Who's Out There Camping? It's A Growing Tent

Memorial Day weekend was coming, and Jay Cooke State Park was setting up to celebrate it in full. All manner of recreational vehicles and other means to camp were settled in under the pines — from the smallest dome tents to the now- ubiquitous compact campers like Scamps and "teardrops," to travel trailers and motor homes that probably brought along the 55-inch Samsung TV. Camper cabins were full, too.

Chris Goh, 58, of Chanhassen kept it simple: His site consisted of a small tent, small ice chest, a canister stove, and his lovable pit bull mix, Bruno. They'd just returned from a walk. Bruno was in the tent, away from the sun and the mosquitoes. Goh planned to stay out for only one or two nights. Yet, he embraced what more Minnesotans, in particular, and Americans, in general, are doing in the last year:

Making time to camp.

Results from the 2021 North American Camping Report, an annual survey by Kampgrounds of America (KOA), attest to a base that is growing and changing. Some relevant takeaways:

• Households that identified as active campers hit 86 million in 2020, a 3 % increase from 2019. Additionally, 48 million households camped in 2020, an increase of more than 6 million since 2019.
• There were 10.1 million first-time camper households in 2020, and more than half said they were motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic to find solace and social distance in the outdoors.

Check out the full article from StarTribune here.