Section Hike Advice

[eshander]

Hello everyone. I am new to the forum. Glad to be here. I have a quick question for anyone who can answer it.

My cousins and I are looking to do a weekend section hike on the AT to kick off the backpacking season. I am driving from Boston and they are driving from Philly so I am looking for something in NY, CT, or north PA. It would be nice to have a campsite to campsite portion so that we can drive in Friday night, camp, then set off the next morning to the next site. Anything around 15-30mi out and back total would be ideal.

Does anyone have any advice about which specific sections would be good for us? Any particular favorites?

Thanks again,

Erik

[Gambit McCrae]

Welcome!

With having 2 cars, drive to your desired end destination, park one car and everyone pile in second car. Drive to your start point and walk to the car you dropped off. As far as camping goes, just wake up each morning and start walkin. about lunch time everyone will be expressing how they feel, and how much further they are willing to go for the day. The less you plan, the more fun you will have. That being said, planning, and preperedness are 2 different things. be prepared to plan day by day, just don't make your plan so ridged that it is bound to fail.

Hope this helps - I would suggest doing the state of CT. Northern PA is rocky, I hear NY is nice I am hiking it this fall.

[eshander]

Thanks for the info Gambit! We are trying to camp 2 nights (Fri & Sat). I won’t get there until after dark on Friday. What I am trying to avoid is having to hike-in in the dark to the first campsite/shelter. I am wondering if anyone knows a particular section where we can drive up to a campsite on Friday night without having to hike in. Then on Saturday we would wake up > hike to the next site > hike back to our car on Sunday. Does anyone happen to have a specific section in mind for what I am trying to do?

If anything we can just do what you were suggesting with the 2 cars. Thanks again!

[Gambit McCrae]

Thanks for the info Gambit! We are trying to camp 2 nights (Fri & Sat). I won’t get there until after dark on Friday. What I am trying to avoid is having to hike-in in the dark to the first campsite/shelter. I am wondering if anyone knows a particular section where we can drive up to a campsite on Friday night without having to hike in. Then on Saturday we would wake up > hike to the next site > hike back to our car on Sunday. Does anyone happen to have a specific section in mind for what I am trying to do?

If anything we can just do what you were suggesting with the 2 cars. Thanks again!

A lot of people will suggest not camping next to ta road. Most will suggest tenting no less then .25 mile off the road but I feel more comfortable after 1 mile or so.

[illabelle]

Do you have a trail guide? Or maps? Those will answer a lot of your questions and are indispensable for navigation.

You can also do some preliminary planning with this online tool: www.atdist.com
It shows some road crossings, but certainly not all. Still useful for identifying likely sections, then confirm with the trail guide or map.

We haven't done this section yet, or I'd offer some suggestions. Headed there next month.

[eshander]

Thank you both for the information! That site is really helpful as well illabelle. I will take all of this into consideration.

[Gambit McCrae]

Do you have a trail guide? Or maps? Those will answer a lot of your questions and are indispensable for navigation.

You can also do some preliminary planning with this online tool: www.atdist.com
It shows some road crossings, but certainly not all. Still useful for identifying likely sections, then confirm with the trail guide or map.

We haven't done this section yet, or I'd offer some suggestions. Headed there next month.

illabelle, if there are waypoints you would like to see in the atdist.com site that are not there, you can email the webmaster and he is very god about adding to the site. He has added about 6 waypoints for me over the years. Added 2 just this morning that I requested Thursday. His thinking is "add them as people need them", I play with the site 4-5 times a day lol good way to learn mileages for reference along the way when helping others.

[illabelle]

illabelle, if there are waypoints you would like to see in the atdist.com site that are not there, you can email the webmaster and he is very god about adding to the site. He has added about 6 waypoints for me over the years. Added 2 just this morning that I requested Thursday. His thinking is "add them as people need them", I play with the site 4-5 times a day lol good way to learn mileages for reference along the way when helping others.

Seriously? That's good to know! I have a few inaccuracies in my "personal trail log" for that very reason. Why isn't Katahdin Ironworks Road on the list? What about Caribou Valley Road? I'll send in a request. Thank you!

[Gambit McCrae]

Seriously? That's good to know! I have a few inaccuracies in my "personal trail log" for that very reason. Why isn't Katahdin Ironworks Road on the list? What about Caribou Valley Road? I'll send in a request. Thank you!

Illabelle,
Randy Powell is his name. He took over the site from a friend for reasons unknown to me - death, tired of maintaining it etc - And one of his reasons for not adding more waypoints then he has is that he doesn't want to take away from the necessity to purchase the guidebooks. (I can understand).

