America is blessed with an abundance of gorgeous national parks spread across the big country. This is the reason why camping is one of the best ways to explore the United States. Every year, the nation attracts scores of nature lovers who camp out and enjoy the great outdoors. Whiledestinations like Yosemite, Zion and Denali make it to anyone’s bucket list, here are some unusual ideas that will make your camping trip a memorable one!
King Range National Conservation Area Campgrounds, Arcata, California
Camping where majestic cliffs plunge dramatically into the wild Pacific Ocean is an experience quite unlike any other. Otherwise known as California’s Lost Coast, this region is just about as rugged as the West Coast gets. It’s the perfect destination for serious outdoor adventurers.
Hiking King Peak, only 4.8 kilometers from the water’s edge, and whose summit reaches 1,246 meters, is only a fraction of what one can get into here. Hunting, mushroom foraging, world-class surfing, salmon, tuna, rockfish, halibut fishing and abalone diving await any prepared adventurer.
Falls of Rough, Rough River Lake, Kentucky
Falls of Rough is within the Pennyroyal region of Kentucky and, more specifically, the “Clifty” area. Rough River Lake provides tons of recreational activities for campers. Visitors can enjoy the waters and beautiful landscape, but the area may be best known for Mammoth Cave National Park, the longest cave system in the world with more than 386 kilometers of mapped passageways.
Appalachian Mountain Club Huts, Appalachian Trail, White Mountains, New Hampshire
The Appalachian Mountain Club’s network of huts, each a day’s hike apart along the Appalachian Trail of the White Mountains in New Hampshire, offer a friendly, unique camping experience – one with a real community feel. Huts have co-ed bunk rooms, separate washrooms with cold running water and no electrical outlets. Services offered differ from full-service to self-service during the on- and off-seasons; winters are oh-so-cold, but beautiful and rugged. During full-service season, a helpful and friendly staff serves family-style breakfasts and dinners. During the off-season, you’re on your own, but your experience trekking through the raging fall colors or snow-covered silence of the White Mountains will be well worth the isolation.
Ocracoke Campground, North Carolina
Once you arrive at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore in coastal North Carolina, Ocracoke Campground lets you camp on sand dunes with the Atlantic Ocean on one side of you and the Pamlico Sound bay on the other. At the site on one of North Carolina’s barrier islands, you can fish, swim, kayak, surf and play or run on the beach during the day, ride a bike into the charming coastal town for a fresh seafood dinner at night if you aren’t searing the day’s catch over the campfire.
Caribbean National Forest: El Yunque, Puerto Rico
The rainiest of all national forests, El Yunque’s subtropical climate in Puerto Rico can surprisingly range from semi-desert to rainforest in a matter of steps, throughout all 11,330 hectares of its expanse. Explore the dwarf, or elfin, forest at the top of the mountain, hike the Mount Britton trail to the historical lookout tower and camp on the south side for a peaceful, nighttime experience in the forest, listening only to the music of tiny tree frogs known as coquis.
Fall Creek Reservoir, Lane County, Oregon
Located on the west side of Oregon, Lane County, to be specific, kilometers of forest and beach surround this 750-hecare lake. Aside from the hiking, water sports and other outdoor adventures right in the lake’s vicinity, the Willamette Pass Ski Resort and Summer Skyway Gondola are within a few hours’ drive. Activities such as wine tasting and a visit to the Mount Pisgah Arboretum also are within the scope of your stay.The lake itself is nestled in the Cascade foothills, which makes for some beautiful and rugged landscape. Plus, the sunsets at Fall Creek are amazing.
Camp Gateway, Brooklyn, New York
Camping in Brooklyn in New York City? Yep. Sleep under the stars all night and visit the Museum of Modern Art in the morning. Located in the depths of Floyd Bennett Field – New York’s first municipal airfield that has long since shut down – this “urban outback,” as it’s been touted, provides an oasis smack in the middle of one of the world’s busiest cities. In fact, the park is still expanding. You’ll be able to do all those outdoorsy things you love like kayak, fish, hike and bike well out of the shadows of skyscrapers and then hit Fifth Avenue, Chelsea art galleries and the Broadway show of your liking all in the same day.
