Camping here in W.Pa. usually starts when the weather warms up, or the last snow has fallen! When is that you ask? When the weather warms up-warmer than the inside of yer house, and yer fingers don't freeze outside, without gloves! And, the grass turns green again! Usually around Memorial Day! Goes until the weekend before Labor Day, since school takes up after that. Weather is nice enough to camp later, like end of September, or even early Oct., but ends after that.Most campgrounds close up after Labor day, but a few diehards are open for deer hunting season!

We cheat. We extend the season by using the ole' motorhome. And the season starts as soon as the state land roads are dry enough to drive on. We camped at a campground in April with snow on the ground. We were the only ones there for quite a while. This last camping season we tent camped until September. Most campgrounds in upstate NY are April 15 thru Oct. 15

Here in South Jersey we camp all year long, at least my family does. We have a trailer that we sleep in when it is cold out and we can turn on the heat if we need it. I don't like to go inside though, only to sleep so we get that true camping feel. We have a fire going and stay warm, last weekend it was only 25 out but sitting by the fire it was warm eough to just wear sweat shirts and be comfy. This is our fav time of yr, no people there, dogs can run all over, deer running around. If we get really lucky it snows, and if you've not been camping in the snow, try it sometime, it is so beautiful.
Lynda

In Georgia, most campgrounds have at least some sections open all year round. I lean towards March - May and Sept - Nov, but there are plenty of weekends in Dec - Feb you could camp with 3 season gear. I avoid July and Aug unless it's in the mountains. Too hot and buggy.

In CT we start in May and usually finish up Columbus Day
weekend. But the main reason I'm replying is I can't imagine how they do it in the south camping with all that humidity.We took a camping trip to long beach island in
NJ this past summer and every day was over 95 degrees and very humid. (I was praying for cloudly weather) We took some day trips from our campground and I ended getting sick from the heat.The only thing that saved us was the
A/C in tha camper. Maybe when I get older I will be able to tolerate the heat better.

Chiming in from the Pacific Northwest here. We camp pretty much all year. I tent camp from spring break (first week in April) through October. Creative tarping and lots of dry firewood and I'm a happy camper. The trailer keeps us warm and dry the rest of the time. From the end of May till the first of September, we set the trailer up at the mouth of the Columbia river for fishing season (spring chinook, sturgeon, fall chinook, steelhead and start of crab season). I spend as much time as I can tent camping during that time but hubby won't sleep in a tent so to keep him happy, I use the trailer when he's fishing. I still say there's nothing like falling asleep, snuggled up in my cozy sleeping bag, with the sound of the ocean competing with the sound of rain falling on the tent.

mdcamping, are you crazy! Seriously, I get out of NJ in summer as fast as I can! I can't take the heat and humidity and I've lived here my whole life! I head up north as soon as I can and stay as long as I can!

Lynda, are you crazy too! As cold as it's been and you're still camping! It felt like heatwave today because it's been so cold! Seriously, it's great to hear you're still hanging in there with your winter camping! I've been taking the dogs out to Parvins on Saturday mornings and doing long walks/runs with them! Just last time it didn't feel cold to me and I was actually hot. I went to dry off the dog and found that he was frozen! He had ice all over his fur!

How about camping year round - in a tent!!!!!!!

I am a Boy Scout leader and have been for 17 years. Camping year round is the norm for us. I especially like winter camping - no bugs!!!

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT

Jen,
You know me, it is never too cold to camp, matter of fact on my way in about 2 1/2 hr for the weekend. It gets kind of tricky this time of yr with no running water in the campground though. We have to bring all water in jugs that we use. The REAL thing that bothers is me is no use of bathroom facilities, there is nothing like a restroom when you need one. Only 2 more months until the water is turned on. The smell of food cooking over the fire is awesome and so relaxing.
Eal51----kind of funny you mention boyscouts, my hubby was a leader for years with my 3 boys and camped all yr. too. The stories I would hear about camping in igloos they made in the snow in the winter and waking up with icles on their faces etc it was so funny. I guess thats why we camp all yr, it is nothing compared to all those yrs. he went through. He says he is living the life now, he doesn't have to sleep in a tent in the cold any longer. We sleep in our tent when it is nice out though.
Lynda

Lynda,

The stories I can tell with camping with "my three sons" are crazy at times. Snow caves, igloos, -15 degrees, frozen water, burned meals and a whole lot more. But that is what they still talk about. Two of the boys - now young men of 24 & 27 - are Eagle Scouts.

Don't camp as much in the winter as I used too. Part of the problem is I tore up my shoulder (rotator cuff) and sleeping on the ground is difficult. It also makes it almost impossible to backpack, which I really love to do.

So I'm left with camping on a cot or in a cabin on scout training weekends. But I still get out there!

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT

Jen,I know it can get hot in NJ but I figured our campground being "relatively" close to the shore and
I was counting on a sea breeze that I didn't think it was going to be that bad.But guess what,heat wave that week!
(That's what the locals said)Maybe that's the norm down there.When we camped in 2004 for over a week in VA on the
Chesapeake Bay it was not nearly as hot.Now this all ties in together because both campgrounds offer crabbing and fishing which is one of the things my kids just love and why I chose this campground.In CT it can also be downright nasty in July but generally we like to do our long camping trips north of our state too for the same reason.

Mike & Family