When Matt Willen became a Pittsburgh resident in 1990, he spent a lot of time kayaking the area's rivers and streams.
Sometimes, the places he used as base camps for those adventures were good. At other times, they were not.
"I remember, when I first moved to Pennsylvania, I found some really nice campgrounds, and I found some really icky ones," Willen said. "Some of those latter places were just plain bad."
No one should have to suffer through that same kind of misery these days, though, thanks to Willen's new book. At 176 pages, "Best in Tent Camping: Pennsylvania" identifies 50 of the best state parks, national forests, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds and municipal campgrounds across the state.
None of the areas described are what you would call remote. Neither are they overly crowded or noisy. They were, by design, chosen because they offer a quality camping experience for families, Willen said.
Each campground is rated according to six criteria: beauty, privacy, spaciousness, quiet, security and cleanliness.
Readers get the GPS coordinates for each campground, too, along with directions on how to get there and maps depicting the layout of each site. There's also information on who owns each campground, what it costs to stay there and how to make reservations, among other things.
The best part of each campground description might be Willen's personal observations. A writing professor at Elizabethtown College in Lancaster County, he visited each site over the course of a year.
"I had a great time doing it, I'll tell you what. But I put 8,000 miles on my car driving all around the state visiting these different places," Willen said. "I joked that, the next time I do a book like this, I want to do some place like Maryland or Rhode Island. Pennsylvania is a big state."
Each campground description includes information on nearby trails, playgrounds and beaches and other attractions.
Astute hunters and anglers can make good use of the book, as well. Willen notes which campgrounds lie in the middle of popular hunting spots and explains which sites offer good opportunities to fish.
He even wet his own line a bit while writing the book.
"Most of my time was spent hiking, but I always took my fly rod along and tried some things," he said. "I realize there are a lot of different reasons people get out, and I wanted to get a flavor for what they could do at these places."
Willen was familiar with some, but not all, of the campgrounds before beginning his yearlong odyssey. The former member of Pittsburgh's Explorers Club enjoyed seeing them, though.
"There's a lot in Pennsylvania," Willen said. "I hope people who are interested in going out to some of those places with their families will enjoy the book. I hope people will make good use of it."
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