Family Camping News | CampingBlogger

Indiana (and Many Other States’) Campgrounds Nearly Full For Labor Day

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With Labor Day weekend coming up, have you got your camping plans together. The DNR of Indiana had a press release come out in the middle of last week saying campgrounds were nearly booked full for the weekend. I’m sure this is happening in local, state, and national parks across the country. So if you’re looking for a camping get-away this coming weekend, better hurry!

Speaking of get-aways, what do you have plans to do for Labor Day weekend? Camping isn’t on my to do list, but I’m planning on a day trip or two to one of the local state parks in my area – look for a post coming up.

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.

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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 →