June 15, 2009

Charlotte, NC—  Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation invites campers and anyone who wants to try camping to join in the fifth annual Great American Backyard Campout Saturday, night June 27, 2009. 

Park and Recreation’s McDowell Campground is an official host venue in the Charlotte area, with 56 camp sites in McDowell Nature Preserve, 15222 York Road (NC Highway 49 South).  The year-‘round campground is part of a wooded, 1100 acre nature preserve on the shores of Lake Wylie. It offers options for primitive camping, tent camping, or camping with a recreation vehicle at various prices, $12-$46 a night. A limited number of rent-a-tent sites with 9x12 ft. tents and two cots are also available. 

Most campsites include access to water, grills, picnic tables, electricity, and shady tree cover. The campground has a $400,000 bathhouse with individual restrooms and shower rooms. The preserve also has a nature center with many exhibits and offers opportunities and courses during the weekend for hiking, lake kayaking and canoeing, and fishing.

The Great American Backyard Campout is sponsored the National Wildlife Federation to introduce youngsters and adults to the fun of camping and the serenity of the great outdoors. As many as 100,000 campers may participate this year! To reserve a campsite at McDowell Campground, call 704 583-1284. 

Campers who stay at McDowell Campground may also want to visit the US National Whitewater Center, 15 miles away.  The Whitewater Center will also host limited overnight camping onsite and has an artificial whitewater river for rafting and kayaking, as well as a climbing wall, ropes course, mountain bike trails, and an 1100 foot “Mega Zip Line,” all available for additional fees.