Today's weather was perfect for a cookout and some fishing in the Black Hills National Forest. That was the setting for the fifth annual Experience the Outdoors Day. The event helps adults with special needs enjoy nature in ways they otherwise couldn't on their own.

Fishing, face-painting, even panning for gold; around 200 adults with special got the chance to experience the outdoors today, thanks to help from the Black Hills National Forest and Forest Recreation Management.

"What all of us take for granted, it's not readily available to them, so this exposes them to that, it gives us a chance to highlight our accessible facilities but also provide a special, memorable day for our special guests," Program Manager Richard Hudson said.

And it is memorable. Some look forward to it all year.

"Because I like fishing and activity and the cookout, we having cookout, everything over here," participant Stacy Youngbird said.

"Oh yeah, it's fun. We only get to go for this once a year," participant Edward Kopp said.

And organizer Richard Hudson says watching them enjoy the Black Hills makes all the work preparing for the day worth it.

"The smiles we see, that's the reward we look for," Hudson said.

Organizers say the event is as beneficial to them as it is to those participating.

"We get to see first hand how they interact with the environment and the improvements that we have made in regards to accessibility so we learn a lot from it, we like to think we get more from it than they do, even," Hudson said.

Though judging by the joy in their faces, the participants might disagree.

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