Family-Outdoors

Evening on Gulf of Maine from Acadia National Park Here we are three weeks into July, and with school starting earlier it seems every year, you might be thinking of one more outdoor excursion for the year...or maybe you are really ambitious and will get a few more in!  I am a high school math teacher, so even though my kids are grown, the school schedule still is a driver in our lives. One kind of cool thing is that even though our kids are grown, we still often have them with us on our adventures.  We took one big trip to the northeast just the two of us - Maine and the Adirondacks with a one day trip into NYC. It was our 30th anniversary trip, plus our unmarried son was deep into working at doing forest research down in the Missouri Ozarks before his final undergrad year as a forestry major at Mizzou. We have one more ace up our sleeve...a shorter trip of about 5 days to the Indian Peaks Wilderness area of Colorado.  Past trips we have gone further west - the Sa...

Teepee fire (Photo credit: Wikipedia) PIERRE, S.D. –  Pickerel Lake Recreation Area  near Grenville will host the Becoming an Outdoor Family event  July 27-29 . The event is designed for beginner camping families, families who want to try new outdoor activities and those who enjoy the company of like-minded families. “Becoming an Outdoor Family is an opportunity to try different activities, learn new skills and spend a weekend outdoors with your family,” said Emilie Miller, program specialist for South Dakota state parks. “It’s also a chance to meet other families who share similar interests.” Workshop fees are $60 per family. The fee includes instruction in four skills sessions, program materials, equipment use during the workshop and an electric campsite for two nights. A campsite reservation will be made for participating families, but they must provide their own camper or tent. Families can extend their camping reservation to include the following weekend, July 30...

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ Becoming an Outdoors-Woman (BOW) program is offering a Beyond BOW Mother/Daughter workshop in the city of Marquette. Scheduled for  Saturday, July 30 , at the campground at Tourist Park, this program is for mothers and their daughters (between the ages of 10-17) who would like to learn some kayaking, backpacking and hiking skills. The workshop starts at  9:15 a.m.  and will conclude at  2:45 p.m.  Lunch will be provided as well as all equipment. Each class will be approximately two hours long and will be held round-robin-style. The cost for this workshop is $20 for each mother/daughter group and it is limited to 10 groups. Deadline for registration is  July 22nd . Class information and registration materials are available online at  www.michigan.gov/bow  and registration can be paid online at  www.michigan.gov/estore . For more information, contact Sharon Pitz at  906-228-6561 ...

East Twin Lake in mid-October. Photo by Walt Ford/USFWS. In the 1930s, the Midwest was hit hard by drought and the economic free fall of the Great Depression. In the midst of all of this human hardship and uncertainty, Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge was born. Established on October 31,1935, during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, this 18,000 area refuge was established to preserve valuable habitat for waterfowl. Today, Roosevelt’s vision of habitat conservation is still alive and well. For more than a thousand years, the Rice Lake area has been home to Native Americans, due to the bountiful wild rice and abundant wild game. Today, Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge continues to provide habitat for migrating and resident waterfowl. The American Bird Conservancy designated Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge as a Globally Important Bird Area because of the importance of the lake and its wild rice as a food source to migrating waterfowl, especially ri...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Another polar vortex has the Midwest in its crosshairs but Iowans’ attention is focused squarely on spring and going camping. The reservation window for the Memorial Day Weekend campsites for a Friday arrival opened on Sunday. By 9 a.m. Tuesday, six state parks had filled all reservable campsites for Memorial Day Weekend that offer electricity or full hook ups. Camping options for the big holiday weekend in a state park are quickly shrinking. Campers wanting to spend the holiday weekend at Elinor Bedell, Lake of Three Fires, Lewis and Clark, Pleasant Creek, Viking Lake, and Waubonsie should plan to arrive a few days early for one of the walk up sites with electricity – all the reservation sites have been taken. Other parks are close to hanging up the no reservations sign. Ledges, Green Valley, Prairie Rose, Lake Anita and Rock Creek state parks only have the handicap accessible site available. Brushy Creek had one equestrian site; Backbone,...

Beginning  Nov. 3 , state park campers who make reservations on the new, improved central reservation system (CRS) website, administered by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), can view one or more photos of each campsite prior to making their reservations. “With the existing reservation system website, customers read descriptive text about the campsite to determine if it’s sunny, shady, flat or elevated,” said Christa Sturtevant-Good, DNR central reservation system liaison. “While text descriptions will remain, altered slightly to an easier-to-read format, campers can also look at between one to three photos of every site, and then visually decide if that campsite has all the features they’re looking for.” The photos will be shown as smaller thumbnail images which, when clicked on, open to a larger size in a new window. “In this way, viewers can see the site up close,” said Anna Sylvester, DNR Parks and Recreation field operations chief for northern M...

The Huron River within the Ann Arbor area. 2010 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Summer campers at Michigan’s state parks have long enjoyed the advantages of site-specific campground reservations, meaning they can reserve a specific campsite at a park and be guaranteed that campsite during their visit. Soon, campers during the "shoulder season" - mid-September to late May - will also enjoy the benefit. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is currently transitioning to a new, improved central reservation system (CRS) with many customer-driven improvements and features, including the addition of site-specific campground reservation capabilities for shoulder season guests. The new system provides parks with the equipment necessary to make site-specific reservations a reality. “This is an important improvement for the many fall and winter campers who would prefer to select a specific campsite before arriving at the campground,” said Ron Olson, DNR Parks and Recreation Division...

