ArcGIS shapefile depicting point locations of automobile campgrounds in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Site features in campgrounds of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex: restrooms, walk-in campsites, water sources (in some of them), bear boxes (Hozomeen), picnic shelters, recycle stations and dumping stations, amphitheaters, fish cleaning station (Colonial Creek)

ArcGIS shapefile line features depicting drive-in sites and access roads within automobile campgrounds in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Drive-in campsites and the campground-associated roads of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Sites in the Colonial Creek, Newhalem Creek, and Goodell campgrounds are numbered, while Hozomeen sites are not.

ArcGIS shapefile line features depicting drive-in sites and access roads within automobile campgrounds in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Drive-in campsites and the campground-associated roads of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Sites in the Colonial Creek, Newhalem Creek, and Goodell campgrounds are numbered, while Hozomeen sites are not.

ArcGIS shapefile point features depicting backcountry camps and frontcountry campgrounds within the North Cascades National Park Service Complex, Washington. Locations of frontcountry campgrounds and backcountry camps, including auto, hiker, stock, boat-in, group, and cross-country.

ArcGIS shapefile point features depicting backcountry camps and frontcountry campgrounds within the North Cascades National Park Service Complex, Washington. Locations of frontcountry campgrounds and backcountry camps, including auto, hiker, stock, boat-in, group, and cross-country.

The Campground Location database contains information about physical and cultural geographic features of all types with Great Smoky Mountains National Park,current and historical, but not including roads and highways. The database holds the Federally recognized name of each feature and defines the feature location by state, county, USGS topographic map, and geographic coordinates. Other attributes include feature designations, feature classification, historical and descriptive information, and for some categories the geometric boundaries. Perhaps in response to often harsh and demanding working conditions, overcrowded city life, or a pervasive desire for a simpler existence, camping became a popular pastime in the late 19th century. Several publications from that period describe in enthusiastic detail the particular advantages of various styles of tents, stoves and clothing, as well as tips for successful outings. Bringing just what they needed to set up a temporary home in the natural shelter of the woods, early campers arrived to the national forests on foot, horseback, or wagon. Attracted by the adventure of living out of doors and experiencing nature at close quarters, they were there to go "gypsying," to experience the renewed sense of freedom one finds in the natural world. While it was informal and unsupervised in the early years, camping was recognized as a significant use of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.1902 regulations issued by General Land Office, Department of the Interior, required that "specially desirable camping grounds or place[s] of resort" be considered for protection from the private development of hotels or sanitariums on national land. There is a satisfying immediacy about the prospect of establishing an encampment for the night — clearing the site, erecting the tent, chopping wood, building a fire and cooking over the live flame — that in turn suggests a meaningful connection to landscape, place and the rugged life of backwoods adventurers. In essence camping is an act of faith and survival, a way to buttress a modest, isolated human settlement against the forces of nature. Situated “somewhere between challenging new circumstances and the safe reassurances of familiarity,” the camp is a temporary substitute for the home — a place to dwell, to sleep, to interact socially, to prepare and eat food. Stripped of any but the most vital conveniences, the camp is literally and figuratively open to the stimuli of its natural surroundings. This summer millions of Americans will take to the road in search of this powerful experience of nature. And that parcel of land upon which most will elect to drive their car, set up their tent, park their trailer or RV is the campsite — which is thus not only an imagined ideal but also the fundamental unit of management of the modern campground. There are 113,000 federally managed campsites in the United States, 166,000 campsites dispersed across state parks, and untold numbers in private facilities. This feature service depicts the location of such "Front-Country" camping facilities within Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The main Trail Survey took place during the years of 1997-2000. Differentially corrected GPS (Global Positioning System) data were collected primarily on foot for all existing maintained trails and spur trails to backcountry campsites, attractions and buildings within the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park (YNP).The trails that could not be obtained through the GPS or have been rerouted since the survey were acquired through the uses of 1 meter Digital Orthophoto Quarter Quads (DOQQs) and the help of backcountry rangers with knowledge of where the trails are located. There are also associated GPS data for trail bridges, backcountry campsites, patrol cabins and trail surface type. Trail usage data also documented by using visitor ski and bike trail maps. Trails data have been updated since the original survey using information from the Yellowstone Backcountry Office, trails maintenance personnel, best available imagery resources, and GPS data. This layer is a work in progress.