This is a virtual program. 

What is it that has drawn generations of Americans to pack up their families, leave behind the comforts of home, and head for the woods each year? In the final episode of In the Adirondack Library for 2025-26 season, author Terence Young explores just that. In conversation with NCPR’s Mitch Teich, Young will discuss his book Heading Out: A History of American Camping. Young’s book reflects on how places like the Adirondacks helped shape camping as a cherished seasonal ritual. From the rush of Murray’s fools in the late 19^th Century, to the trails carved out by determined backpackers, to the modern campsites dotted across the Park, Young explores the enduring appeal of “roughing it” and what it reveals about Americans’ longing for simplicity, freedom, and a temporary step away from everyday life.

About The Speaker:

Terence Young is a historical geographer with a long-standing interest in how Americans have experienced nature, earned through years of study and time spent thinking deeply about landscapes, travel, and recreation. He earned his Ph.D. in geography at UCLA and later taught at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where his work explored parks, tourism, and the meanings people attach to outdoor places. His books include Building San Francisco’s Parks, 1850–1930 and Heading Out: A History of American Camping, which traces the roots of camping from early parklands and mountain regions to a national tradition shaped by movement, modern life, and the search for renewal. Whether writing about city parks or canvas tents, Young brings a storyteller’s eye to the long relationship between people and the outdoors.