Summer is near, and South Dakota state parks are offering several ways to enjoy time outside on the first weekend in June. On  June 1  state parks will host several events, including fishing derbies and nature hikes in honor of National Trails Day. National Trails Day Hikes , Parks statewide are hosting hikes on  June 1  in honor of National Trails Day. Take a hike in one of these parks: George S. Mickelson Trail ,  8 a.m. MDT , pre-registration required:   605-584-3896 . Good Earth State Park  at Blood Run,  9 a.m. CDT , pre-registration required:   605-362-2777 Custer State Park , Prairie Trail,  9 a.m. MDT ; Little Devil’s Tower Trail,  1 p.m. MT ; Badger Clark Trail, 4 p.m. MDT . Info:  605-255-4828 Lewis and Clark Recreation Area ,  7 p.m. CDT . Info: 605-668-2985 Kids’ Fishing Derby ,  Oahe Downstream Recreation Area , 10 a.m. - Noon CDT . Kids will have the opportunity to fish and win pr...

Campers looking to reserve a campsite at an Iowa state park with electricity for Memorial Day weekend are nearly out of luck. To date, Clear Lake State Park has one site, Marble Beach has two and Pilot Knob has “This goofy spring weather we’ve had has not been very inviting for campers to head to our parks. As great as last spring was, this year has been almost the opposite which has made campers anxious to get out and sites for Memorial Day weekend that much more in demand,” said Kevin Szcodronski, chief of State Parks Bureau for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “Our parks have a lot to offer like wildlife viewing, fishing and the trails, which are great venues to get some exercise while enjoying the outdoors,” he said. Memorial Day weekend has traditionally been the kick off to summer with campgrounds filled to capacity. Campers without sites should arrive as early as possible and may want to have a back up park in case all the sites are taken. With many campers held at ...

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently announced that a portion of campsites located within Michigan's state forest campground system can now be reserved in advance through the DNR's Central Reservation System. The recent transfer of the DNR's Forest Resources Division recreation programs to the Parks and Recreation Division not only allows visitors to secure their camping spots in some of Michigan's most primitive and beautiful natural areas, but also expands the range of camping experiences offered by the state parks to include the more secluded, rustic forest campsites along with the equipped campsites, cabins and lodges found in the state parks. "Prior to the program transfer, campsites within the state forest campgrounds were available on a first-come, first-served basis," said Harold Herta, chief of resource management for the Parks and Recreation Division. "Some 244 campsites in 17 campgrounds throughout the state, a...

Fish are becoming active and campers are starting to roll in at Shadehill Recreation Area near Lemmon, S.D.   Ketterling’s Point, North Swim Beach, and West Cabin boat ramps are all open with docks in place. “Fishing is picking up,” said Park Manager Jim Straight. “People are starting to catch a few walleye, and the northern pike and catfish are biting all over the lake.” The warm spring has the campground alive as well. “The water is on, and there are plenty of campsites available,” added Straight. Camping is available on a first-come, first-served basis until May 18, when campsites can be reserved. Camping reservations can be made up to 90 days in advance online at www.campsd.com or by calling 1-800-710-2267 . For more information about Shadehill Recreation Area, call 605-374-5114 . Related articles Lake Vermillion Recreation Area adds new campground, reservations open Feb. 25 South Dakota State Parks Have Record Spring Camping July Fourth Camping Res...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The North Dakota Game and Fish Department is implementing camping restrictions effective immediately on some wildlife management areas in western North Dakota and along Lake Sakakawea. Overnight camping is now prohibited on the following WMAs: Antelope Creek, Big Oxbow, Lewis and Clark, Neu’s Point, Ochs Point, Overlook, Sullivan and Tobacco Garden in McKenzie County; Van Hook in Mountrail County; and Hofflund and Trenton in Williams County. The following WMAs are closed to camping on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but open to camping Thursday-Monday: Audubon, Custer Mine, Deepwater Creek, deTrobriand, Douglas Creek and Wolf Creek in McLean County; and Beaver Creek and Hille in Mercer County. Game and Fish does not operate any official campgrounds, but most WMAs are open to primitive camping for 10 consecutive days. However, the agency does not have any staff manning the areas where people like to camp, and there is no registration ...

A panorama of Custer State Park, Custer, SD, stitched together from separate photos in Photoshop. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) PIERRE, S.D. – Camping reservations open soon for Fourth of July weekend at South Dakota state parks. Reservations can be made by calling  800-710-2267  or by going online to  www.campsd.com “Fourth of July weekend is always a busy time in the parks,” said Doug Hofer, state parks director. "Campsites are reserved well in advance, so campers will need to plan ahead and make reservations as soon as possible to get their favorite camping spots." Reservations for campsites and camping cabins in South Dakota state parks can be made within 90 days of arrival. To arrive on:                 Make reservation on: Friday, June 29            Saturday, March 31 Saturday, June 30    ...