View Full Version : Please post good camping sites between shelters
I plan on hiking the park S to N in April. I would like to break up some long days by tenting between shelters. Anyone have info on legal sites along the trail where I could go. As a last resort, any info on "stealth sites" ? Thanks
dessertrat
01-15-2008, 10:59
He put this under SNP forum, so I would guess SNP?
Well, I can only suggest that you don't camp in picnic areas. A few of us did, and we ended up getting a late-night visit from a park ranger who wasn't pleased to see us. (surprisingly, he let us stay, but he warned us that we'd be booted from the park if we got caught camping illegally again)
Lone Wolf
01-15-2008, 11:04
I plan on hiking the park S to N in April. I would like to break up some long days by tenting between shelters. Anyone have info on legal sites along the trail where I could go. As a last resort, any info on "stealth sites" ? Thanks
http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/campbc_regs.htm
Can't vouch for the legality of it but you'll find a nice little site up at Mary's Rock, if you scrounge a little. Plus, I spent a night at "Dundo Group Campground." I was the only person there. A bunch of deer came to visit... annoying little buggers... spent the evening shooing them away.
Gray Blazer
01-15-2008, 11:39
[quote=L. Wolf;501772]http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/campbc_regs.htm[/quoteI want one of those beer kegs....whoops....that's bear kegs......damit!
Blissful
01-15-2008, 11:52
Well, I can only suggest that you don't camp in picnic areas. A few of us did, and we ended up getting a late-night visit from a park ranger who wasn't pleased to see us. (surprisingly, he let us stay, but he warned us that we'd be booted from the park if we got caught camping illegally again)
Boy that was lucky! They like to slap fines.
Problem with SNP and camping is that its on a ridge, so good spots are sometimes hard to find. I know people have done stealthing and I have seen some caught and had to pay fines. Check the park regs on camping and have maps handy to help you find areas.
SNP appeared to me to be highly camp-able, as far as the terrain goes. But I didn't, except for the one night at Mary's Rock, mostly cuz I would have been camping alone and really didn't want any nocturnal bear visits. I had company that night on Mary's Rock.
I like to camp halfway. Half way between one place I shouldn't and another place I shouldn't. Like halfway up a hill, or halfway into the woods. My favourite place is halfway between where I had supper and where I would like to have breakfast.
GoldenBear
01-15-2008, 12:29
Even camping in shelters is considered "backcountry" in Shenandoah, so you will need a (free) backcountry permit for any night you stay there.
www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/campbc_regs.htm
If you make a reasonable assessment of how far you will hike each day, you can get a permit for each night without specifying exactly where you intend to stay. Then, as long as you don't camp in prohibited areas or "too" close to the trail, your backcountry permit will allow you to camp just about anywhere you want to stop.
Or you can camp in the designated campsites
www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm
some of which will be open in April.
Thanks to all. Mary's Rock idea is what I am looking for. As long as I am 20 yds from the trail, and by the map it looks like it is 1/4 mi from the pkwy, I should not get hassled. Any others have any knowledge further South in the park?
Appalachian Tater
01-15-2008, 21:01
Don't camp anywhere where a bear could trap you, say on the edge of a cliff. Lots of bears there.
Or perhaps in a three sided shelter???
SlowLightTrek
01-16-2008, 10:25
As a rule you can pitch your tent anywhere along the AT unless otherwise posted. They stress that you camp in low impact or areas where a previous campsite is. You won't have any trouble finding campsites between shelter all the way to Virginia. They are plentifull.
Don't camp anywhere where a bear could trap you, say on the edge of a cliff. Lots of bears there.
Huh? Bears are trapping hikers in the SNP these days? I never new. Yeah, make sure you're in a spot where you'll be able to out run the SOB's. :D
Lone Wolf
01-16-2008, 10:41
i pick up my .44 mag in my maildrop in Waynesboro before entering the park for that reason. i'm not running. i'm shooting
I plan on hiking the park S to N in April. I would like to break up some long days by tenting between shelters. Anyone have info on legal sites along the trail where I could go. As a last resort, any info on "stealth sites" ? Thanks
The link Lone Wolf posted should be required reading for those who camp in the SNP backcountry.
Without being too specific, rest assured there are sites in between each overnight hut where you can legally camp. Some are near water, others are dry and you'll have to carry water from somewhere south of them.
These kinds of campsites are mostly "obvious" to the alert hiker. But they are not typically publicized in guidebooks or on the internet, because to do so would invite over-use. Besides, self-discovery and self-sufficiency are two of the better delights of long distance backpacking.
There is a list of some of these sites available to clients of Mountain & Valley Shuttle Service, handed out upon request during a paid shuttle. Even then, details are not real specific. Clients are pointed in the right general direction, where they can discover a site or sites for themselves. (A spreadsheet of SNP water sources along the AT—more specific than the stealth site handouts—is also available to clients.) For more info: www.mvshuttle.com (http://www.mvshuttle.com).
Huh? Bears are trapping hikers in the SNP these days? I never new. Yeah, make sure you're in a spot where you'll be able to out run the SOB's. :D
LOL. First time I read that I thought I saw "outrun the SOBOs." Now that would be funny!
i pick up my .44 mag in my maildrop in Waynesboro before entering the park for that reason. i'm not running. i'm shooting
That's probably good advice for everyone. :)
SlowLightTrek
01-16-2008, 11:11
So if I tak a .44 can I use my foodbag as a pillow? Pretty soon we won't need to worry about the bears we will have shot them all.
Lone Wolf
01-16-2008, 11:19
or at least thin them out like they need to be. deer too
or at least thin them out like they need to be. deer too
Maybe better to thin out the hikers. Arm the bears. :D
or at least thin them out like they need to be. deer too
Seriously, every few years it probably would be a good idea to have a hunting season in various NP's. The deer I saw in SNP looked pathetically thin.
In April you may have to worry less about bears and more about people piling into the park after a few months of cabin fever.
Either way, the .44 may be your trick!
wideload
02-08-2008, 22:14
Eons ago a black bear went around the tent my father and I were in in SNP. 'Course we were set up feet from the trail which the bears use at night as a road and left the dinner pots outside the tent near the door. I woke my father up and he said "I told you you should have washed the dishes" and he went back to sleep.
The bear moved on and we were unmolested.
I follow the rules about siting the tent off the trail and keep a clean camp now.
My brother said my father knew he didn't have to outrun the bear, just me.
:-)