Camping

Fun Facts About Camping

• The word "camp" comes from the Latin campus, meaning "open field" or "level space."
• The father of modern-day camping is Thomas Holding. He popularized the activity after he documented his childhood wagon train experiences in his book The Camper's Handbook published in 1908.
• There's a park ranger who holds the Guinness World Record for being struck by lightning seven times between 1942 and 1977. Many of these incidents happened while he was camping in the park.
• "Glamping" (glamorous camping) became a new entry in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2016. But the concept of luxurious temporary stays in high-end tents dates back at least to the 1500s when wealthy Europeans went on elaborate hunting camps with servants, fine china, and furniture.
• The first known recipe for what became s'mores appeared in the 1927 Girl Scout handbook. This popular campfire treat of roasted marchmallow, chocolate and graham crackers were so named because campers always want "some more" after eating one.
• In 2017 researchers found that just two nights camping without electric lights can reset your circadian rhythms to align with natural solar time, allowing you to sleep longer and more soundly.
• The oldest still-operating campground in the world is in New South Wales, Australia. It has been welcoming campers since 1886.
• The 1960s "garbage bear" era in Yosemite National Park was a turning point that forced the U.S. National Park Service to overhaul food storage policies. Bears began to associate ice chests, tents and backpacks with easy meals. So they required campers to use food bags hung 12–15 feet high and 10 feet out from a branch, and to take other precautions.