Experience Thousands of Rare Lilies in Bloom Through Virtual Reality
With Duke Energy grant, South Carolina State Parks make nature more accessible at Landsford Canal
Once a year, thousands of white spider lilies blanket the Catawba River’s rocky rapids at Landsford Canal State Park. From mid-May to mid-June, kayakers flock to Catawba, S.C., to paddle through the largest known strand of rocky shoals spider lilies.
The lily is rare and predominately found in the Southeast – but what if you can’t kayak or visit during the bloom?
At the park's visitor center, you can experience paddling through the lilies with virtual reality. Duke Energy helped fund the virtual reality experience to make nature more accessible. South Carolina State Parks created similar virtual reality experiences for a 3.6-mile hike at Table Rock Mountain and a lighthouse climb at Hunting Island State Park.
Watch the video above for a look at the lilies in bloom.
About Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 30,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities and 3,000 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit.
Duke Energy is transforming its customers’ experience, modernizing the energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit’s regulated utilities serve approximately 7.7 million retail electric customers in six states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to more than 1.6 million customers in five states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The Duke Energy Renewables unit operates wind and solar generation facilities across the U.S., as well as energy storage and microgrid projects.
Duke Energy was named to Fortune’s 2019 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list and Forbes’ 2019 “America’s Best Employers” list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy’s illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues.
