CampAwards.com focuses on two aspects of camp awards: giving awards for camping activities, and the awards inherent in going camping.

Rewards of Camping

More and more Americans are discovering that camping is a great way of bringing the family together without the distractions of modern life. It also teaches self-sufficiency in nature and the joys of just relaxing in the bottom of a boat while it drifts across a lake on a sunny summer day. Take away the cell phones, leave the Blackberry at home, nix the portable DVD player and the handheld video games. Instead, make a list of camping activities and give little awards. That includes adults! Some of the best camping times I've ever had were with other adults - we let our hair down, got in touch with our inner child and had the time of our lives.

Your goal may be to get away - you and the family, you and the spouse, you and a few friends - or to have the biggest campout on record with as many family and friends as you can get together in one campground.

Prepare to Camp!

The best camping experience starts with planning. Most state campgrounds fill up fast and the most popular ones, such as Yosemite, are booked within hours of reservation opening. Pick your campgrounds well in advance, find out when reservations open, how you make reservations, and how fast the campground fills up. This is especially essential for holiday weekends, when more people leave home and go camping. Private campgrounds in popular areas also fill up fast - if you can't get into the state campground in a popular area, it may be just as difficult to get into the private campground. If you're going with a group, decide who is going, how many camp sites you'll need and what type (RV or tent) and have 1 or 2 people do the reservations. Most campgrounds also have a cancellation fee, but for a very popular site on a busy weekend, it might be better to have to cancel reservations and pay the fee than to not be able to get the sites you want.

Make sure you understand the location where you're camping. I have a friend who has worked at various camp sites and he tells me people will make reservations for a camp site that's on an island in the middle of a lake and not understand there is no transport for them - and most especially, there is no way to get their 30-foot RV over to the island!

Once you've secured your camp site, you have plenty of time to plan your trip. If you're going to a remote area, you'll need to make sure you have all your food supplies. You don't want to have to drive 4 hours to the nearest store to "pick up a few things." People who camp a lot generally keep a "camp kit" in their garage, items that are always used when camping but never at any other time. Most experienced campers will tell you there are basic items to pack. As far as food items, you need to be careful about food that requires a certain level of refrigeration. Make sure you have an adequate cooler.

Tipi Camping

There's a picture of a tipi because I grew up in Cache Valley, Utah, where there's an annual Mountain Man Rendezvous. I had friends who were members of one the Mountain Man clubs and one summer, I joined them for Rendezvous and slept in their tipi. It was one of the greatest camping experiences I ever had! If you ever get a chance to raise a tipi, do it!

Camp activities and awards

In our opinion, the most important thing to prepare is camp activities, especially for a large group. Assign someone to be in charge of activities and let them pick helpers if they want. If your camp group has a wide range of ages, the activities should be age appropriate. Let the person in charge of ALL the games assign a helper to each age group.

We're going to have an entire section here on camping activities and awards you can assign for activities and games. Please feel free to follow us on Twitter and/or use the contact form and share! We want to know what your family or group had the most fun doing and what worked for specific age groups.

Have a great time camping! We're looking forward to adding more fun information on camp awards!