CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- What started 50 years ago with a $2 registration fee, a few dozen nature lovers, and a program of seven wildflower and birding tours has blossomed into a rite of spring that draws more than 300 people to Tucker County each Mother's Day weekend to celebrate nature.

 The 50th Annual Wildflower Pilgrimage, based at Blackwater Falls State Park, gets underway Thursday, followed Friday and Saturday by a program of 24 hikes and tours led by state and regional experts in botany, birding, wildlife and geology.

"I can get to the nature and the birds by myself, anywhere and anytime I want, so what keeps me coming back to Blackwater Falls on Mother's Day weekend is the people," said Bill Beatty of Wellsburg, coordinator of the event's birding program. He's one of 11 birding experts leading hikes and tours this year.

"The people who come to the Wildflower Pilgrimages really love nature and are eager to learn," said Beatty, a teacher at West Liberty State College and a naturalist for the Oglebay Institute. "I have the chance to get together again with friends I met on the pilgrimages when we were younger, and the chance to teach the children and grandchildren of the older people who led the tours when I first started leading them back in 1977."

"It's really grown over the years," said Emily Fleming, the wildflower pilgrimage coordinator for the state Division of Natural Resources, which co-sponsors the event along with the West Virginia Garden Club, Brooks Bird Club and West Virginia University.

"It brings people from all over the United States to Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley," Fleming said. "A lot of families use the pilgrimage as an opportunity to bring family members together for a reunion."

Dorothy Parker of Glen White, Raleigh County, is credited with organizing the first pilgrimage, and serving as its coordinator until 1968. The Raleigh County Council of Garden Clubs played a key role in the event's success during its early years.

 Evening speakers and tour leaders at previous Wildflower Pilgrimages have included U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, an avid nature lover and conservationist; and WVU professors Earl Core, author of "Spring Wildflowers of West Virginia" and Maurice Brooks, author of "The Appalachians."

Longtime tour leaders in addition to Beatty, who has taken part in 34 pilgrimages, include Brooks Bird Club member Ralph Bell of Clarksville, Pa., now in his 46th year as a leader. Bell's daughter and son-in-law also are tour leaders.

This year's list of Wildflower Pilgrimage tour destinations includes Smoke Hole Canyon, Cranesville Swamp, Germany Valley, Dolly Sods, the Jenningston-Gladwin area, Cathedral State Park, Seneca Rocks, upper Dry Fork River, Bickle Knob Fire Tower, Otter Creek Wilderness, Fernow Experimental Forest, Camp 70 Road in Canaan Valley, Sinks of Gandy and Spruce Knob.

Tours range in difficulty from carpool stops along forest roads to a hike through a section of the Dolly Sods Wilderness.

Fleming said the program's Saturday night banquet is sold out, but registration for other Wildlife Pilgrimage activities remains open. A variety of lodging, meal and activity packages are available.

For information or to register, visit www.wvdnr.gov/wildflower_pilgrimage_2011 or call 304-558-2764.

Reach Rick Steelhammer at rsteelham...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5169.