A driving rain did not dampen the enthusiasm as rangers eagerly taught families how to set up camp last weekend at Myles Standish State Forest, marking the return of a program that began in 2008, but was put on hold for several years because of the pandemic.
“We want families to become confident and skilled in going camping,” said Amy Wilmot, visitor experience coordinator with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
But Saturday’s event, held under the forest’s mast-straight white pines and more scraggy pitch pines, was a trial by rainwater. Twenty families signed up and braved the weather. As they checked in, they were given maps, a schedule, and a bundle of firewood.
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Rangers also handed out tents and Coleman stoves – funded through a grant from the Bronco Wild Fund – to families who needed them. The weekend event, officially called Family Camping Weekend, was free.
The park, which covers about 12,400 acres, features 400 campsites along four ponds, along with bicycle, equestrian, and hiking trails. Saturday’s program was held at the Barrett Pond campground.
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Prior to the newbie campers’ arrival, rangers spent hours in a yurt and under the trees trying to stay dry, hoping the rain would end. They passed the time talking excitedly about camping, nature, and teaching people about both, as they unpacked the stoves.
Rachel Constanzo, her husband, their three-year-old son, and their baby were among the first to take a stroll around the campground. It was their first time camping as a family of four.
Constanzo said they were looking forward to fishing – also a first for them.
Jihyun Kang and Rihyun Kim said they wanted their six-year-old daughter to experience nature in their new country. They moved to Cambridge from Korea in March when Kim took a job at a biotech firm.
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“DCR is very supportive for our life because they provide a lot of activity like this one,” Kim said, adding that he frequently checks the agency’s website for activities the family can participate in together.
Six-year-old Anandita Sharma showed up at the rangers’ yurt in her pink bunny suit and led them back to her parents, who were struggling to anchor their tent.
A red squirrel darted between the trees as Vivek Sharma and Divya Mahajan, from Westborough, set up a tent under the guidance of a ranger. When he suggested to Sharma that the rainy day might be better suited to watching television, Sharma, eager for a family experience away from screens in the wi-fi-unfriendly forest, replied: “Absolutely not!”
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After the rain let up mid-afternoon, rangers led talks on how to set up, maintain, and safely extinguish campfires, as well as how to cook over them.
They also led a program at Barrett Pond where children could catch pond creatures with nets and buckets and learn about them before releasing them back into the water – including dragonfly and damselfly nymphs, tadpoles, green frogs, caddisflies, and water boatman.
That night, they would listen to a storyteller and roast marshmallows over campfires to make s’mores.
On Sunday, an angler education team from Mass Wildlife came with rods and reels and bait so families could give fishing a try.
Rangers also led a hike that included practicing map-reading skills, and there was a program to introduce campers to some of the animals that live in the forest, including an Eastern painted turtle and Eastern box turtle.
This was the only Family Camping Weekend of the summer, but DCR plans several more across the state next year.
For more information about camping in Myles Standish, go here.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.