Fred Dow & Suzanne Dow
 |
|
Crowds are scattered and cities farther apart north of Sacramento, California. This is where visitors find forests like those of bye-gone days where Big Foot roamed and the way the West used to be. Of his time around Lake Tahoe, Mark Twain wrote: “The view was always fascinating, bewitching, entrancing. The eye was never tired of gazing. . .”. These words could be applied to any of the national forests in California north of Sacramento. Each forest, whether Eldorado, Klamath, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Six Rivers, Tahoe, or Trinity, still feature the pristine beauty that held Mark Twain in awe. No doubt that there have been changes since Twain wandered the area but the forests are much as they have always been - full of awe-inspiring wonders to discover, breath-taking sights to see, and once-in-a-lifetime adventures to experience. Visitors can follow in the footsteps of the 49ers through Eldorado and Trinity National Forests, or explore the ancient and new volcanic landscapes of Lassen and Modoc National Forests. Other visitors will enjoy the challenge and awesome power of mighty rivers that flow through the Klamath, Plumas, and Six Rivers National Forests. And visitors will, like Mark Twain, delight in the spectacular views of Lake Tahoe in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit.
Whether you camp in a tent or a recreational vehicle (RV), there are campgrounds in U.S. National Forests to satisfy the needs of most campers. The U.S. National Forest Campground Guide, Pacific Southwest Region (North Section), describes 222 developed campgrounds in 11 National Forests located in California, north of Sacramento. All of the campgrounds were personally visited and researched by the authors of this Guide.
There are more than 50 items of information for each campground, narrative descriptions (including authors’ anecdotes), maps displaying the relative location of the campgrounds, and quick look-up tables to help in the selection of a campground. In addition, there are sidebars throughout the Guide containing useful information about camping, the forests, things to do, and the authors’ experiences.
NOTE: The U.S. National Forest Campground Guide, Pacific Southwest Region (South Section), describes campgrounds in national forests located in California, south of Sacramento.
The authors, Fred and Suzanne (Suzi) Dow, are a husband-wife team researching developed campgrounds located in National Forests throughout the United States. Starting in May 1996, the authors set off from Burke, VA in their 23-foot travel trailer and became full-time RVrs for almost three years. The authors now live in Bisbee, AZ for six months and are on the road the other six months a year visiting National Forests and researching campgrounds. As of September 14, 2006, the authors have visited 146 of the 157 National Forests and personally surveyed 2,229 campgrounds. They expect to complete their research during the year 2008.
Suzi Dow, a former Army brat, spent a good bit of her youth traveling across the United States. Those early years of endless miles in the back of the family station-wagon were not enough. During the summer of 1976, she and her two children spent three months tent camping on a meander from coast to coast. This time produced some of her favorite memories. Just before starting work on this Guide, Suzi earned her Master’s degree from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. Now a resident of Bisbee, AZ, she enjoys her position as an Instructor at Cochise Community College, working on the latest edition of the Guides and getting acquainted with a stationary home, at least for six months of the year.
Fred Dow was raised in Newton Center, MA and graduated from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY in January 1959. Following college, Fred spent over three years in the Army as a Military Police Officer stationed in Garmisch, Germany. After his discharge, Fred was employed by Aetna Life and Casualty as a claims representative in Richmond, VA and Washington, DC. Later, Fred was employed by two R&D firms as the Director of Administration and Personnel in McLean, VA and Rockville, MD. During the summer of 1972, Fred started work for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington, DC, first as a program analyst, then finally as the Director of Office Automation in the Office of Housing. He retired from HUD in January 1996. Over the years, Fred has camped in tents and RVs both in the United States and Europe.
