Great Outdoors Month

By Tom Keer

Jun 10, 2015

Great Outdoors Month is upon us, and without question Great Outdoors Month is a thoroughly American idea.  The month celebrates our country’s natural heritage by encouraging us all to take advantage of the open space that we all enjoy.

Great Outdoors Month is upon us, and without question Great Outdoors Month is a thoroughly American idea.  The month celebrates our country’s natural heritage by encouraging us all to take advantage of the open space that we all enjoy.

One attribute that makes USA such a unique nation is that we have the opportunity to explore the natural resources of open-to-the-public land. This month we’re celebrating National Trails Day, National Fishing and Boating Week, National Get Outdoors Day, and the Great American Campout, among others. It’s when we can visit inland, coastal, northern, southern, eastern and western national parks to enjoy fishing, boating, kayaking, camping, and hiking.

The best part of it all is that we don’t just have to limit our exploits to this month.  We can go afield for most of the year.  And we have the luxury to combine many of these activities into one heck of a trip, a weekend, or a vacation.  Camping and boating, camping, boating and fishing, camping, kayaking and fishing, you get the picture.

Getting outdoors isn’t a requirement.  It’s an opportunity and a privilege.  If you’ve been cooped up working and not getting enough time on the water then use this month as a springboard.  Establish new patterns just like the ones you had when you were a kid.  You know the kind I’m talking about, the kind where you woke up early and were gone until after sunset catching fish, losing fish, and having a great time.

Before hitting the water make sure you have your fishing license.
Tom Keer
Tom Keer
Tom Keer is an award-winning writer who lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  He is a columnist for the Upland Almanac, a Contributing Writer for Covey Rise magazine, a Contributing Editor for both Fly Rod and Reel and Fly Fish America, and a blogger for the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation’s Take Me Fishing program.  Keer writes regularly for over a dozen outdoor magazines on topics related to fishing, hunting, boating, and other outdoor pursuits.  When they are not fishing, Keer and his family hunt upland birds over their three English setters.  His first book, a Fly Fishers Guide to the New England Coast was released in January 2011.  Visit him at www.tomkeer.com or at www.thekeergroup.com.