<p>Just got back from camping in Acadia and a campground in western Maine near the White Mountains. (Our family vacations were always tent camping when I was growing up because that is all we could afford - in a state park 2 or 3 hours from home.) We camp in a pop-up at places with water and electricity hook-ups, and modern bathrooms. I didn’t see any confederate flags. There were people speaking many languages in the parks, but I don’t recall seeing any black Americans.</p>
<p>The news story on TV was about the only black National Park ranger and why African Americans don’t visit the national parks - I thought the 1% was of the total park visitors. It really has nothing to do with camping - most national park visitors don’t camp, they stay in hotels.</p>
It’s a whole lot less expensive than staying in the lodge and many times there’s no room available in the lodge anyway. Also, a lot of times kids like it - it gives them a sense of adventure and is something different from the familiar. Regarding guns - they’re prohibited in national parks so I’ve never seen anyone other than park rangers with them. I’ve also noticed that most of the people camping seem like average people to me, not some redneck group or anything, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen any confederate flagged cars at the parks I’ve been to. I think the people camping at national parks are mostly city people out for a little nature and for some people, an inexpensive vacation. My experience is at many national parks in the west - from Yellowstone to Yosemite and many in between.</p>
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That’s actually at a 4 star resort hotel. It’s a gimmick right now but there’s no way they could survive charging just $19.</p>
<p>To the topic - I wonder if Obama’s recent much publicized visit to the Grand Canyon will have any effect on this.</p>
<p>"Regarding guns - they’re prohibited in national parks so I’ve never seen anyone other than park rangers with them. "</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that’s changing soon:</p>
<p>A new law permitting concealed loaded firearms at National Parks will not take effect until February and the Interior Department will continue to enforce Reagan-era restrictions until then, a spokeswoman said today.</p>
<p>“Under the current regulation, firearms are generally prohibited, but citizens may transport unloaded and dismantled or cased firearms and carry firearms while participating in approved hunting programs and under certain other circumstances,” Interior spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said in a statement released minutes after President Obama signed the credit card holders’ bill of rights, which includes an amendment allowing firearms at the nation’s National Parks and wildlife refuges.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks NSM. As soon as I think I know the rules they change them.</p>
<p>Now I’m trying to figure out what carrying a concealed weapon in a national park has to do with a Credit Card Bill of Rights but I don’t want to veer this into a political discussion.</p>
<p>The only national park I have camped in is Assateague in Md…one of my all time favorite places to relax. The only time I ever saw a black family there was a couple of yrs ago…they didn’t exactly enjoy the outdoors though , but instead stayed inside their motor home with the generator running all day. It wasn’t until a gust of wind tore off their awning that anyone in the loop knew who was in there all day ! </p>
<p>I didn’t exactly rough it in my " camping " days either…never tented at all…my kind of camping !!</p>
<p>I have to say that this whole thread makes me sad. I love the outdoors and love going to the National Parks. When our kids were younger, we camped. Now we stay at the lodges. Most of them are very nice. There are many different national parks, some are in urban settings and others are rural. I feel safer in the parks than I do in many big cities. I do wish more minorities would come out to the parks. There is nothing like the Grand Canyon.</p>
<p>I have no idea why few blacks go camping. Based on my travels, I can only confirm the general observation. I was amused by Northstarmom’s negative comments about camping. I guess I have the reverse tendencies. I hate visiting cities. To paraphrase NSM: You have to go to the bathroom in gross places. There are freaky bugs, even rats. People of different races stare at you strangely and you are not sure if you can get help if you need it. </p>
<p>I am not sure that even a luxury hotel makes the city visit any more tolerable. I generally find the Motel 6 to be better than most luxury motels. Motel 6 has coffee in the lobby and a coffee machine in the room. The last luxury hotel I stayed in charged a minimum of $12 for room service coffee - even worse you are never sure when it will arrive and then you need to deal with someone rather than just have your morning coffee. This same luxury hotel replaced the cheap Dixie cups wrapped in plastic with nice glasses. After room service, the glasses always looked new. Because of a nick on the bottom (from my fingernail file) I could tell the glass was not changed in a week. I wonder what they used to polish it? Disgusting.</p>