{"id":37210,"date":"2017-07-28T06:23:38","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T06:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=37210"},"modified":"2017-07-28T06:23:38","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T06:23:38","slug":"outdoor-adventures-family-fun-why-america-loves-camping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/travel\/outdoor-adventures-family-fun-why-america-loves-camping.html","title":{"rendered":"Outdoor adventures, family fun: Why America loves camping"},"content":{"rendered":"

Outdoor adventures, family fun: Why America loves camping<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Outdoor adventures, family fun: Why America loves camping:-HILLMAN FERRY CAMPGROUND, LAND BETWEEN THE LAKES NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, Ky. \u2013 A middle-aged man wearing khaki cargo shorts, flip-flops and a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap wheeled a golf cart into the parking lot of The Outpost and disappeared inside.<\/span><\/p>\n

He emerged a few minutes later carrying two bags of ice and a small sack of groceries.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Glad this place is here,” he yelled from the passing cart without slowing down. “Always seem to need something.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The Outpost is the camp store that services Hillman Ferry, a 374-site campground that\u2019s scattered along nearly 900 acres of rolling, timbered, postcard-pretty Kentucky Lake\/Tennessee River shoreline. Earlier this month, during the Independence Day weekend, every site was occupied and the campground took on the look and feel of a self-contained small town, albeit one with an idyllic personality and a through-the-looking-glass persona.<\/span><\/p>\n

On a quiet, post-holiday weekday afternoon about half the campsites were filled. Their occupants were a mixed bag: Families with young children. Apparent long-time retirees. Every age group in between.<\/span><\/p>\n

Accommodations varied, too. A handful of tents were scattered among the trees but most of the filled campsites were anchored by travel trailers and RVs, including a few school bus-size units. Some featured portable satellite dishes. The quiet hum of air-conditioning units provided the background noise.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a transient city \u2014 quiet and clean, largely self contained yet portable in manicured surroundings. Twilight Zone-ish almost, but in a safe, comfortable, friendly sphere.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never really heard it described that way,\u201d said Jason Osborn. \u201cBut yeah, it is like a small city here. Especially during holiday weekends.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Osborn is the assistant manager for Hillman Ferry, one of four fully developed U. S. Forest Service campgrounds inside the 170,000-acre Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, a popular camping, boating and hiking destination that spills across the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Hillman Ferry is also one of thousands of federal-owned\/managed campgrounds across the country. Thousands more campgrounds are operated by national and state parks and other municipalities. Many offer creature comfort-level amenities. Others provide campers the bare boned necessities of chemical toilets a fire ring. Privately run campgrounds also abound.<\/span><\/p>\n

Camping is an astonishingly popular summertime activity. On summer holiday weekends \u2014 Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day \u2014 many if not most campgrounds are filled. Those that accept reservations are booked months in advance. But weekdays are busy, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the 2014 American Camping Report which was prepared by the Outdoor Foundation with help from outdoor retail giant the Coleman Company, 41 million Americans went camping in 2013. That\u2019s 14% of the United States population.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other sources have the number closer to 45 million. Either way, it\u2019s a passel of folks. And they\u2019re not limited to specific geographical areas. In Wisconsin, campers filled 5,924 state owned\/operated public campsites in 2016, which equated to 435,100 \u201cnumber of nights occupied.\u201d The American Camping Report identifies Wisconsin as part of the \u201cEast North Central\u201d region that also included Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. It’s a region that reports that 15% of the population participated in camping. The Mountain West (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico), has the highest percentage of campers, with 21% of the population sleeping under the stars.<\/span><\/p>\n

Non-camping enthusiasts might, understandably, wonder why.<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the attraction?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I just love being in the campground and seeing all the campfires, hearing the sound of children playing, staring at the stars and, if I\u2019m lucky, perhaps hearing the sound of wildlife,\u201d said Boyd Smith, whose day job as a Baptist minister doesn\u2019t keep him from heading to the woods every time he gets the chance. \u201cI just love it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith became addicted to nights under the stars as a boy in Mississippi camping with his twin brother.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMany times our tent was vacant because we would rather be lying on our makeshift sleeping bags looking up at the stars than be in a small tent filled with the heat of summer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith has since pitched camp from Mississippi to Texas and Georgia to Kentucky. Georgia\u2019s Stone Mountain State Park and the Hillman Ferry site remain two of his favorites. He and his wife, Wanda, spent their August 1982 honeymoon camping.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe borrowed (Wanda\u2019s) uncles\u2019 travel trailer,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe\u2019ve loved camping since that day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Like many of his fellow campers Smith has abandoned his tent for more the comfortable confines of a travel trailer which, when parked in a full-facility campsite, is complete with air conditioning, water, electric and sewer.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s not alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost people today are in a recreational vehicle, travel trailer or other hard-sided unit,\u201d said Osborn. \u201cDuring the holidays it\u2019s probably 70% to 80% RVs and hard-sided units and the rest tents. But during the slower times it\u2019s more like 90\/10 RVs and campers and tents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Like many full-facility campgrounds, including those both publicly and privately owned and operated, Hillman Ferry includes a camp store, boat ramps, laundry facilities, showers, restrooms, hiking trails, ball fields and basketball courts. Most of the property\u2019s 374 campsites provide power, water and sewer hookups. All the conveniences of home under a starlit sky. And camping is a relatively inexpensive recreational activity. Campsites typically range from $10 to $40 per night.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Osborn suspects there is another draw, one that might reflect societal anxiety outside the campground.<\/span><\/p>\n

Campgrounds are generally safe and camping is a family-friendly pursuit. At Hillman Ferry and most other public sites the entrance is gated or manned and only registered campers are allowed in after a certain time. Quiet hours are enforced. A supervisor, be it paid staff or volunteer, are onsite 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe provide a lot of amenities,\u201d Osborn said. \u201cWe have basketball courts and volleyball courts and playgrounds and different (nature) programs. But one of the biggest things is the security we provide. People can bring their kids inside this campground and provide them with a very safe environment in which to recreate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cindy Lynch also strives to keep her campers feeling safe, and she does. She is the manager of Columbus-Belmont State Park near Columbus, Ky., a quaint, historic destination but one that few people find by accident.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 160-acre park is a Civil War site and includes 38 campsites on a bluff line overlooking the Mississippi River. The park was established in 1934. Campers have been coming since the gates first opened.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur campground isn\u2019t very big but camping is very popular,\u201d Lynch said. \u201cWe typically have heavy occupancy through November. It\u2019s a beautiful spot with a beautiful view of the Mississippi River. And it\u2019s quiet. We\u2019re kind of secluded here.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe get people from all over the United States and from other countries, too,\u201d she added. \u201cBut we have a lot of repeat visitors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to understand the attraction. The view up and down the Mississippi from the bluff on which the campground is located stretches for miles. Not far from here, in 1861, Confederate General Leonidas Polk ordered a mile-long chain stretched across the Mississippi River to halt Union boats long enough to target them with cannon fire. The chain was only moderately successful but a section of the old relic, along with the anchor used to hold it, are on display not far from the campground.<\/span><\/p>\n

Glenda Lankford and Anne Paschall have seen the anchor, chain and almost everything else the park offers. The women are sisters and have camped here often with their families. They were enjoying the river view while their husbands relaxed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so peaceful,\u201d Paschall said. \u201cAnd the view is wonderful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re planning on doing this is lot this year,\u201d her sister added.<\/span><\/p>\n

With 40 million fellow campers, they won\u2019t be alone.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/travel\/destinations\/2017\/07\/27\/camping\/514088001\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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