CAMPGROUND CHOICE:

AN ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL PATTERNS IN WISCONSIN STATE PARK

CAMPING
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OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH QUESTION(S)
GEOGRAPHICAL
TRADITIONS
BACKGROUND
WHY IT MATTERS
STUDY AREA

METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION
FUTURE STUDIES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES CITED

WHAT ARE THE SPATIAL PATTERNS

ASSOCIATED WITH WISCONSIN STATE PARK
CAMPERS?
WHERE ARE CAMPERS COMING FROM?
WHY DO PEOPLE PICK THE CAMPGROUNDS THEY DO?

GEOGRAPHICAL TRADITIONS

SPATIAL TRADITION
DISTANCE, DIRECTION, POSITION, PATTERNS

HUMAN-LAND TRADITION
INTERACTIONS BETWEEN HUMANS AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

GEOGRAPHICAL REASONS INFLUENCING CAMPGROUND CHOICE

(Pattison
1964)

BACKGROUND

CAMPING DEMOGRAPHICS
WISCONSIN OUTDOOR RECREATION
DEMAND REPORT (WISCONSIN DNR
2011)
2012 AMERICAN CAMPER REPORT
(OUTDOOR FOUNDATION 2012)

CAMPING STUDIES
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL

ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT
(GROVES 1981)
OFTEN ABOUT SUMMER CAMPS

CAMPGROUND CHOICE

SPATIAL

GEOGRAPHY OF TOURISM

WHY DO WE CARE?
WISCONSIN STATE PARK REVENUE
CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
GROUP WORK (DODSON 1960)
SELF-REFLECTION AND IDENTITY (GROVES 1981)
NATURE-DEFICIT (LOUV 2005)

ENVIRONMENTALISM
BIOPHILIA (WILSON 1984)

TO THE DEGREE THAT WE COME TO UNDERSTAND OTHER ORGANISMS, WE WILL

PLACE A GREATER VALUE ON THEM, AND OURSELVES. E. O. WILSON

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STUDY
AREA

WISCONSIN STATE PARK SYSTEM

43 CAMPGROUNDS

2012 Special Report on

Camping
(Outdoor Foundation 2012)

METHODS
DATA
WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF
NATURAL RESOURCES (DNR)
(BENISH 2014)

CAMPSITE RESERVATION DATA

MAY 23 OCTOBER 13, 2014

BY PARK AND BY ZIP CODE

U.S. CENSUS DATA (U.S. CENSUS

2012)

ZCTA SHAPEFILES

POPULATION DATA

INCOME DATA

ESRI GEOSPATIAL DATABASE

NORMALIZATION OF DATA

METHODS

CREATE MAPS FOR PARKS

ZIP RESERVATIONS/TOTAL PARK RESERVATIONS

% OF PARK RESERVATIONS FROM EACH ZIP

WHERE ARE THE CAMPERS COMING FROM?

VARIOUS OTHER MAPS

RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION

MOST POPULAR
STATE
CAMPGROUNDS

Based on 2014 Visitor Demographics Report (May 23

September 1). Shows ALL reservations, not just
Wisconsin

Interstate State Park Campground

Harrington Beach State Park Campground

Campsites

Campsites

Electric: 23
Non-Electric:
57
Remote: 2
Group: 2
Total: 84

Electric: 31
Non-Electric:
32
Remote: 5
Group: 1
Total: 69

1 campground in
30 mile radius

Interstate Park

4 campgrounds
in 30 mile
radius
Harrington
Beach

People more
attached to
nearby parks
(Nyaupane and
Graefe 2008)

Copper Falls State Park Campground

Governor Thompson State Park Campground

Campsites

Campsites

Electric: 24
Non-Electric:
21
Remote: 5
Group: 1
Total: 51

Electric: 16
Non-Electric:
84
Remote: 3
Group: 0
Total: 103

15 mile radius

Peninsula State Park Campground

Rock Island State Park Campground

Campsites

Campsites

Electric: 166
Non-Electric:
299
Remote: 0
Group: 3
Total: 468

Electric: 0
Non-Electric: 0
Remote: 40
Group: 2
Total: 42

DISCUSSION
INFLUENCES ON
CAMPERS
HIGHWAYS

ESPECIALLY FOR DRAWING DISTANT

CAMPERS

DISTANCE AWAY FROM

CAMPGROUNDS

HOW DEVELOPED A
CAMPGROUND IS

GETTING BACK TO NATURE AND

ESCAPE FROM THE CITY IMPORTANT
(GARST 2010)

