The History of CanvasCampers

I’m JoeCamper and I have grown up camping for most of my life both with my family and in the Boy Scouts.  Back in 2006, I wanted my daughter and I to be able to camp with others and meet new friends but there wasn’t currently anything available local or online.  I had joined several yahoo groups and website forums that were very informative but people didn’t get together and camp.

I decided in 2007 to start a group camping trip on one of the forums which I was a member.  Eight families camped for the weekend and the fun began  ( MarcS, BadSeed and mtn_bikers are original and still very active).  I then planned several group rallies the next year.

2009 came around and I had realized that I had limitations from not owning my own website.  This wasn’t money driven, but driven by building lifelong friends and memories.  I mentioned to the database wizard (CampingPhil) that I was considering starting my own website and why.  He understood my goals and offered to help make those possible.  I purchased the CanvasCampers.com domain in July 2010 and the new website went live on September 06, 2010.

In October 2010, the first group camping rally was at Lackawanna  State Park.  This was followed by many other features being added to the website including featured destinations, sweepstakes, camper manuals, photo gallery, recipes, campground reviews, online store, camping basics and more.  In late 2010, the first of several logos were created.  The year ended with the CanvasCampers Facebook page going live.

In 2012, the Coleman Owners Group, Somerset Owners Group, and TheBestCampgrounds.com domains were started.

April 2013, the first Georiga group rally took place and later in December, the first CanvasCampers GeoCache was placed at French Creek State Park.

Since then, the site has continued to grow including each year’s monthly group camping rallies from March thru November.  Most campgrounds have been selected from member recommendations.  We have decorated for Halloween, watched the leaves change, white water rafted, hiked, biked for MS, kayaked,  participated the Lager Jogger 5K, visited amusement parks, planned illumination weekends and so much more.  We have had rallies with 108 people camping together at Niagara Falls, we have enjoyed large rallies each year in November with 4-5 deep fried turkeys and everyone providing a potluck side dish for over 80 people to have a season-ending Thanksgiving meal together and large bonfire.

December 2017, the new CanvasCampers website has lauched and we continue our original goal to have a family-friendly camping experience both online and at group camping rallies.