10 Items to Have for Wilderness Survival

This guest post was written by Charlie Curtis-Jones of Brentwoodradios.co.uk., who can offer expert guidance on the best radio communications device for the great outdoors.

Preparing for Wilderness SurvivalThe ability to enjoy a wilderness experience often comes down to how well-prepared you are for wilderness survival. Things you normally take for granted, such as dry feet and clean water can make all the difference between experiencing a life-changing adventure and enduring misery. The items you place in your wilderness survival kit will vary depending upon where you’re going, what season it is and what your skill level is. Yet there are basics that every wilderness adventurer should have for proper shelter, safety and to meet basic needs.

It’s smart to research your wilderness trip environment beforehand and have a good idea of upcoming weather to help you know exactly what to put in your survival kit. While you don’t want to weigh yourself down, you do want to have the basics necessary to safeguarding your health and well-being. Use this list to help you as you prepare your wilderness survival kit.

10 Basic Wilderness Survival Kit Items Continue reading

10 Least Visited US National Parks System Properties – Part 2

Continuing yesterday’s post on the least visited National Parks, here are the bottom five. Ranging from a single former residence to a couple remote Alaskan parks, this is a diverse collection of rarely visited national treasures.

5. Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial Continue reading

10 Least Visited US National Parks System Properties – Part 1

Looking for some elbow room this summer when travelling around? How about checking out the least visited U.S. national parks.

This list is a pretty eclectic mix – you might think they would all be located in remote areas or Alaska, but in fact many are near major population centers, and even within the city limits of some large cities! Granted, not all of them are parks in the vein of Yellowstone or the Great Smoky Mountains – one is a single building, and some monuments or historical sites are former manors or other properties preserved for their importance in history, not necessarily their natural beaty. But they are all under the National Parks system. Continue reading

5 Tips For Pitching Your Tent

This guest post was written by Callum Pragnell of LeisureKings.co.uk, a camping equipment store in the UK.
tent-campingIf you’re thinking about escaping to the great outdoors with the family or friends sometime in the near future, any tips and advice to pick up before you go is great – especially if it’s your first time! Camping is a great way to have fun in the outdoors whilst also enjoying quality time with your nearest and dearest; but make sure you know what you’re doing. Make it a trip to remember – not a trip to forget!
One of the first things most people encounter when going camping is setting up their tent, this can be quite complicated and to make sure you don’t have any problems with this on your trip, it is worth following these 5 key steps before you leave!
1.      Choose your tent wisely. Continue reading

Quick Takes

Merced River Plan Could Transform Most Popular Parts of Yosemite

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Stoneman Bridge – Credit: Jim Goldstein

The comment period for the Merced River Plan will end tonight. The Merced River Plan will drive a number of changes to the park around the Merced River, affecting everything from how many visitors the park can accommodate to the number of campsites.

This plan is separate from the plan to expand Yosemite National Park, and focuses on how to preserve and restore space existing in the park. This summary document (5.6 MB PDF) provides a good overview to the 6 alternatives (including the “do nothing” option). Continue reading

Bill Could Expand Yosemite National Park by 1,600 Acres

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A bill, likely timed to correspond with National Parks Week, is currently in front of Congress which could expand Yosemite National Park by 1,600 acres, or about 2.5 square miles.

The Pacific Forest Trust, a non-profit land trust, has reached an agreement with a group of private landowners to sell land that both parties own to the National Parks service to add land along the Merced River to the park. This would fit in with the vision John Muir originally had for the boundaries of the park, but timber and land interests won over conservation 120 or so years ago. Now, this move could win out over local residential development efforts as subdivisions are being built near this land now.

While Yosemite is over 760,000 acres, meaning this addition amounts to only about 2% more space, this land is being sold below market value, and it will help conserve this scenic area and river for all to access and enjoy.

Read more

National Parks Week Is This Week – April 20-28, 2013

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national-park-service-logoThis week is National Parks Week in the U.S., and at CampingBlogger, we’re going to celebrate with a series of posts focusing on the parks, with stats, information and more about the great U.S. parks system.

One big feature of National Parks Week is free admission from April 22 to April 26. Continue reading

Scientific Research Shows Best Way to Pack a Pop-Up Tent

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Finally, some research dollars are being directed towards solving man’s great problems. In a great follow up to yesterday’s post on the types of tents, mathematicians have solved the problem of how to best control overcurvature, which is apparently the technical term for the shapes that gives a pop up tent its structure.

While there are other applications Continue reading

Free Camping in Ohio State Parks

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To promote camping at state parks, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources is offering free camping in almost all state parks this Thursday, April 18th. While you can walk-in and claim a site, you will probably want to reserve a camp site, which you can do at the Ohio DNR website, or calling the reservation line at 1-866-644-6727 just in case. Continue reading