View Full Version : What Should an AT Campsite Be Like?
Describe your ideal AT campsite. What should be it's most important attribues? Great view? Good water? Distance from trail?
How important is a "primitive backcountry experience"? Would you prefer more amenities? Do you want to see or hear your neighbors, or hikers on the trail?
Do you want to be able to build a fire? Will you campsite still be OK after a couple of seasons of firewood harvesting?
Structures: Tent pads (dirt), platforms, or no improvements?
Picnic Table? Privy?
Cosmo
Describe your ideal AT campsite. What should be it's most important attribues? Great view? Good water? Distance from trail?
How important is a "primitive backcountry experience"? Would you prefer more amenities? Do you want to see or hear your neighbors, or hikers on the trail?
Do you want to be able to build a fire? Will you campsite still be OK after a couple of seasons of firewood harvesting?
Structures: Tent pads (dirt), platforms, or no improvements?
Picnic Table? Privy?
Cosmo
A clean and rodent free shelter with a nice view, a beer waterfall and a cheeseburger bush.
:D
Just Jeff
02-01-2006, 23:58
Somewhat isolated so I don't get much company. A small trickle of water to sing me to sleep. A good view - lake, valley, mountaintop, etc...sunset or sunrise views get extra points. Lots of duff so the tenters don't have to sleep on the hard ground, and some good sturdy hammock trees.
my ideal site would be similar to jeff's, but completely isolated... water singing me to sleep, small waterfall so i didn't have to dip, but could use it like a faucet (damn, he's lazy... yep... i am...), mountain view, hammock trees, campfire, and a late-rising full moon, so you can go to sleep under the stars, but see when you get up to pee a few hours later...
no improvements, no neighbors, no human noise...
i've got a site similar to that, 'cept for the view (that's on the way in), that i often visit... about 1/8 mile off a trail, in a hardwood bottom on a bayou that's fed by springs... good water, plenty of trees, and with my small fires, i won't run out of firewood. i already live in the middle of nowhere here in SW LA... and it's another 40 miles out into the woods... only visitors are deer, rabbits, and raccoons. oh. and the mosquitos... but if you don't feed them, they pretty much leave you alone. :D
Lone Wolf
02-02-2006, 07:53
Pine needle floor next to a small creek and a small fire.
minnesotasmith
02-02-2006, 07:57
1) Minimum of one mile distance from any place that a motor vehicle could possibly be taken. It should be physically impossible for any nonhelicoptered-in vehicle to get there other than by being hand-carried as disassembled parts.
2) Water nearby, preferably from multiple springs. A place to swim never hurts.
3) Lots of deciduous-tree shade (maples are always nice, but I'll happily settle for paper birch or oak).
4) Cool enough to keep down the bugs (40s or less).
5) Dry enough that damp gear can dry out.
6) Raised covered platform.
7) Grass where there aren't trees.
8) Something around that eats mice but doesn't bother hikers.
9) No bears that want to come into camp.
10) A bulletproof/sawproof/flameproof heavy-duty sign that reads "No living dogs in campground. Daily hunting bag limit for dogs is 15 per person, open season year-round. No license required, all weapon types allowed."
11) Convenient privy downhill that doesn't attract yellowjackets the way one around (I think it was) Tray Mountain shelter did last summer. :o
12) Some near-shelter rock outcrops worth looking over; either fossiliferous sedimentary, or igneous/metamorphic with some character. I particularly like augen gneiss, pegmatites, or small-diked mafics.
There's ideal, and then there's realistic.
I'd like a site that where I can set up my tent that isn't rocky, that drains, that doesn't track mud into my tent. The site should be sheltered from the prevailing wind, and with a nearby spring. No widowmakers. Privy that has been maintained.
Views are nice, but probably asking too much.
Magnificent view - sheltered from winds, but close enough to walk to see sunrise and sunset
Close water source
Plenty of dead-dry wood for fire
Practical tree for hanging food bag
Super primitiveThe site below met all of my qualifications:
Describe your ideal AT campsite. What should be it's most important attribues? Great view? Good water? Distance from trail?
