View Full Version : Car sleeping near Bastian VA
Hi all! Me and a buddy are headed south in a few weeks along I-77. We are planning on doing a short day hike on the trail near Batian. We are probably going to get to the trail late (11pm or later) and hike the next morning.
Is there a good place where we can park the car and get a few hours of sleep? A trailhead parking lot or some dirt road with a place to pull off nearby?
It's a National Forest so we can "camp" anywhere, but I would rather make it simple and just lean back the seat.
Thanks guys!
Alleghanian Orogeny
09-21-2014, 11:57
While there is lots of AT + NF overlap in the Bastian vicinity, here in the East NF lands are normally a hodge-podge of Federal and private lands, so it can be tricky to tell where "disbursed camping" is allowed and where it is not.
Four ideas come to mind concerning overnight car-sleeping in that area:
1) Check with Nigel "Tru-Brit" Collins at Fort Bastian. I believe he's running a hostel and shuttle service now and would likely accomodate those seeking to do some day-hiking. As the name implies, his property is located just west of Bastian along a paved road off of US 52.
2) One mile from Fort Bastian is the AT crossing at Laurel Creek along VA 615. I think the crossing area is on NF lands, and there are definitely places to pull off of the gravel road late at night and snag a few hours shut-eye.
3) The AT crossing atop Garden Mountain, a few miles west of Bland on VA 623 off of VA 42, is within NF lands, I believe, and has room for a number of cars. Dunno about the wisdom of leaving a car there for overnights long-term. The drive up the mountain (actually you must ascend two mountains) is a grind and is best done in some sort of high clearance vehicle. Took me about 30 minutes to reach the AT from VA 42, and much of that was 1st and 2nd gear dodging rocks in the road.
4) The AT crossing at VA 42 west of VA 623 includes a small parking lot. It's secluded and I would not think pulling in and sleeping a bit would be regarded as a big problem.
AO
While there is lots of AT + NF overlap in the Bastian vicinity, here in the East NF lands are normally a hodge-podge of Federal and private lands, so it can be tricky to tell where "disbursed camping" is allowed and where it is not.
Four ideas come to mind concerning overnight car-sleeping in that area:
1) Check with Nigel "Tru-Brit" Collins at Fort Bastian. I believe he's running a hostel and shuttle service now and would likely accomodate those seeking to do some day-hiking. As the name implies, his property is located just west of Bastian along a paved road off of US 52.
2) One mile from Fort Bastian is the AT crossing at Laurel Creek along VA 615. I think the crossing area is on NF lands, and there are definitely places to pull off of the gravel road late at night and snag a few hours shut-eye.
3) The AT crossing atop Garden Mountain, a few miles west of Bland on VA 623 off of VA 42, is within NF lands, I believe, and has room for a number of cars. Dunno about the wisdom of leaving a car there for overnights long-term. The drive up the mountain (actually you must ascend two mountains) is a grind and is best done in some sort of high clearance vehicle. Took me about 30 minutes to reach the AT from VA 42, and much of that was 1st and 2nd gear dodging rocks in the road.
4) The AT crossing at VA 42 west of VA 623 includes a small parking lot. It's secluded and I would not think pulling in and sleeping a bit would be regarded as a big problem.
AO
That's exactly the info I was looking for.....Thank you so much!!!