Families Check In to Camp Out at Stony Metro

Making s’mores around a campfire, taking a dip in the lake on a hot summer day, swapping stories under a starlit sky … sounds like the perfect camping experience!  But what if it could get even better, what if you could have this experience less than 10 miles from home?  Now you can at .

“You come inside the park and you don’t know you’re not Up North,” said Doug Cook, the camping weekend host. “But the great thing is if it rains, then you go home for the night and come back the next morning.”

Stony Creek Metropark began their Rustic Family Camping initiative three years ago, and the event has been growing in popularity ever since.  While there was only one weekend and eight families when Cook first started, it has grown to five weekends this year and approximately 40 to 50 families. 

The park offers one weekend each month, one of which was this past weekend when 45 families came out to camp at Baypoint Beach.  There also was a weekend in June, and the upcoming camping weekends include August 12-14, September 9-11 and October 7-9.  The October weekend will be Halloween-themed, giving the kids an opportunity to dress up.

“It’s about the kids … and to be able to get the kids outside and have fun is great,” Cook said.

Also for the kids, the camping weekends involve a climbing wall, a nature center program with the “squiggily wiggilies,” a farm center program with farm animals, and a group bonfire at night to “swap s’mores and stories.”  Cook insists you cannot get a superior experience, including all the park amenities, for a better price than $40.

“It’s great for the kids because they get to meet new friends … and just to see the kids smiling and laughing and playing and the adults, too, it’s just a great opportunity for people,” Cook said.  “We’re lucky to have it.”

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