How important is a "primitive backcountry experience"? Would you prefer more amenities? Do you want to see or hear your neighbors, or hikers on the trail?
Do you want to be able to build a fire? Will you campsite still be OK after a couple of seasons of firewood harvesting?
Structures: Tent pads (dirt), platforms, or no improvements?
Picnic Table? Privy?
Cosmo
any place i can hang my hammock out of site,i love stealth camping:cool: neo
Good thread.
To concentrate usage and promote good backcountry resource management--all amenities of a typical shelter area, without the shelter structure itself. Far enough off-trail to be private, far enough from roads to discourage partiers, and so as to not hear road noise.
6 to 10 individual dispersed tentsites plus a dedicated hammock site or two carved out of sidehill so as to reduce the ghetto effect of level tentsites close together and the inevitable muddy conditions they breed. A few large enough for tarp-tents, family tents, etc. A 1% or 2% grade from head to foot, level left to right. Relatively rock-free, with a pine needle layer for cushion and to inhibit muddy conditions. Erosion control devices (rock border and/or water runoff ditches) on three sides of each site. (Not just a wish list--we actually have a few sites like this near Pass Mt. Hut in Shenandoah. They do require ongoing maintenance but nothing so time-consuming as a shelter structure.)
A babbling brook and/or a viewpoint nearby would be a nice bonus.
Here's a few suggestons;
I like the idea of a landscape with all it's biota intact, including all it's predators. That means bears, mountain lions, wolverines, etc...
Good water - preferably a stream to serve as a soundtrack. I'll settle for a lake or pond.
Birds that sing at night. I'll take Loons or Owls, but to me, that makes a campsite memorable. Whippoorwils need not apply.
Sunrise or sunset can be seen from your tent. Preferably both (like Big Frog Mountain in SE Tennessee)
Far from a road or any motorized trails
Low humidity for sky gazing. Unfortunately, that rules out most of the SE except for wintertime.
Low use area. I'd prefer to camp alone or with chosen company
I agree with LW about a pine forest. The fragrance and feel is hard to beat.
It sounds like I'm talking about a western landscape. Doesn't it?
Cosmo:
I am assuming that you are requesting this information to help you decide where future camp sites will be constructed. With this in mind I will give you my thoughts as a past thru-hiker.
1. Camp sites-shelters should not be more than .5 from the trail. Some thru- hikers will not go further than that, from the trail, to camp.
2. Camp sites-shelters should be as far as possiable from a road. This is to prevent locals and non serious hikers from using them to party.
3. Water should be available close by.
4. A privey is always nice to have.
5. A view is nice, but not important.
6. The location should be large enough to provide natural screening between tent sites.
Most thru-hikers are just looking for the above mentioned. They camp at so many places during their hike that the basics are all that's required to keep them happy.
Footslogger
02-02-2006, 11:50
All of the above plus a privy with a heated (in winter) and padded toilet seat and stocked magazine rack ??
'Slogger
My vision of an ideal campsite varies but I'd like to have at least some of the following.
Easy access from a trail, hard to access from any roads.
Nearby clean, flowing water that is easy to dip a bottle in.
A pair of perfect hammock trees with just grass underneath them and a nearby fire ring with a good sitting log. If I can look up or to a side and see alot of the sky, thats even better.
Coyotes in the distance, I love hearing coyotes, especially when they have puppies learning to howl.
No owls within 100 feet, I love owls at night more than coyotes but I seem to attract them to my camp sites and they are LOUD when right over your hammock. There are few feelings in the world like gently rocking back and forth in your hammock, semi dozing and staring up at a star filled sky, enjoying the sound of the breeze, the creek, and coyote pups yipping in the distance, completely relaxed then having a screech owl scream 10 feet from your head. Once your pulse drops back below 500 and all the hair on your arms lays back down, it takes a while to get back to that relaxed state.
No one around to complain about my dog (not that I have a dog, but its my perfect spot and I can have a dog there if I want one). I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion but lately I've amused myself with the idea of turning about 10 Jack Russel terriers on sugar highs loose in Minnesotasmith's tent in the middle of the night.
