Md. Offers Free Camping Gear To Service Members

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is teaming up with The North Face to offer military service members free camping gear at selected state parks.

The agency says the gear includes a six-person tent, camp pads, chairs, a cook stove, lantern and even roasting sticks for marshmallows or hot dogs.

The gear is offered at Swallow Falls, New Germany, Rocky Gap, Patapsco Valley and Pocomoke River. It's available to service members stationed or recovering at nearby military facilities.

The Operation Campout program is part of an initiative The North Face launched in 2010.

The company is a division of VF Corp. based in San Leandro, Calif.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)