I know you didn't ask our opinion on this tree, but since Mary offered you general advice about maples, I want to add a little to what she said. I will agree with what Mary said about maple trees in general. When we lived in Texas we had a large silver maple tree on the west side of our house. It had been planted by the previous homeowner about 25 years before we bought the house and was our only shadetree on the west side of the house, so we were 'stuck' with it. It had a million seeds every year, which we just chopped up with the lawn mower and caught with the grasscatcher. Any seed that sprouted we mowed down with the mower and it really wasn't much of a problem for us. It did have large surface roots, but I was able to plant a ground cover around those roots and it hid them quite well. The surface roots did not cause any sort of foundation problems for us, which was a relief! But the Shantung Maple is a different animal, so to speak. It is a hybrid maple bred to capture the good aspects of maples, like being fast-growing and quite beautiful without the negative qualities like excessive seeds and root problems. A lot of people say its' foliage reminds them quite a bit of that of some Japanese Maples. The fall color is gorgeous. It does not produce a lot of seed and usually doesn't produce surface roots like most other maples do. It is an Oklahoma Proven Winner from 2004 and the proven winners have been widely tested in a state before they are given that designation. I would never plant a Silver Maple in my yard, but I wouldn't hesitate to plant a Shantung Maple. There is a cultivar of Shantung Maple called Fire Dragon that has truly beautiful red foliage. I've linked a website with a photo of it below. The website has quite a few photos of Shantung Maples if you are interested in seeing them, including one tree that is quite large. Here is a link that might be useful: Fire Dragon Shantung Maple

Jo, We are do tent as as cabins camping every spring and fall and often in summer. If you are planning only tent cabins, then you may want to explore Buckhorn Campground in Chicksaw National Recreation Area, some of the camp ground are close to lake on high platform, and very privacy in couple of them. Doris campground in Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge will good in spring, but may be now. It will not be crowded and deers roam freely around the tent all the times. If you want to have both tent and cabins then look for the red rock canyon state park, they have nice but small cabins. Turners falls park has cabins as well tent facility, but falls area is very crowded in the long weekend. Never go Turner Falls park in any long weekends. Cabins at Beaverbeds is good, we love the tree house cabins http://www.beaversbendgetaways.com/cabins_treehouse.php Cabins at Smoky Mts are the best cabins we were stayed, but that me be faraway for you. Recently we spend couple of days at another cabin in Gatlinburge http://rental.cabinsofthesmokymountains.com/gatlinburg-cabin-rental/Mountain_Treasure.html we had great time. -Chandra

One trip up that way, a few years back, we stayed at a Superior Nat'l Forest C/G next to the Kamishiwi River, a few miles out of Ely. We caught lots of fish until the wind shifted out of the west, to the north, and everything quit! Bulegill, walleye and northern pike were the catch of the day.

122) Chiggers love the sweet perfume of OFF! Wear it well at clothing openings and about the ankle. (Deer ticks are optional here but plentiful.)