Camping Destinations

Yellowstone National Park receives more than 3 million annual visitors, but with more than 2.2 million acres you still can avoid the crowds, if you’re willing to leave the car behind.

Backcountry camping in Yellowstone is a great way to connect with our nation’s first national park.

Before You Go
Backcountry camping requires a permit in Yellowstone. Full information about planning your trip can be found online.

Travelers typically visit national parks like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite and the Great Smoky Mountains for the majestic scenery and rustic experience.

But trips to these popular outdoor destinations can be a bit daunting, especially when you consider that more than 292 million people visited the national park system in in 2014, according to the National Park Service.

Others set their sights on a more isolated outdoor environment, one with fewer roaming tourists and more backcountry enchantment.

Emerging from your tent mere feet from rippling water as an early morning mist rises all around you makes for a magical camping experience.

Few places offer as fine of an opportunity to experience such a soul-cleansing escape as a gravel bar in the wilderness of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR) in southern Missouri.

The Ozark Mountains offer an unbelievable amount of outdoor recreation. There’s fishing, hunting, hiking, horseback riding, wildlife watching and more. The pinnacle of all Ozark outdoor experiences, though, is gravel-bar camping.

Campers, hikers, anglers and other outdoor enthusiasts love these parks in the Show Me State

Bennett Spring was the first Missouri State Park I ever visited. As I rolled down the long and winding hill leading into the lush valley below, highlighted by a mesmerizing spring creek, I began looking for a place to pay my entrance fee. After driving in circles for more than 10 minutes, I finally gave up and went inside the park store to ask for help.

You do not have to pay to enter Missouri State Parks, a sweet, gray-haired old lady explained to me.

When many people plan on going camping, they automatically think of the mountains. But the open, and often uncrowded, prairie lands are an equally captivating and peaceful setting for a relaxing time away.

The prairie landscape has its own unique beauty. Although there are regions where the land appears to continue in a straight line all the way to the horizon, more often than not, hills and coulees give texture to terrain. These are the places that abound with wildlife, making them a great place to hone your animal-spotting abilities.

Where Can You Find the Best Places to Try Glamping?

You may never have actually gone “glamping,” but it’s pretty easy to figure out the roots of the word. It’s a mash up between glamour and camping – glamping! However, because the term is so new to the outdoors, it’s still seeking a solid definition.

Is your idea of “camping” to “get away from it all?” If your answer is “yes,” what does that really mean? “Dispersed camping” is the term used for camping on public lands anywhere outside of a designated campground. In other words, it’s driving or hiking into a public area and setting up your tent or trailer.

If you like to get away from it all, cook meals over an open flame, and lay in a sleeping bag under the stars, you’re probably a camper.

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Whether you like to get a good night’s sleep in an air-conditioned RV camper or pitch