The Camping Club

America's Ranger of the Year

Gold Medalist

Frank Martin, Park Ranger, Lake Bistineau State Park, Doyline, LA

Frank Martin began his career as a Park Ranger in 2004. Martin is a remarkable ranger with the innate ability to connect with people of different cultures and backgrounds and an outstandingly friendly personality.

Martin's unique capability in everything to do with public relations and customer service is only matched by his equally effective manner in maintaining park rules and regulations.  A simple word from Martin is most often all that is needed to adequately manage objectionable behavior or activities with park boundaries.  Martin epitomizes the park's policy of 'cooperative compliance' in all matters of enforcement. 

Martin also participated in rescue and recovery operations in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 

"Frank Martin goes above and beyond the call of duty. He is customer friendly and is always trying to make the customer feel comfortable. When we had the hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, he volunteered to go to New Orleans and was instrumental in helping the local sheriff and New Orleans Police. He worked onsite 24-7 for 14 days straight. When he came back to the park, Martin oversaw over 500 evacuees here in our park and kept everything under control, and we had no problems with any of our evacuees, except for some who liked it so much they did not want to leave!!  I could write so much more about the goodness that Frank Martin does here on our park. He is good with the hay rides, and telling stories to the children. He helps with the programs, Halloween, Mardi Gras, Easter, and many other programs that just happen on a daily basis."

To read more about our silver medal winners, click here.  

How to Plan Fun Family Camping Activities

By Roy Scribner
Camping Blogger

If you are planning a family camping vacation this summer, you might be wondering how you're going to keep the kids entertained when you're not out hiking or sightseeing. Luckily, many of the state and federal parks that are popular with family campers feature a lot of family- and kid-oriented activities during the summer to keep everyone entertained.

The first place to look for ideas on family camping activities is the description of the campground on its ReserveAmerica page. Two summers ago, we spend the Fourth of July holiday at Joseph H. Stewart State Recreation Area, near Oregon's Crater Lake National Park. ReserveAmerica describes the park as follows:

"There are 201 campsites, hot showers, playgrounds, hiking and biking trails. In the spacious day use area there is a large swimming area, boat ramp, marina, boat rentals, restaurant and groceries. There are also 11.5 miles of bike and hiking trails through a lush conifer forest with year-round streams and ample wildlife viewing."

When you're camping with young children, you can't go wrong with playgrounds, bike trails, swimming and wildlife viewing! It's always nice to have a nearby grocery store, too, particularly if you are new to the camping experience.

In addition to the activities listed on ReserveAmerica, many state and federal parks feature Junior Ranger programs throughout the summer. These programs vary by location, but generally run an hour in the afternoon and feature a youth-oriented activity that is fun, but also teaches something about the area or the wildlife.

If your summer vacation plans include hiking, you might be wondering how to keep your kids interested and engaged. One strategy is to turn the hike into a scavenger hunt. Begin with the letter "A" and challenge your children to find an object whose name begins with that letter. Continue through the alphabet during the hike and, before they know it, the hike will be over and they will probably be looking forward to the next one. Kids can take pictures of the object, or simply keep a list of the things they find...

More Fun Activities