The Shaker Campsite about 10 miles south of Upper Goose Pond now has a bear cable for hanging food. I don't believe there have been bear problems there, but bears have been sighted there. Anyway, if you camp there you can save youself the trouble of hanging your own bear bag.

Stopped by Shaker campsite last weekend on my way back from Mt Wilcox N shelter to MA 20, where I'd parked.

Campsite is in great condition--better than last yr, when there was a fair amount of trash there.

The bear cable was jammed when I got there, but it's now working again.

Nice campsite, except for the noise you get from the farms down in the valley--cars, dogs, cows!

This campsite isn't noted in the companion MA-CT maps of 8th edition of the AT Trail Guide. Can someone please supply the GPS coordinates? The various lists of Shelter way points do not include independent campsites, as far as I can tell.
Thanks,
Walt

Stopped by Shaker campsite last weekend on my way back from Mt Wilcox N shelter to MA 20, where I'd parked.

Campsite is in great condition--better than last yr, when there was a fair amount of trash there.

The bear cable was jammed when I got there, but it's now working again.

Nice campsite, except for the noise you get from the farms down in the valley--cars, dogs, cows!

OK spot, but folks should be aware that in recent years, this has been (except for maybe Tom Leonard shelter near Great Barrington) about the most bug-ridden place on the whole Trail. If you're in mid-summer, bring MAXIMUM strength Deet or you'll be using the new bear cables to hang yourself.

Jack-- Thanks for the advice. Actually I was interested for winter use. I was unaware of the existence of this campsite when I planned an intended Great Barrington -- N Adams NoBo section hike, which aborted 16 Jan when I saw I couldn't make shelter to shelter distances on snowshoes in daylight on the stretch from Mt Wilcox to Upper Goose Pond. (Thread on Straight Forward). I wanted GPS coords because I found I had to bushwack in places.
Walt

I stayed there on 9/10. There is a bear box, privy, 2 tent platforms, and enough open space for ground tents also. Stream is about 1 minute north on the trail. It was running even though the dry weather. Not any mosquitoes, also probably because of the dry weather. The place was clean and maintained. My thanks to the trail crews. Mark S.

Nice spot. Well maintained and quite popular the nite I stayed last summer. The skeeters weren't too bad, but I retreated to the hammock early that night. Some neat old rusty farm equipment abandoned among the underbrush next to the cleared campsite. http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=23813&c=570

stayed here with 2 SOBO friday sept. 12th. nice spot! but beware of the mouse family in the register box!

all the streams were running well in this section - this late summer/fall in NE has seen a lot of rain!

Woke up here Monday Morning.

Coordinates are approximately 42.25213, -73.22431

A sign on a tree points "Shaker Campsite Privy." It should read "Shaker Campsite And Privy" because we walked right past it thinking it was only the privy and that the campsite would be denoted a little better.

Two platforms are roughly 7.5'x7.5'. Bear box is still in good condition. Looked like some genius was hanging bear-bags directly in between the two platforms.

If you're going Northbound, try not to get water from the streams just after North Mt. Wilcox shelter, the streams were loaded with nitrates. There are some small streams a couple hundred feet northbound on the trail.

http://imgur.com/z0LeO.jpg

Totem,

Thanks so much for the GPS data. It's taken more than 3 years for someone to happen by the site in a GPS sort of mood. In blizzard conditions on snowshoes the information can be pretty handy. And thanks for the image.

Happy Trails,
Walt

Woke up here Monday Morning.

Coordinates are approximately 42.25213, -73.22431

A sign on a tree points "Shaker Campsite Privy." It should read "Shaker Campsite And Privy" because we walked right past it thinking it was only the privy and that the campsite would be denoted a little better.

Two platforms are roughly 7.5'x7.5'. Bear box is still in good condition. Looked like some genius was hanging bear-bags directly in between the two platforms.

If you're going Northbound, try not to get water from the streams just after North Mt. Wilcox shelter, the streams were loaded with nitrates. There are some small streams a couple hundred feet northbound on the trail.

http://imgur.com/z0LeO.jpg

Not a problem. Also verified the location using, satellite imagry, which clearly shows the Shaker Farmhouse wall (in the background of my pic) on the satellite shots.

http://imgur.com/4j9Jy.png

http://imgur.com/xSkRp.png

http://imgur.com/OAqF1.png

The privy is the white dot touching the top of the red ring.