build an inexpensive and biodegradable cardboard boat and race it in the Lehigh Canal adjacent to the Ice House on Sand Island in downtown Bethlehem starting at 1:00 p.m.

Two races are featured- the most original and/or funny design and the fastest- in the 250 foot race course in the Lehigh Canal. A prize for each of these categories plus a “Judges Selection” prize will be awarded at the completion of the contest.

Any group or individual can be a participant. A non-refundable fee of $10 per category is required and is to be submitted by September 19 together with a completed registration to the Parks Department, City of Bethlehem, 10 East Church Street, Bethlehem PA 18018, which can be found at the Float Your Boat webpage. Each participant must furnish his/her own life jacket.

The Lehigh River Bike and Boat Challenge and the Float Your Boat Competition are held in cooperation with Pennsylvania Environmental Fund.