nicholsinic4

Hi, new to camping here as an adult, and I'm looking for a camping club in Central Texas. My parents belonged to one in Wi, when I was growing up. My google searches have not be successful.
I'm looking for a family club, I have an 8 & 4 year old.
Thanks,
Suzanne

campermom

Welcome.

This is a family oriented group. Theres kids, moms and dads, grammas and grammpas, and certainly a couple great grammies and poppies. This site has plenty of good first hand information and lots of friendly folks to answer questions.

nicholsinic4

This is an awesome site!!! I'm so glad to have found it!!! But what I was also looking for, was a club or group that actually gets together and camps together. It's planned out by a captain, and everyone meets there. The kids get to know each other and entertain each other. The adults chat, play cards and everyone has a big campfire together at night. Ahhh, the fond childhood memories I have....
Anything like that in Texas?

happybooker1

There is a Houston club like you mentioned. I searched on Yahoo groups but didn't find any that were just generally 'Texas' AND family-oriented. You might try just googling 'family camping clubs texas' & see if anything comes up.

The Houston club is Houston_Unwinders @ YahooGroups.

Shannon

Camping Clubs in Texas are listed in our Wild Texas Web Guide:
here

Some of the links may be outdated. I'll work on finding new/updated links for that section.

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Your Host @ WildTexas.com
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nicholsinic4

Thanks so much, the clubs sounds really fun! A bit pricey though. I guess I just keep searching for just a camping club without national and local dues. Just a bunch of people that have families that want to get together and camp.
~Suzanne

Shannon

Did you check out the link I provided? Here are camping clubs listed in that link that cover your area:
Hill Country Outdoors

Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club (has hiking, backpacking and camping outings)

There are others I need to list, as well.

__________________
- Shannon Moore
Your Host @ WildTexas.com
http://www.twitter.com/ageekgal

nicholsinic4

Yes ! I did check them out! Hill Country Outdoors is the one that sounded so fun, they get together all the time and do lots and lots of exciting outdoor adventures, but.... it's $37.50 a month for a couple. Yikes, that 's what I pay for my gym membership. Just a little pricey for me. Plus, it's at least an hour away, and I couldn't fully take advantage of all the fun events with 2 young children and on one income.

The other one ( Sierra Cllub) seems a little dead, the last post was made in Oct in think???? and I don't even know what year.

Thanks for the help, though!! I really do appreciate it!

PUNCHY

try:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/txtravelers/
or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CentralTexasPopupCampers/

nicholsinic4

Great links!! Thanks a million!!

CampingFamily

I would like a camping club to start up in or around Austin- I have three boys, five and under. Anyone interested in a camping club should post here, you never know, maybe we could start one.

MissionCamper

I guess I've never really understood the desire to become a member of a camping "club". We enjoy meeting new people everywhere we go, each time we go. Part of the adventure IMO. I'd sooner participate in a camping rally than join a club.

Shannon

I think if I were single, or Justin wasn't into camping at all, I would have likely gravitated to a backpacking/camping club of some sort. Such clubs are one way to get out to new and unfamiliar places and learn from people who'd been doing something for a lot longer than oneself. Not much different than any other club, really -- aviation clubs, crafts clubs/groups, bicycling clubs/groups, etc. Clubs have the added benefit of being more local, with regularly scheduled meetings/social events; otherwise, WildTexas.com and other outdoors websites are very much like a "virtual" club where folks share questions, trip reports and the like.

Unfortunately, due I guess to liability concerns, it seems some of the largest Texas camping/outdoors clubs are fee-based operations where you have to be a member to participate in some/all of their events. That can price it out of the range for some people, since camping itself is a relatively inexpensive hobby, as hobbies go.

__________________
- Shannon Moore
Your Host @ WildTexas.com
http://www.twitter.com/ageekgal

nicholsinic4

I would love that too, are you up to heading it up? I'm lost when it comes to camping, and I thought it would be nice to have someone make all the calls/shots and tell me where and when to show up!! LOL

Unregistered

I wouldn't want to "head it up", but would be involved and do my part if we got enough people. FYI, Hill Country Club and Austin in Action are both outdoor clubs that do a lot of cool stuff, but they have very few if any kid friendly events.

The benefits of a club, that did include kids, would be to have a group that the kids and parents, and adults without kids, could become connected with. I also like making friends wherever I go, but also enjoy seeing the same folks and developing relationships. It's especially great for kids to make friends through consistent groups. Cub Scouts and church youth groups are popular for a reason. The problem, is that there is no secular familiy oriented camping group currently in existence in or around Austin. Another reason is so that you don't have to do all the planning/ research stuff- you can just look at a calendar and decide if you want to show up to the given event- and of course you host some events as well.

Any other interested parties, or Nicholas, do you have any time to sort of "market" this idea? I am in the middle of starting a school, and a roller derby team, so really can't put anything into the marketing part- but like I said, if we get a group, we will definitely do our part.

Lisa