Secondly,
Adding a waypoint upon request is not near as time consuming as every point along the 2200 mile trail. - As well, the little scroll window is only so big, and you can scroll apx 209 miles per full scroll. So the more points you add, the longer your scrolling for that one FS road in jersey with no parking that you had to get pulled off the trail at when you sprained your ankle lol get the idea?

What I have asked Randy to work on is a short hand and long hand list of waypoints beyond 100 miles. If you select say, the smokies Fontana to i40, it will list to the right, all waypoints in between. But if you select say, the 210 miles of DWG to Salisbury CT, it only gives you some of the main waypoints. Which for a data logging is ok, but when on a 2 week trip this fall, and wanting to see a list of all the shelters in the 210 miles, it would be nice to be able to expand this minimized list of POIs to see all POIs in that linear section.

[illabelle]

Illabelle,
Randy Powell is his name. He took over the site from a friend for reasons unknown to me - death, tired of maintaining it etc - And one of his reasons for not adding more waypoints then he has is that he doesn't want to take away from the necessity to purchase the guidebooks. (I can understand).

Secondly,
Adding a waypoint upon request is not near as time consuming as every point along the 2200 mile trail. - As well, the little scroll window is only so big, and you can scroll apx 209 miles per full scroll. So the more points you add, the longer your scrolling for that one FS road in jersey with no parking that you had to get pulled off the trail at when you sprained your ankle lol get the idea?

What I have asked Randy to work on is a short hand and long hand list of waypoints beyond 100 miles. If you select say, the smokies Fontana to i40, it will list to the right, all waypoints in between. But if you select say, the 210 miles of DWG to Salisbury CT, it only gives you some of the main waypoints. Which for a data logging is ok, but when on a 2 week trip this fall, and wanting to see a list of all the shelters in the 210 miles, it would be nice to be able to expand this minimized list of POIs to see all POIs in that linear section.

He has already responded to my email - really quick! I understand your points and will not bug him if he declines to add my requests.

[LIhikers]

Hello everyone. I am new to the forum. Glad to be here. I have a quick question for anyone who can answer it.

My cousins and I are looking to do a weekend section hike on the AT to kick off the backpacking season. I am driving from Boston and they are driving from Philly so I am looking for something in NY, CT, or north PA. It would be nice to have a campsite to campsite portion so that we can drive in Friday night, camp, then set off the next morning to the next site. Anything around 15-30mi out and back total would be ideal.

Does anyone have any advice about which specific sections would be good for us? Any particular favorites?

Thanks again,

Erik

Let me suggest you meet your cousins in New York's Harriman State Park.
Park at Tiorati Circle and hike about a mile southbound on the AT to the Fingerboard Shelter, where you can camp.
Saturday hike northbound on the AT to either the William Brien shelter or West Mountain shelter, depending on how many miles you want to cover.
Then on Sunday follow some of the other trails in the park back to your car.
Make sure to have a trail map of the park which you can get from the NY/NJ Trail Conference

[eshander]

Let me suggest you meet your cousins in New York's Harriman State Park.
Park at Tiorati Circle and hike about a mile southbound on the AT to the Fingerboard Shelter, where you can camp.
Saturday hike northbound on the AT to either the William Brien shelter or West Mountain shelter, depending on how many miles you want to cover.
Then on Sunday follow some of the other trails in the park back to your car.
Make sure to have a trail map of the park which you can get from the NY/NJ Trail Conference

Thanks for the specific suggestion LIhikers! That park looks really nice. Just looked up the details and this looks like it might be a winner. I am still looking for more suggestions for section hikes in PA, NY, NJ, CT, MA, etc. from anyone else who has any. I plan on doing a lot of mulit-day/weekend hikes this season! Thanks again everyone.

[imscotty]

LI Hiker gives great advice. Harriman is a beautiful historic park with a variety of terrain. It does get see a lot of use, so expect some company

[BillyGr]

A couple things that might work in CT:

Parking at the end of River Road (it shows in the guides, but you can drive North about 1 mile from the trail intersection to the last parking) would give you a hike of a little over a mile to the Stewart Hollow area for a camping spot, but this section of the trail follows the Housatonic River and is just about flat, so would be easy enough to do in the dark. You could then continue along the river and beyond northward the next day, or hike back out to the cars and reposition one, then head south with several intersections to choose from.

A bit to the south, where the trail crosses 341 (assuming one can park there) it would be a 0.3 mi (if a bit stepp and uphill) climb to Mt. Algo lean-to site, again not too far off the road from the first night (and close enough that you could go back in the AM and move the 2nd car south to an endpoint if you wanted to).

There are also likely a bunch of options just south of the NY/CT border, including one shelter you can see from the road (though I'm not sure if there is parking at that road, but there is about 1 mile north).

