State Parks Introduces Special Camping Promotion

ALBANY, NY (06/07/2011)(readMedia)-- Rose Harvey, Commissioner of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), today announced a special camping promotion at eight State Park campgrounds for the weekend of June 24-25. The buy-two-nights-get-one-free discount helps kick off the summer season for families looking for affordable getaways as well as taking part in the Great American Backyard Campout being held across the nation that weekend.

"With schools soon letting out for the year, the Great American Backyard Campout weekend is the perfect time to get a head start on summer vacation," State Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey said. "We hope the discounted pricing from our already affordable rates may inspire young campers to try camping for an extended weekend or encourage seasoned campers to explore a new destination."

For campers who reserve a campsite at the designated parks for the two nights, June 24 and June 25, the Thursday night preceding (June 23) will be free. Campers making advance reservations through ReserveAmerica, will pay for the three nights upfront and then receive a refund for the Thursday night after their stay is completed. For walk-up campers, the park will waive the Thursday night fee when they register. Previous reservations for the selected dates are not included in the promotion.

The eight participating state park campgrounds are:

Bowman Lake State Park, Oxford, NY (Central Region)

Oquaga Creek State Park, Bainbridge, NY (Central Region)

Cayuga Lake State Park, Seneca Falls, NY (Finger Lakes Region)

Stony Brook State Park, Danville, NY (Finger Lakes Region)

Evangola State Park, Irving, NY (Niagara Region)

Taconic State Park-Rudd Pond Area, Millerton, NY (Taconic Region)

Mills-Norrie State Park, Staatsburg, NY (Taconic Region)

Burnham Point, Cape Vincent, NY (Thousand Islands Region)

Sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, the June 25th Great American Backyard Campout invites people across America to come together every June to camp in their backyards, local parks or campgrounds and discover a whole other world that lives right in their "backyard."

OPRHP operates 65 campgrounds with 8,400 campsites, 750 cabins and 50 vacation rentals. Camping reservations are available through ReserveAmerica, which provides online and phone reservations for campsites throughout New York. Reservations are accepted for campsites and cabins, from one day to nine months in advance of the planned arrival date by calling toll-free 1-800-456-CAMP or online, http://newyorkstateparks.reserveamerica.com/.

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees 178 state parks and 35 historic sites. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com, connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.