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Community Corner

Plug In To State Parks Website to Unplug for Vacation

Planning a trip to enjoy a last bit of summer or looking ahead to fall? Starting on the web is a great first step to getting away from it all.

Virginia State Parks are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year. The park system opened six parks (Douthat, Fairy Stone, Hungry Mother, Seashore, Staunton River and Westmoreland) on the same day in 1936.  The Civilian Conservation Corps built the parks as some of the first non-Federal projects undertaken by the New Deal jobs program. The park system has grown to 35 state parks that cross the commonwealth from the beach (First Landing) to the mountains (Douthat) and from Northern Virginia (Sky Meadows and Mason Neck) to the Roanoke highlands (Wilderness Road and Natural Tunnel).

The state has a very rich website with information about park locations, amenities, history and events. On the website you can start off with only a vague idea of a perfect weekend. Let's say you want to enjoy a fishing weekend by camping near the water. You want options for the whole group, so swimming would be good along with some hiking. Cabins or campgrounds are both OK, but having more options is ideal. You can use the amenity search to find which park would be the best fit. Douthat State Park fits these requests. The website has photos on Flickr to get a sense of what the park has to offer. Other details available are if pets are welcome at some cabins and which trails are ideal for biking or even a hike to a waterfall.

Next, you can check availability of campsites or cabins. The state uses Reserve America to handle campsite and cabin reservations. Douthat is a popular state park and it looks like most weekends are already reserved. You could wait until November when rates drop, but swimming is no longer on the agenda, or you could go for a midweek getaway in this last week of August as a last hurrah for summer. Click on an available cabin and you will get a description of the cabin and its amenities. You can then reserve online.

The State Parks also can be found on Facebook or followed on Twitter, which will keep you up to date on park happenings, contests and cabin rental discounts. There is a YouTube channel and a Flickr account to help get a better sense of the parks before committing to a choice.
Of course, once you get to the park, be prepared to unplug. Most parks do not have Internet access or strong cellphone service.  

So, when you want a vacation that won’t break the bank, log on to the State Parks website to find the perfect park and then you can log off to enjoy a technology-free escape.

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