As of 7/27/2005, the National Park Service had closed the following shelters due to bear activity:
Russell Field
Mt. Collins
Cosby Knob

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Done. Thanks for the heads-up.

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I saw on the gsmnp site today Russell field and Mt collins are still closed to Bear activity
How long does this stay closed?

anybody know how long these shelters Russell field and Mt collins have been closed?

They often get closed for a few days. They were open in July, but rangers were checking the area around Mt. Collins regularly.

thanks

These shelters are still closed. At least according to the NPS site. Are bears still really active? These shelters have been closed for awhile.

Are you allowed to tent in that area?

You are not allowed to tent anywhere on the AT in the smokies except for Campsite 113 which is also closed due to bears. Both Mt. Collins and Russel Field are still closed and probably will not open until the spring.

When I was up there two weeks ago, I saw a bear on the AT near Mt Collins Shelter, I passed someone who stayed at Silers Bald and saw a bear near the privy, and also talked to someone that stayed at CS 113 (illegally) and they saw a bear in camp. There was also a lot of scat on the AT near 113. There must be a lot of bears in that area becouse that site is closed often due to bears.

I have never seen a shelter closed for this long, so they must really be having problems. I know a bear tried to take the roof off of Mt Collins shelter this summer with people inside (with thier food...stupid people), but don't know what happened at Russell Field. I will add that both Double Spring and Derrick Knob have been redone this year and are very nice.

I understand that you are only allowed to stay in shelters and designated tent sites when hiking through the GSMNP. How does that work if shelters are "closed" -- what is a hiker on a thru-hike of the park to do? Keep walking through the night? Stealth camp? More curious than anything - thanks for the info in advance.

I did a section hike the first week of Sept/08 Mt Collins, Russell Field and campsite 113 were closed then. We saw two bears, one at 113 and one south of there.