Page 44 - NJCOA-2020Guidebook-online

Eco-tourism which emphasize the interconnectedness of wildlife and the eco-system
and underscores the importance of conservation. Campgrounds in the
By Owen Gallagher Skylands region of the state’s northwest have their own attractions for eco-
tourists. You can join a tour to see, hear or photograph packs of British
Columbian, Timber and Arctic wolves at the Lakota Wolf Preserve in
Eco-tourism can mean many different things to different people. It Columbia. Some campgrounds offer direct hiking access to Worthington
doesn’t have to involve traveling to another continent to experience life State Forest and the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area or
in a rain forest. There are plenty of opportunities right here in New Jersey easy entry onto the Appalachian Trail. Others will take you several miles
to experience nature’s wonders. up the Delaware River to start a trip by raft, kayak, canoe or tube that ends
up right back at your campsite. It’s a perfect way to spend a hot summer
You are an eco-tourist if you appreciate the rolling hills and beautiful day drifting by the serene woods.
waterfalls found while hiking in the Delaware Water Gap National
Recreation Area or in surrounding area. You are an eco-tourist if you’re Lisa and Carmine Torella say they are constantly adding new trails through
excited each year by the return of migrating red knots and other the woods at their 130-acre Great Divide Campground in Sussex County.
shorebirds along the Delaware Bay coastline. And you are an eco-tourist “That’s what people want,” says Carmine. “They want to be able to get
if you look forward to dipping your oars into the dark-brown cedar water out and look around and not see anything but the forest.”
for a canoe trip along a river in the Pinelands.
Lisa says it was the unique geographic landscape that sold her husband
Studies find that half of all campers identify their “love of the outdoors” on the campground when they purchased it in 2012, particularly an area
for sparking their interest in camping. Cape May County officials they now call The Divide, nestled in a valley in the middle of the property.
appreciate that passion and embrace the environment as a vital part “Carmine was looking up at the rock walls and said, ‘I just love this place.’”
of their tourism-based economy. The New Jersey Audubon’s annual
World Series of Birding attracts enthusiastic teams of birders each That love of nature and all things outdoors are a key part of what makes
spring competing to identify the most species by sight or sound in a eco-tourism such an integral part of the allure of camping in New Jersey.
24-hour period. The Monarch Butterfly Migration Project highlights From Barnegat Bay to the Bayshore Center in Bivalve, Cumberland
the opportunity for visitors to witness the magical masses of black and County, to the jagged cliffs of the Palisades along the Hudson River,
orange roosting in trees and dunes as the Monarchs rest near Cape campers can connect with nature and understand why it is important to
May Point during their fall migration to Mexico. The excitement of work hard to protect it.
hearing shouts of “Thar she blows” has been available since 1987
through the Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center’s ecotours,

44 GoCampingNJ.com