DEVELOPED CAMPGROUNDS STILL

MOST POPULAR

THE CLOSER ONE LIVES TO A PARK,

THE MORE FREQUENTLY THEY VISIT
THE PARK. (NYAUPANE AND GRAEFE
2008)

OTHER PARKS IN AREA

MORE COMPETITION

POVERTY RATES

HIGHER POVERTY = SHORTER

CAMPING TRIPS

CONCLUSION
PLANNING OF FUTURE
CAMPGROUNDS

HIGHLY DEVELOPED CAMPGROUNDS

EASY ROAD ACCESS

NEAR AREAS OF HIGH POPULATION

MUCH ALREADY TAKEN

FUTURE STUDIES
LARGER STUDY AREA
SPECIFICALLY OUT-OF-STATE
CAMPERS

LONGER TIME PERIOD

SOCIOECONOMIC FOCUS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CAMPING PROGRAM MANAGER DAVID BENISH, DNR BUREAU OF PARKS

AND RECREATION
DR. GARRY RUNNING
DR. EZRA ZEITLER
DR. RYAN WEICHELT
MARTIN GOETTL
MY WIFE, JAYCEE
GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT IN GENERAL

REFERENCE
S
Benish, D. 2014. Camping Program Manager, Bureau of Parks and
Recreation, Wisconsin DNR. Visitor Demographics Report.
Dodson, D. 1960. Camping in Relation to Child Growth and
Development. Journal of Educational Sociology 34 (3):7.
Garst, B. A., D. R. Williams, and J. W. Roggenbuck. 2010. Exploring
early twenty-first century developed forest camping experiences
and meanings. Leisure Sciences 32 (1):90-107.
Groves, D. L. 1981. CampingIts Past and Future Contribution to
Adolescent Development. Adolescence 16 (62):331-334.
Louv, R. 2005. Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from
Nature-Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books.
McFarlane, B. L. 2004. Recreation specialization and site choice
among vehicle-based campers. Leisure Sciences 26 (3):309-322.
Nyaupane, G. P., and A. R. Graefe. 2008. Travel Distance: A Tool for
Nature-Based Tourism Market Segmentation. Journal of Travel
& Tourism Marketing 25 (3-4):355-366.
Reserve America. 2014. Campgrounds and Camping Reservations.
http://wisconsinstateparks.reserveamerica.com/ (last accessed
11 November 2014).
Outdoor Foundation, The. 2012. 2012 American Camper Report.
Boulder, CO.

U.S. Census Bureau. 2012a. B01003-Total Population.

. 2012b. S1902 - Mean Income in the Past 12 Months (In 2012
Inflation-Adjusted Dollars).
. 2014. ZIP Code Tabulation Areas 2014.
https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/zctas.html. (last accessed
13 November 2014)
Wilson, E. O. 1984. Biophilia. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Wisconsin DNR. 2011. Wisconsin Outdoor Recreation Demand
Report. Bureau of Parks and Recreation.
. 2014a. Camping at Governor Thompson State Park. http://
dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/govthompson/camping.html (last
accessed 11 November 2014)
. 2014b. Camping at Peninsula State Park. http
://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/peninsula/camping.html. (last
accessed 11 November 2014)
. 2014c. Copper Falls Camping. http
://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/copperfalls/camping.html. (last
accessed 11 November 2014)
. 2014d. Harrington Beach Camping.
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/harrington/camping.html.
(last accessed 11 November 2014)
. 2014e. Interstate Camping.
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/interstate/camping.html.
(last accessed 11 November 2014)
. 2014f. Rock Island Camping.
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/rockisland/camping.html. (last
accessed 11 November 2014)

53051 Menomonee Falls

Waukesha County
Population: 35,656
Below poverty line: 3.3%
Total reservations: 781

53212 Milwaukee
Milwaukee County
Population: 31,065
Below poverty line: 38.9%
Total reservations: 544