State parks program teaches camping skills
Sep 28, 2013, 9:57 AM | Updated: 9:57 am
PHOENIX — Family camping trips can make either great memories — or nightmares.
If your camping skills are a little rusty, the Arizona State Parks department wants to help. You can learn how to get by in the wild through the “Family Campout Program.”
“We teach them how to set up tents,” said Arizona State Parks Executive Director Bryan Martin. “We teach them how to prepare their food. We teach them how to interact with the environment safely.”
And you can learn all of that while on a camping tip. The program offers weekend camping at several state parks — including Kartchner Caverns (pictured above), Patagonia State Park and Lost Dutchman State Park.
But you won’t have to bring much with you.
“We provide basically everything: The tents, the sleeping mats, the lanterns, the chairs and even the food,” Martin said. “We show people that camping isn’t scary, and we get them out to our state parks.”
A camping trip this weekend involves biking, hiking and other activities at Kartchner Caverns. Next week’s camping event is at Lost Dutchman park.
To find out more about the parks and the camping trips, click here.