Relatively new and in good shape with overhang, table, and bench. Water is creek about 200 feet downhill. No privy. Plenty of mice. Within 1 mile of road (unpaved) access at Deep Gap.

My only experience with this shelter was taking a break before what we thought was going to be a terrible climb (Standing Indian was relatively easy though). The lack of a privy and what I assume to be heavy use makes looking for a place to take care of buisness a dangerous undertaking! There was paper EVERYWHERE... Definitely want to skip the bathroom break here...

Gravity Man

my hike pardner: Jigsaw & I plan to spend our first night on the 2003 section hike @ this shelter....

we're gonna be shuttled to Deep Gap (USFS 71) & hike to Standing INdian Shelter to bed down with the mice & a few other of the straggly hikers (just like us..hehehehe!)

hope to see ya'll UP the trail!


April 22nd-May 3rd=Deep Gap,NC to Clingmans Dome,TN

Photo Link:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=1189&papass=&sort=1

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=538&papass=&sort=1

I stayed here in Feb 2003 during a severe storm. Shelter is relatively new and didn't have any mice (but very cold night). Creek was close-by and shelter design OK. Thought the area was pretty neat and overall not a bad palce to spend a cold winter night; got down to 19 degrees with a snow storm. Easy acces to forest road. I am also resuming my section hike in October from here and heading North.

it's been a while since i visited standing indian shelter.
is there good tenting around the shelter? i plan to be there in late september in a 3 man tent. thanks for your help, everyone.
magic rat

There is a tenting area behind it as well as down the hill across the AT.

However, have you considered walking a bit further uphill and tenting on the summit?

Bill....

it's been a while since i visited standing indian shelter.
is there good tenting around the shelter? i plan to be there in late september in a 3 man tent.............magic rat


M.R.

September will be FUN hiking/camping...like wuz said above many, great tent sites just behind the shelter! If you DO decide to hike to the summit...make sure you stake the ol' tent down good....it's windy, very, very windy up there! :D


good luck with your hike!

Interesting story happened to me at Standing Indian Shelter during a section hike this summer. My uncle, a friend, and myself were just finishing up a 9 mile day in early June and were planing to stay at Standing Indian Shelter overnight. Unfortunately when we arrived at the shelter we realized that a church group, consisting of at least 12 people, decided to make the shelter their own private resort. It was obivious that the group as well as group leader had little idea what they were doing out in the wilderness. When we talked to the group they said they had been to summit of Standing Indian earlier that day. When we asked how long it took them they said 5 hours. When we looked at our map it showed that from the shelter to the summit was only a mile (if that). It ended up taking us less than 45 min. to reach the summit. Like I said it was obvious the church group had little idea what they were doing. So in the end we ended up camping on the summit (which I highly recommend) and it was definately one of the top highlights of our hike. I was also pleased to read later in my thru-hiker's guide that the shelter is frequented by a family of skunks.

this "church group hording the shelter space" problem has been encountered by me & the group i'm hiking with several times over the years....instead of questioning the "leader" of the group...i just pitch the tent!

Too bad they arent as courteous as the GOOD BOOK tells them to be! :D


Good luck with your hike.

Just stayed at Standing Indian shelter this past week on a section hike...found it to be clean and in good condition. Two mice were reported being seen, although I didn't see any. The privy is closeby to the west, and is one of the nicest, cleanest-smelling I've ever seen! (A lovely mouldering privy.) There isn't a sign, however, marking the way to the privy, so we might not have found it had it not been for someone who wrote "PRIVY--->" inside the shelter. The sign to the shelter is there, but in need of repair.

With the problem of church groups or other groups (boy scouts etc.), the shelter will fill up sometimes and unfortunatley the only way to know is by section or thru hikers coming from the opposite direction. I have never been at a shelter where the tent areas are also all occupied so there should always be a place if you have a tent, but the comendering of a whole shelter by a group of people who just parked at a cross road and hiked a couple of miles does give sense of incosideration to the section and thru hikers who have been hiking all day.

shelters are first come, first served. long distance hikers should never count on shelter space. always carry your own shelter. thru-hikers are no more deserving than overnighters.

yeah, what he said.

Relatively new and in good shape with overhang, table, and bench. Water is creek about 200 feet downhill. No privy. Plenty of mice. Within 1 mile of road (unpaved) access at Deep Gap.


:D we just hiked on past that shelter in 2001:cool: neo

I've stayed at this shelter several times with my daughter and up at the summit. I've always found it clean and in good shape, no leaks in storms. There are several tent sights around (best across the trail by the creek) but if staying in a tent Id rather go on up to the summit. There are a hand-full of sights just off the summit that are not too windy. A much better water source from a spring just across and down hill from those sights. ( 60 yds or so) see my posted photos of Stormy getting water from it.. And the climb is well graded switch backs. If there is a privy there now it's been recently built and wasn't there as recent as last summer. But all in all I like the shelter.

Missed it altogether. I don't remember seeing the sign...

There isn't much of a sign there. I think it's a small piece of corrugated metal sitting on the ground that says "Shelter," with an arrow.