App of the Week: Michigan Camping and Recreation Locator

SOUTHFIELD -- Sure, it's frigid out right now. Only those with really serious technical equipment (or maybe a big motor home) would even think about camping right now.

But hey, it won't always be. Six months from now? July 21, baby. Heart of camping season.

So get on the stick with the official Department of Natural Resources Michigan Camping and Recreation Locator app.

Want to swim? Michigan has hundreds of minds of sugar sand beaches waiting for you. Want to fish? Michigan's parks, forest campgrounds and boat launches are your gateway to world-class fishing. Feel like pitching a tent under the stars? Let the night sky dazzle you at Michigan's state parks and its far less crowded state forest campgrounds.

Find camping, lodging or a boat launch, in your neighborhood or hundreds of miles away. (And remember, you can go a looooong way in Michigan to get away from it all. It's farther from Detroit to the Western Upper Peninsula than it is from Detroit to Washington, D. C.)

The app lets users ssarch by region, city, zip code or proximity. See a map of all the places that match any search, and click on the locations to learn more about that park, forest campground or boat launch.

The app offers click-to-call phone numbers to easily contact the park or boat launch. Boat launch information includes the name and size of the lake, river or pond, details about the ramp and number of parking spaces. And camping information includes size of the park, description of the park, and activities you can find there.

The app is available in iPhone, Android and BlackBerry formats. More at www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153-10365_58554---,00.html.

To submit your app for consideration by the WWJ Technology Report in this weekly column, email mnroush@cbs.com.