...lately I've amused myself with the idea of turning about 10 Jack Russel terriers on sugar highs loose in Minnesotasmith's tent in the middle of the night.
Truth be told, he's partial to Weiner Dogs. :rolleyes:
The Solemates
02-02-2006, 13:49
Truth be told, he's partial to Weiner Dogs. :rolleyes:
I'd rather stick a few junkyard dobermans on him.
Ideal Site - Abandoned construction site, coal mine, or tar pit with a big welcome sign for ATVs, motor bikes, mountain bikes, hunters, whiners, braggarts, and other sorts whose activities or conversation are not welcome on the trail where all of us white blazers will be.
gr8fulyankee
02-02-2006, 15:20
My perfect campsite would be right next to minnestosmith with a bunch barking dogs with no leashes. :D
Any place wide and long enough to lay down. Near water and not on a fire ant hill.
Kerosene
02-02-2006, 20:35
The site below met all of my qualifications:Is that the oak tree in Simms Meadow just north of Pearisburg, khaynie?
Man, if only overmountain shelter had a bar and grill! yeeha
Alligator
02-02-2006, 21:18
Is that the oak tree in Simms Meadow just north of Pearisburg, khaynie?
Is that right after (N) Rt42? I camped there in a snowstorm once. If that's where you are referring to, it did look like that.
Given that any official campsite in a popular area will get frequent use, and that this use will change the character of the campsite, especially if fires are allowed, how important is it to you to be able to build a fire? ie. Would you prefer a campsite with a denuded forest floor for 200 feet around where you could build a fire, or a setting that looks more like a natural forest and where fires are not permitted? How do you rate your enjoyment of a site vs. minimizing human impact?
Given that any official campsite in a popular area will get frequent use, and that this use will change the character of the campsite, especially if fires are allowed, how important is it to you to be able to build a fire? ie. Would you prefer a campsite with a denuded forest floor for 200 feet around where you could build a fire, or a setting that looks more like a natural forest and where fires are not permitted? How do you rate your enjoyment of a site vs. minimizing human impact?
i prefer stealth camping,no fire,leave no trace in my hammock
i usually stop at a stream fill my water bottle and cook and eat,and clean up,then i hike another mile or to and stealth camp:cool: neo
Tim Rich
02-03-2006, 11:05
Cosmo,
If geography allows, I think the best campsite design is to have a number of small camping areas dispersed over an area several hundred yards around central features such as a privy. It's nice if these sites can be placed along a spur or loop off the AT. As long as trail guides note the closest water from the south and north, there's not an absolute need to have water right in or around the sites. Iceberging and bordering around the individual camp areas to prevent expansion is preferable to me over platforms. If there is to be both a shelter and camping at the site, then placing the shelter on a hillside to prevent clustering of denuded camping areas around the the shelter would be nice. I like tables at shelters to get the cooking out of the sleeping area.
Even if I have to haul water, my favorite sites have views, preferably out of the wind.
Hope all is well. Thanks for your work with the AMC in Mass.
Take Care,
Tim
Is that the oak tree in Simms Meadow just north of Pearisburg, khaynie?
You are correct sir. We lugged up the water, so I guess it didn't quite meet all of my qualifications as I previously stated. However, the water wasn't too far way if I remember correctly. Either way, it was a beautiful spot!
Given that any official campsite in a popular area will get frequent use, and that this use will change the character of the campsite, especially if fires are allowed, how important is it to you to be able to build a fire? ie. Would you prefer a campsite with a denuded forest floor for 200 feet around where you could build a fire, or a setting that looks more like a natural forest and where fires are not permitted? How do you rate your enjoyment of a site vs. minimizing human impact?
Well, Deb, no fires along the AT in Connecticut, and I think that the AT in Connecticut is the best maintained section of the AT.
But, campfires do have their place. So, I'm not necessarily anti-campfire. Maybe a campsite where tenting is away from the designated fire ring?
Jack Tarlin
02-03-2006, 18:51
It is indeed a well-maintained section, Peaks, but then again it's only about fifty miles altogether! The folks in Maine, for example, have almost 300 miles to look after, with markedly tougher terrain.