[eshander]

A couple things that might work in CT:

Parking at the end of River Road (it shows in the guides, but you can drive North about 1 mile from the trail intersection to the last parking) would give you a hike of a little over a mile to the Stewart Hollow area for a camping spot, but this section of the trail follows the Housatonic River and is just about flat, so would be easy enough to do in the dark. You could then continue along the river and beyond northward the next day, or hike back out to the cars and reposition one, then head south with several intersections to choose from.

A bit to the south, where the trail crosses 341 (assuming one can park there) it would be a 0.3 mi (if a bit stepp and uphill) climb to Mt. Algo lean-to site, again not too far off the road from the first night (and close enough that you could go back in the AM and move the 2nd car south to an endpoint if you wanted to).

There are also likely a bunch of options just south of the NY/CT border, including one shelter you can see from the road (though I'm not sure if there is parking at that road, but there is about 1 mile north).

Again, great advice! I will be sure to stop by the forums after I hit the and let you guys know how it was/what I did. If any has any additional advice I am open to it

[Slo-go'en]

Shelters which can be easily reached from a road on Friday night should be avoided. These tend to be party spots for locals. Because of this, as many shelters as possible have been relocated to make them less accessible. And even if it's not a party spot, there will be people there who won't appreciate a group coming in late at night and making a disturbance, which is inevitable no matter how quiet you try to be.

Your better to meet at a commercial campground near the area you plan to hike and do the final leg in the morning.

[Slo-go'en]

A bit to the south, where the trail crosses 341 (assuming one can park there) it would be a 0.3 mi (if a bit stepp and uphill) climb to Mt. Algo lean-to site, again not too far off the road from the first night (and close enough that you could go back in the AM and move the 2nd car south to an endpoint if you wanted to).

There is no parking at or near the trail crossing to Mt Algo shelter. One would have to park in town a mile away or maybe in the collage parking lot, but that might get you towed. When I was there last year, some kid drove his dirt bike up the trail to the shelter.

[Just Tom]

I respectfully disagree. I've parked there overnight, there is road-side parking for 5 cars, give or take.

[Cookerhiker]

You're new to WhiteBlaze, but I didn't see if you're new to backpacking or your cousins' experience.

Harriman Park is nice and very conducive to shuttling yourselves using 2 cars, but the ups and downs are quite steep. If you're newbies an/or not in as good a shape as you'd like, you could find it difficult.

I'd suggest hiking New York east of the Hudson River. Park one car at the AT Train Station in Pawling off State Rt. 22. Drive to Fahnstock State Park and leave your other car there. Hike the first day north to RPH Shelter - 7 miles. Hike Day 2 to Morgan Stewart Shelter - 9 miles. Hike your last day to the car at the AT train station 11 miles. You're limited to shelter locations beause it's been printed and alleged that no stealth camping is allowed in NY but I'm not sure that's a legal prohibition east of the Hudson. Anyway, the distances are good for you and you'll find the trail less crowded east of the Hudson.

[RiverbirchHiker]

A couple things that might work in CT:
Parking at the end of River Road (it shows in the guides, but you can drive North about 1 mile from the trail intersection to the last parking) would give you a hike of a little over a mile to the Stewart Hollow area for a camping spot, but this section of the trail follows the Housatonic River and is just about flat, so would be easy enough to do in the dark. You could then continue along the river and beyond northward the next day, or hike back out to the cars and reposition one, then head south with several intersections to choose from.

That's a great suggestion. I did exactly that. I got dropped off just after dark and hiked the easy 1 mile to the Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter/Camsite, than continued north for a few-day section hike back to my car. We got unexpected downpours the night I did it, and it was still pretty easy.

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Another great spot in NJ is the Mohican Outdoor Center, which is in the Delaware Water Gap Nat. Recreation Area. I tent camp there a lot and it's a fantastic place just off the AT. There are cabins as well. If you make advance reservations online, it's done through a service and is a lot more expensive:
https://www.outdoors.org/lodging-cam...odges/mohican/

Walk-ins are a lot cheaper. During the heart of summer weekends or holiday weekends, they get busy and you could need those advance reservations. Call the local number and they'll give you the latest--run by nice folks from AMC.

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Eckville Shelter near Hawk Mountain in PA is another good starting point. The shelter is more like a bunkhouse with a caretaker and camping spots nearby. To park a car there, you'd need to clear it with the caretaker. BUT, there's addit. parking 1/2 mile away or so.

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At Port Clinton, PA, you can camp on a grassy lawn area with a pavilion in town just off the AT. Then, off on your hike in the morning...


Enjoy!!