Parks Go High-Tech

You can't email Mother Nature, but now you can check your in-box while in the midst of her beauty. Over the past six months, California State Parks and SBC Communications have installed wireless Internet access in the campgrounds and picnic areas of 85 parks around the state. While traditionalists are grumbling about bringing technology into the wilderness, those who like to keep up with their email on the road are cheering. Using a laptop or handheld computer equipped with wireless capability, you get free access to state sites such as the one for California State Parks, www.parks.ca.gov [3] . To visit elsewhere on the Web, you need to pay SBC a fee: $7.95 for a 24-hour period

Photo Illustration by William Duke

This article was first published in July 2005. Some facts may have aged gracelessly. Please call ahead to verify information.