Memorial Day weekend is not only the unofficial start of the summer season, but also the kickoff of the camping season.

Greene County Conservation Director Dan Towers says the most popular county park for camping is Spring Lake Park. There are trails, a lake that allows paddle boats, canoes, fishing, a beach area, along with a basketball court, a skating rink and 120 campsites. Towers notes new this year is that 20 campsites are reservable online. He explains why they decided to institute online reservations.

“Kind of demand from the campers, from those out of county. Which 80-percent of our campers are out of county. Just a demand from them. They see it at almost all the other big parks have it, state parks all have it, and a lot of the bigger county parks have it. They are familiar with it there and they just thought that would be a good thing we offer here so we do that now.”

He adds the other campsites are on a first come, first served basis. Towers points out for those individuals who want a more quiet and serene camping experience to try Hyde and Squirrel Hollow parks. There are several fishing and wildlife options at both of those locations.