Checklists tend to be either too generic or too detailed
If you Google the term camping list right now, you will get just under half-a-million hits. That’s a lot of lists! I’m not a big fan of lists, I suppose they’re fine for things like shopping, where you have a lot of things to do or get and all the things are different each time you go, but I think their utility for camping is greatly overstated.
California Camping, by Tom Stienstra, is our "bible" for camping in California
When we showed-up in California a few years ago, the only thing we knew about campgrounds in California was, well…nothing! One of the first things I did was go onto Amazon.com and look for a California camping guide, and luckily, I stumbled across this book by Tom Stienstra. Now, I know most of you don’t live in California, but there are camping guides that cover other areas of the country – here are a few that I found on Amazon:
Dispersed camping is a great way to avoid the potential pitfalls of campgrounds (photo courtesy of PDPhoto.Org)
One of the great joys of camping is getting away from it all and spending some quality time with your family. That’s hard to do, though, when the guy in the next campsite is running a generator all night, or having the equivalent of a frat party next door.
When you really want to ensure a peaceful and serene camping experience, dispersed camping is the way to go. The US Forest Service and BLM generally allow camping anywhere on undeveloped public lands, with a few provisions:
A weak economy and high fuel prices is pressuring the budgets of many state and federal parks
Lost in the seemingly endless analysis of the daily stock market gyrations and an economy in, or soon to be in, recession is the lingering impact of high fuel costs on the nation’s state and federal parks.
Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park both saw slumps in the number of visitors this year. State parks are also under pressure. Although visitor numbers at most state parks has been strong, funding is under pressure due to a reduction in state tax revenues due to depressed real estate valuations.
Today's online resources can help you pick the best campsite within a particular campground
One of the popular posts here on CampingBlogger is Find Great Campsites Online, where I talk about using online resources like Reserve America and Recreation.Gov for locating campgrounds in a particular area. Finding that perfect campground is only half the battle, though. It is just as important to locate the best camping spots within the campground, too.