Examining Pathways to Camping Access in Rural Western U.S.: An Application of Access Theory

Access to front-country camping on North American public lands has historically been preferential to those who are White, relatively wealthy, and highly educated. In theory, however, everyone has equal right to enjoy the benefits from camping on public lands. As an extension of traditional leisure constraints theory, this study presents a unique quantitative application of access theory—dominantly used in political ecology—to examine who has access to camping and what enables camping access in the rural, American West. Results suggest that among six identified camping pathways, technology and knowledge are the most enabling while social identity is the least enabling. These pathways varied for older campers who reported greater access overall compared to younger campers. Results also indicate that campsite rationing decisions may mediate access with first-come first-served systems facilitating greater access compared to reservation-based systems. These findings highlight the promise of incorporating access theory into future outdoor recreation leisure studies.