Shenandoah Regulations??

[wildernessman]

Can you camp anywhere you want in Shenandoah NP? I was under the impresssion that you had to use the huts, but the regulations say that if a hut if full then you cannot camp within 100 yards of it or 1/4 mi. from any park facility. So does that mean you can camp wherever?

[veteran]

Shenandoah Regulations (http://www.nps.gov/shen/1e2d.htm)

[khaynie]

The regulations are somewhat misleading. Assuming all shelters are full and you can't camp "within" 100 yards, perhaps one could camp anywhere.

My wife and I stealthed on top of Mary's Rock and found no recourse. Also, the regs said somewhere, if I remember correctly, you could camp anywhere so long as you were 1/4 mile from road/facility and in a pre-existing camp site. Practice LNT and you should be fine - hopefully not fined...

[freefall]

The regulations are somewhat misleading. Assuming all shelters are full and you can't camp "within" 100 yards, perhaps one could camp anywhere.

If all the shelters AND the designated tentsites, if available are full, you can camp anywhere as long as you follow the other guidelines:
No Camping may occur:


Within 10 yards of a stream or other natural water source.
Within 50 yards of standing building ruins including stone foundations, chimneys, and log walls. The parkland has a rich cultural history. Camping in the area of former homesites impacts the preservation of those resources.
Within 50 yards of another camping party or "no camping" post or sign.
Within ¼ mile of a paved road, park boundary, or park facilities such as a campground, picnic area, visitor center, lodge, wayside or restaurant.
Within 100 yards from a hut, cabin, or day-use shelter. You may camp in a hut or cabin as described in this bulletin. Camping may occur in park-constructed designated campsites at Appalachian Trail huts.
In the following areas to preserve special resource conditions and values: They can be identified on maps and are identified by signs on trails accessing the areas.
Limberlost Trail area (bounded by the Skyline Drive, the Whiteoak Canyon fire road, and the Skyland-Big Meadows horse trail)
Hawksbill Mountain summit (area over 3,600 feet elevation)
Whiteoak Canyon (between the Skyland-Big Meadows horse trail and the Cedar Run Link trail)
Old Rag Mountain summit (area over 2,800 feet elevation)
Big Meadows (Big Meadow clearing area within view of Skyline Drive)
Rapidan Camp (no camping within ½ mile of buildings)Basically if you can't see a road, trail or building nearby and you are not in one of the restricted areas, you can camp anywhere in park.

[wildernessman]

Thank you all. That is exactly what I needed.

[Skyline]

You don't have to wait for a shelter to fill up to use designated tentsites near a shelter. But you can't camp "just anywhere" near a shelter--you have to use the designated sites.

The old rules (pre-Y2K, when the new regs went into effect) made it an illegal act to camp within 1/2 mile of a shelter. This was routinely ignored and was the source of much aggravation to Rangers and hikers alike. It was the cause of selected $35 and $50 citations. In Y2K the designated tentsites near each shelter (actually called "huts" in SNP) were put in and the no-camping-near-shelters rule wisely rescinded as part of a wider revamp of all backcountry regs.

[freefall]

You don't have to wait for a shelter to fill up to use designated tentsites near a shelter. But you can't camp "just anywhere" near a shelter--you have to use the designated sites.

thanks, that's what I meant to say and didn't realize it until I'd already posted.