Looking For a Little Adventure – Try a Georgia Backpacking Clinic

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources will be offering overnight backpacking clinics most Saturday to Sunday’s from March 13th to November 7th this year. The overnight trips depart at 2pm from Panola Mountain State Park.

This over-night guided trip will take you to breathtaking vistas, pine savannahs, hardwood bottomlands and water crossings. The five-mile hike will include tracking skills, wilderness survival skills, useful plants, a night hike and hands on experience with backpacking skills for the new and well-seasoned backpackers. Backpackers must supply their own gear. Trips depart from the nature center. They recommend arriving 30 minutes before each program and you must register in advance by calling 1- 770-389-7801. The cost is $30 plus $5 for parking.

Panola Mountain State Park is just 18 miles southeast of Atlanta, Georgia on Highway 155. This unusual park was created to protect a 100-acre granite monadnock (mountain) often compared to Stone Mountain and Arabia Mountain. Minimally developed, Panola Mountain shelters rare plants of the Piedmont region.

While the park does not have a campground the Atlanta South RV Resort is nearby and bills itself as one of the finest RV resorts in the South.

Image: Spring flowers at Panola State Park

Maine state parks set attendance record.

Visits to Maine's state parks increased nearly eight percent last year, despite the wet summer and weak economy. State officials in Maine say it's the most number of visits to Maine's state parks in the past seven years.

State officials say 2.34 million visits were made to state parks such as Sebago Lake, Camden Hills and Mount Blue in 2009, compared with 2.18 million visits in 2008. It's the largest state park attendance in the past seven years, state officials say.

Several state parks saw a significant increase in the number of visitors, including Fort Point, where visits were up nearly 72 percent. Visitors also flocked in greater numbers to Kettle Cove, Damariscotta Lake, Quoddy Head, Holbrook Island, Bradbury Mountain, and Eagle Island.

The most popular campgrounds were Sebago Lake State Park with 84,173 overnight visits, Camden Hills State Park with 23,403 overnights, and Mount Blue with 21,337 overnights. Eight state campgrounds saw increases in nightly occupancy, with the greatest increases at Warren Island and Aroostook state parks.

Record Attendance for North Carolina State Parks

State parks in North Carolina reported record attendance in 2009 of 14.16 million visits, a jump of 13 percent over the previous year, and up 5 percent from the previous record set in 2007, according to the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation.

Over the past 25 years, the state parks system has seen a dramatic 238 percent increase in visitation. In 1984, 5.9 million people visited state parks and state recreation areas.

“It’s obvious North Carolinians and visitors to our state recognize the tremendous value our state parks offer in terms of affordable family experiences and respite from a difficult economy,” said Gov. Bev Perdue. “Every visitor to the state parks can also take pride in this state’s long history of conservation of its remarkable natural resources.”

The state parks system manages more than 208,000 acres, including 34 state parks and four state recreation areas and a system of state natural areas dedicated to natural resource protection.

Among the parks and recreation areas, 22 reported increases in attendance in 2009. Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Dare County reported the highest attendance at 1.4 million visits, an increase of 2 percent over last year.

Other parks with significant increases were Cliffs of the Neuse State Park in Wayne County (42 percent), Crowders Mountain State Park in Gaston County (58 percent), Dismal Swamp State Park in Camden County (59 percent), Jordan Lake State Recreation Area in Chatham County (52 percent) and Mount Mitchell State Park in Yancey County (77 percent). The popular summit area at Mount Mitchell reopened in 2008 upon the completion of a new observation deck at the highest point in the eastern United States.

The study by North Carolina State University’s Department of Parks Recreation and Tourism Management determined that tourist visitors spend an average $23.56 a day to enjoy the state parks. The complete study can be found at http://www.ncparks.gov/News/media_room/main.php