Barbara Davis supplies answers to the campy questions

PROVO — Barbara Davis spends Monday through Friday each week dealing with the seemingly impossible: finding campsites for people who want to spend little time on the road, nestle beneath towering green pines and enjoy an abundance of water for wading, tubing and fishing — all without the annoyance of similar-minded campers.

As the information specialist for the Uinta National Forest office in Provo, Davis works from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. trying to come up with satisfactory solutions.

And the best part is, her efforts are surprisingly satisfactory.

She has a knack for providing just the right map, giving intelligible directions to a particular site, supplying a must-have phone list of those who have answers to unanticipated questions and teaching how to use the Web site for reserving that much-sought-after campsite. She's also acquired a useful set of personal insights about which sites work best for large groups or special needs groups.

"Having so much so close (in Utah County) has its good and bad points," Davis said. "It's so close, but then there are so many people. Last Memorial Day, it was crazy."

Davis said the secret to a successful outing is finding a nice spot off the beaten path — perhaps in the west desert, or north of Strawberry Reservoir, or high up in Spanish Fork Canyon.

Davis can help with that, too.

She has manned the front desk in the federal building at 88 W. 100 North for six years now and been asked just about every question imaginable.

"The strangest one involved a little old lady who told me she couldn't breathe (the outside air), what should she do?" Davis said. "I told her to stay inside."

Fortunately, most questions are more pertinent to camping: Where can you go at the last minute? Is there water nearby? Are there places for groups of 100 or more? Are there places to camp that don't cost money?

Deseret Morning News graphicUinta National Forest campgroundsRequires Adobe Acrobat.

"People call me all the time and say, 'We've got a Young Women's group or a Scout troop or we're having a family reunion,' " Davis said. "I can help them."

Davis not only has maps of every campground in the Intermountain area, but she has a camping/picnicking guide with a matrix that details the amenities and capacity for each one.

Because she has been to most of them, she can walk a person through a campground site and point out the best places for a particular situation.

"I recommend people get on the Web site, get an idea of what they want and then come in. They can go up and drive or scout out the exact site if they want, or we can help orient them here," Davis said.

Though Davis' phone is rarely silent and her front counter is a busy place, she doesn't mind helping the public out, often with a bit of wry humor.

"That's our mission. We have fun here, but we actually really try to serve the public," she said.

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E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com