Tips for beginning campers

For those who have never camped or have camped and hated it, I have some advice to offer you. Camping is not fun if you are not prepared.

Before you go camping look up the campsite. If you are camping for the first time you should start at a state park, unless you are with experienced campers. Florida’s park service offers detailed information about the camp site conditions at each park online. For example some parks offer both cabins and primitive camping.

Check the weather, but be prepared for rain even if it is not expected. Because we live in Florida, rain is always expected. Be sure to rainproof your tent.

If you camp in the summer, and don’t want to be hot, consider bringing an oscillating fan. Also try to camp at parks which have rivers, lakes or are on the coast. Water sports make any camping trip better, and they are the best way to cool off.

Be sure you bring the little things. Flashlights, knives, lanterns, utensils, food containers, plates, cups, tin foil, napkins, chairs, bedding, lighter fluid, matches, a radio are all very useful and you will want to have them.

Make sure you set out for your destination with enough time to arrive before nightfall. Setting up a tent in the dark is not fun. If you have to you will need a lantern.

For things to do you should research what is available at your particular park. You can always bring a frisbee or a football. Most of Florida’s parks have water activities like kayaking or tubing. And almost all of Florida’s parks offer trails and exhibits.

 

A shelter on the Appalachian Trail

Some like it wet and lots don’t

If you have ever camped in Florida, then you are well aware that this is a wet affair. Or it can be.

So how do you stay dry despite Florida’s intermittent rain? The most important thing to think about is your tent. Camping can be a harrowing experience if you are not prepared, so take these steps to stay dry.

Your tent should be:

• made in the last twenty years 
• pitched over a tarp (makes clean up easy too)
• sprayed with water repellant or sealer

Before you pitch the tent, look for rocks or sticks that could slice the bottom of the tent. Make sure that your tent is on top of a hill, and make sure the rain cover is properly secured. When it is raining, be sure that nothing is touching the walls of the tent, because this will cause water to seep through.

Some new tents are made with awnings. This gives you shelter for chairs, a table or all your other supplies if it rains. Also you can pull your water-sensitive supplies under the awning before you go to sleep incase it rains in the night. 

So are the tents with the awnings really better than regular tents? It depends on how irritable you are when wet. If you don’t mind getting a little moist then just seal the tent, attach the rain cover, and pitch on top of a hill. But if you want to be able to sit outside rain or shine, then check out the awning variety.

Fort Desoto is for you

Does your idea of a great beach include clean sand, miles of beach and plenty to do? Then Fort Desoto Park is for you. It is Located in Tierra Verde on the southern most part of the Pinellas county peninsula.

Unlike the other beaches in the area, the park has a variety of water fronts and is never packed. It is essentially an island with miles to explore. The beach has gentle waves and was named the number one beach in America in 2005. 

Sunsets are beautiful from atop the fort. The fort walls still have four mortars and two giant guns. The park has a pier, 238 camping sites, boat ramps and over 2,000 miles of hiking and canoe trails. 

The park has many different activities and some you can’t get anywhere else. For example, the pier offers a ferry service to Egmont Key State Park. A wildlife refuge, it is only accessible by boat. It is free to visit and has a light house from 1858. The key’s wide variety of birds draws visitors.

Camping at this park is so popular that visitors need to make reservations weeks in advance. For example, in the summer the park is at it’s busiest. The best of the sites are waterfront, and if you have a boat you can pull it right up to your site.

There are rumors about the park being a nudist colony. After 10 years of efforts to turn part of the park into a nude beach, today the park still requires clothing. Nevertheless it is a great place to spend a day or a weekend.

Photo by Hailey Petway

Explore the Everglades

When you think of the Everglades, the word probably conjures an image of a swamp, teeming with toothy wildlife. Carl Hiaasen’s books, and movies like Adaptation, depict the slow moving river as a force to be reckoned with.

The Everglades National Park is made of 1.5 million acres. Leaving more than enough room for visitors to enjoy fishing, hiking, and boating.

The National Park Service also warns visitors about the dangers of the wilderness. It provides a  trip planner to help prepare for a stay in the back country.

The page explains campers should:

• Be dressed properly
• Bring enough supplies like water, bug spray and sunscreen
• Be able to navigate
• Be prepared for inclement weather, like sudden rain.

The best time to camp is in the dry season, from October to April. It is considerably cooler, less humid and less likely to rain. The park is divided into two areas, the front country and the back country.

The front country is made up of campgrounds and RV parking, both accessible by car. The admission is 16 dollars per night. If you want to camp reasonably close to bathrooms, the front country is for you.

The back country is wilderness. Navigation skills and planning are especially important for people who plan to stay here. Ground sites, beach sites, and camping platforms, called Chickees, all 47 of these sites are accessible only by foot or boat.

To camp in the back country, campers need a permit. The permits are available, for 10 dollars, the day of the trip at the Falmingo Visitor Center. Back country camping trips are allowed for a maximum of 14 days.

The park offers an annual park admission pass for 25 dollars, and daily admission is 10 dollars. To make reservations call 1-877-444-6777.

Paynes Prairie in October

Do you want to see an alligator pit? My friend lured me to the edge of Paynes Prairie with these words last fall. My response was of course!

The Prairie is a 21,000-acre savanna in Micanopy. It is home to hundreds of species of birds, alligators, Spanish horses and bison. And depending on the water level, the prairie hosts a diversity of terraine.

A big part of the prairie was a shallow lake last fall when the sink hole didnt drain as well.

The park has 20 miles of trails for horseback riding and bicycling, an observation tower, fishing, kayaking and camping.

The park also has exhibits in its visitor center, highlighting the areas history . On Friday October 10th at 6 p.m. the visitor center will kick off Art on The Prairie. The event is the annual show and sale of Dominick Martino’s photography.

The visitor center will provide wine and cheese with candlelit trails. There is a five dollar admission fee for the art sale. RSVP is required and people who want to attend can send an email to info@prairiefriends.org.

The proceeds will support Friends of Paynes Prairie, a not-for-profit corporation. The corporation supports the prairie through fundrasing and volunteerism.

A map provided by Friends of Paynes Prairie

North Florida Music and Camping Festival

Magnolia Fest 2006 Photo By Hailey Petway

Magnolia Fest is a four day music festival. Music aficionados can spend the day or the weekend swimming, kayaking and swaying in hammocks.

Sing and dance from Oct. 23 to 26 at the Spirit of the Suwanee Music Park in Live Oak, Fla.  The park offers horseback riding, hiking trails, bicycles for rent, kayaking and canoeing on the Suwanee River. The river has beautiful but stinky sulfur springs and ruins from an old resort.

The festival offers free admission to volunteers. This is especially popular amoung students. Volunteers work four-hour shifts three times over the weekend. The jobs range from cooking for the musicians to banding the incoming patrons.

The second best thing is the atmosphere. Young and old relax together over the long weekend. The campsites are usually partitioned by the campers with tarps or blankets, giving the individual sites more privacy. The camping area forms a loop away from the music with the ends leading to the music stages.

The festival offers all kinds of local music like bluegrass, reggae, and rock and roll. Some of the most popular bands are Donna the Buffalo and The Duhks. The music plays day and night over the four days.

There are two main stages. The first stage is in a grove of trees and a forest of hammocks surround it. Individuals bring their own hammocks and set them up, allowing others to use them when the owners are elsewhere. 

Between the stages there is a market. Local craftsmen sell different types of art, organic goods, food, instruments, and of course hammocks.

Photo by Hailey Petway