While every location is researched and the story points mapped out in advance, things can change once the hosts and crew are in the field. We aren’t afraid to show we’re fearful sometimes, but we can’t let that keep us from an activity that could be life-changing.” “We want to show that if we can take on a challenge that’s intimidating and step out of our comfort zone, you can, too. “There’s a deeper philosophical meaning to that,” said Smith. In every episode, Smith and Steward shout “If we can do it, you can do it!” But it’s more than just a motto. “We’re bringing the national parks to living rooms, taking people along with us to the grand and wild places they never knew existed,” said Steward. In the upcoming season, they’ll crisscross the country shooting episodes from the Petrified Forest in Arizona, Florida’s Big Cypress Preserve and the Mississippi River and National Recreation Area in the Twin Cities. With cameras rolling, they’ve gone mountain biking, traversed remote glaciers and sea kayaked while surrounded by beluga whales. 6 on ABC-TV.Ĭreated by the Minnesota production company owned by former WCCO newscaster Colleen Needles Steward, “Rock the Park” snags more than a million viewers a week who tune in to watch Smith and Steward explore the parks, monuments, preserves and forests administered by the National Park Service. They were attempting to master the Alaskan wave for the first episode of the new season of “Rock the Park,” an award-winning national travel reality show. The two 30-year-old best buddies weren’t tackling a bucket-list vacation. “We’re talking about the longest wave in America,” added Smith.
“It’s a crazy phenomenon where the tide pushes water up a river, a channel, and creates a surfable wave,” explained Steward.
Their goal? To see if they could hang 10 atop a rare bore tide. Last summer, best buddies Colton Smith and Jack Steward grabbed their wet suits and paddle boards and headed to the Chugach National Forest near Anchorage, Alaska.