5 Great Fall Family Camping Destinations
Andy and Tami McDaniels 09.25.15
Fall is one of the best times to take your family camping. The cool weather and beautiful scenery will make memories that will last a lifetime. Spending time camping in the fall with your family offers some of the most stunning colors of the year, and it offers a great escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Cabela’s has everything you need to make your next family camping experience one to remember. Whether you’re taking your family in the RV or you prefer to pitch a tent, Cabela’s has what you need and they make it easy and convenient to get everything under one roof.
If you’re interested in embarking up on a fall camping trip, here are five top destinations for you to consider.
1. Ozark National Forest, Arkansas
At Ozark National Forest, you will find more than 200 camping and picnic areas, thousands of acres of lakes and streams, and 400 miles of hiking trails. The 218-mile Ozark Highlands Trail is one of the best known in the country. Ozark National Forest offers everything from RV to tent camping and has 320 camping sites, and a lot of the sites are open year-round.
Ozark National Forest is a great choice for RV camping, and the cool fall weather is perfect for cooking outdoors. Cabela’s has some great choices like the Camp Chef Explorer Stove, a rugged and dependable all steel range that has two 30,000-BTU commercial-grade cast burners and cooks up to 15 hours on one 20lb cylinder of propane.
2. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is America’s most-visited national park, and is a great place to view wildlife while hiking through stunning mountain landscapes. It is famous for its beautiful waterfalls. The park has 10 campgrounds, all with running water and bathrooms. Backcountry camping is allowed in some areas, but a permit and advanced reservations are needed. The park is open year-round, though some roads and a few of the campgrounds close in winter. Two of the larger campgrounds, Smokemont and Cades Cove, are open all year.
Remember, it gets pretty cool in the evenings especially if you are camping in the late fall. Cabela’s has you covered with the Mr. Heater Little Buddy Heater. With the Little Buddy Heater, your family will have the maximum amount of heat without giving up a lot of space. The Little Buddy Heater is easy to operate and it puts out an amazing 3,800 BTUs of heat.
3. Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota
Voyageurs National Park is hiking paradise where you can see and touch rocks half as old as the world! The park is part of a boreal forest, with many interconnected waterways. Guided boat tours are available with advanced reservations. If the family loves to spend time on the water in one of the most beautiful settings in North America, this should be at the top of your list. There is also an extensive variety of hiking trails, accessible by car and boat. The park has over 200 free, designated campsites, but all are accessible only by water. In addition, a visitor’s center is open year-round and entrance is free. While there is no charge for individual campsites, a free permit is required.
The park doesn’t have easily accessible showers but don’t worry—bring along the Zodi Zip Shower coupled with Cabela’s Easy-Up Deluxe Shower Shelter and the family will have all the warm water and privacy they will need to keep clean while enjoying one of the most beautiful national parks in the country.
4. Glacier National Park, Montana
Pristine forests, alpine meadows, rugged mountains, spectacular lakes, and over 700 miles of trails—those are only a few of the most attractive words you can use to describe Glacier National Park. It has 13 developed campgrounds and over 1,000 established sites. Most operate on a first-come, first-served basis, except for three that require reservations. Backcountry camping is also allowed, but you must get a backcountry permit. Glacier is one of the most spectacular places in North America. Wildlife viewing opportunities are boundless as elk, deer, wolves and bears are all plentiful and most times can be seen in different areas within the park.
Cabela’s Polar Cap 60-qt. Equalizer Cooler is a great choice when you’re camping in areas where there are big predators like bears. It’s certified bear-proof and it’s rugged enough to handle the harsh terrain of the West. The Polar Cap 60 is one rugged cooler and it has plenty of room to keep the entire family’s camping provisions safe and cold for up to five days!
5. Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont
Vermont’s Long Trail is one of Green Mountain’s biggest attractions, the just over 270-mile-long trail is the oldest long-distance trail in the United States! It follows the ridge of the Green Mountains through Vermont from the Massachusetts border all the way to Canada. The forest covers an area of about 416,000 acres throughout southwestern and southern Vermont. The forest offers five developed campgrounds, but there are no electrical hookups or dump stations, so if you’re taking the family RV, be prepared. The scenery of Green Mountain National Forest is well worth roughing it for a few days.
Cabela’s has some great products to make roughing it a little easier like the Cabela’s Deluxe Camper’s Kitchen. It’s almost like bring your kitchen from home with you into the wilderness, it’s easy to set up and take down, and it has tons of space to cook just about anything you can imagine.
Take your family camping to one of our nation’s 58 National Parks this fall, but be sure to stop by Cabela’s before you go to pick up those items you will need to make your campsite a home away from home in the wilderness.
This article was produced in cooperation with Cabela’s.
Andy McDaniels is the Sportsmen’s Outreach Coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation’s Vanishing Paradise Campaign. Andy works with hunters, anglers, outdoor media and the hunting and fishing industry throughout the United States. Andy also serves as the Conservation Director of Pro-Staff for Hardcore Decoys and Huntducks.com. He believes that conservation is the cornerstone of hunting and fishing, and he has committed himself to educating hunters and fishermen about the conservation issues that will affect our children and grandchildren. His effort on behalf of conservation and his outreach to hunters, anglers, congressional members, political groups, and citizen action organizations has been monumental. In 2003 and 2004 Andy was recognized for his work on State Wildlife Grants by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. His efforts on the Farm Bill garnered him the esteemed Charlie Shaw Conservation Partnership Award from the National Wildlife Federation in May 2008.
Tami is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma. She is a certified English teacher and freelance writer. She has published numerous articles on a variety of outdoor topics. Her most recent articles on outdoor subjects include 10 Indicators of a Quality Guide, The Anatomy of a Hunting Guide Website, Hunting Guides along the Corridor, and First Steps to Get Kids Hunting and Back into the Outdoors. In addition, she is the web content administrator for three websites. Her volunteer work includes managing web and social media sites, writing grants, organizing fundraising activities, and planning community events.
