Camping Rules Along the AT????
What are the rules or regulations on the AT for camping, if you do a thru hike can you camp anywhere along the trail from georgia to maine?? Thanks for the help
welcome to whiteblaze.there are some restrictions on camping on various sections of the AT.as you're new to the site, isuggest you check out the articles on the left side of the WB homepage, in which you'll find the answers to most of your questions.afterwards, if you have a specific question, fire away, and be prepared for the gauntlet of contradictory responses you'll receive.Theres a lot of great info here, and a lot of experience for you to draw on.
are you hammocking?
No, you can't camp ANYWHERE you want, as most places are simply not suitable for various reasons, mostly due to practical considerations and sometimes legal limitations. You will find many tent sites just off the trail in GA and NC. They become more scarce farther north. Once you get there you will see why. If you have a hammock, you have more choices of camping spots then if you have a tent, as you don't much care what is under you. However, hammocks have thier own special issues.
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A "regulation" is an actual law that you should follow. The "where I can camp" regulations can be handed out by the State or Federal Government. Unless you encounter some sort of fire danger conditions there will be no real regulations until you get to the GSMNP about 260 miles north of Springer. As you head north you will see a handfull of places that have regulations about camping like Grayson Highlands State Park. Further North there are even more places. Brain-dead trail clubs think they can make up rules. They are more interested in helping themselves.. When you see signs put up along the trail by a trail club restricting where you can go or camp there is probably some, "self intrest" project going on. They don't get to make the rules, so feel free to ignore them. I once came to a sign that said," No camping for the next 2 miles". Come to find out that some honcho of a trail club's kid was a boy scout and he wanted them to use that area for the weekend and did not want them interacting with those pot smoking thru-hikers. So there is no single regulation for camping along the trail. I varies from place to place. For most of the trail camp where you want.
This is a tired old chestnut of a subject. Smith_nap should probably never even ask the question as then some guy who reads it and thinks he's a Junior Ranger Tent Cop will come up with a whole set of regs and provisios and writs and addendums and fees and permits to turn the AT into the Smokies or Baxter State Park. Don't give the motards ideas.Originally Posted by smith_nap
Hi Smith Nap,
Welcome to Whiteblaze. I'm guessing from your question that you are new to the A.T. and might be new to backpacking as well, if this is corect then I was in the same place a couple of years ago. What I did in the beginning was to plan my trips using designated camp sites and lean-to sites. Doing this is a good way to get started because these places are most often close to a water source will usually have good flat tent sites and they may have a fire pit depending on local laws. Pick up a copy of one of the AT guidebooks, I use the Thru-Hiker's Companion made by the Appalachian Long Distance Hiker's Association, this will give good list of all designated camp sites and well as other useful info. As other's have said, in many states there are other places you are allowed to camp as well, but this is a good resource for a first time out.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Since the AT passes through 14 states, some cities, numerous National Forests and some State Forests, plus some National Parks and State Parks, not to mention "Wilderness Areas" and even a National River and Recreation Area or two, and so on, and even some private land, all separate jurisdictions with separate tasks and missions, there is no single answer to your question. If you have a particular stretch of the AT in mind, you might get a good ATC Guidebook and it will tell you for that section. Or ask on here.
I've always been able to camp at reasonable places, so the rules are not an actual problem in my experience.
RainMan
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[I]ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: ... Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit....[/I]. Numbers 35
[url]www.MeetUp.com/NashvilleBackpacker[/url]
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One of the things you might discover, particularly in the beginning on a northbound thru-hike, is getting started for the day may be easier for a thru-hiker by sleeping in a shelter, particularly when it's raining, which isn't very often (Ha, I'm cracking myself up here -- you'll likely be hiking in the rain a good deal of the time for the entire distance on an AT thru-hike).
As you become more trail conditioned, putting out a tarp or a tent doesn't become that big of a deal and you might want to have the overnight solitude. Later up the trail it may start dawning on you that you'll need to get a move-on if you're going to finish your thru-hike before the snow so you may tend to hike as far as possible every day and just throw out your tarp/tent and stealth camp when it's time to go to sleep.
In the Smoky Mountains and in Shenandoah National Park you'll want to stay in the designated camping/shelter spots and be familiar with the regulations that are usually posted on the shelter walls (distance from shelter, distance from water source, that kind of thing). Rangers could ticket you if you don't (which happened to some of the people I was hiking with on my thru-hike -- I was in the shelter that night in Shenandoah -- we figured they got the ticket for hiking too fast and they shoulda slowed down so as the radar gun didn't catch them so often).
In the White Mountains, the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) wants hikers to stay in the Huts so money can be made for the AMC and in some instances, to protect fragile plant life.
Also, as you become more trail conditioned you'll probably get a clue about what is appropriate and what's not. There isn't much chance you're going to know all the rules and regulations so I wouldn't fret much over it.
Datto
Moldy, you are full of it. As one of those trail club members "more interested in helping themselves" I have to take issue with your misstatement of the facts. We do not make up the rules, we collaborate with land holders (in Mass, that's the state Dept of Conservation and Recreation and the NPS) in creating policy for overnight use that will preserve the natural environment of the AT as much as possible by concentrating activity in specific locations rather than letting hikers camp where ever they want to.
It is mostly true that a small portion of hikers (thru or otherwise) can indeed camp without leaving significant evidence of their presence. However, the huge majority of hikers (thru or otherwise) are not particularly careful about where they camp, light fires, wash dishes and ****. Left to themselves they invariably choose to camp too close to water, at overlooks or viewpoints, or generally too close to the trail. In areas with no physical limits (sloping terrain, rocks, heavy underbrush etc), campsites expand every season as hikers seeking "privacy" carve out new tent sites, build more fire rings and cut down more trees.
Even if some club honcho wanted to post a sign to exclude those nasty thruhikers, the management partners on "his" section (be they NPS, Forest Service, or state agencies) have a pretty elaborate process (excessively so, IMO) that posting a new sign is not a trivial matter.
So smith_nap, read your AT guide books find out what's going on, and have a great hike. It's an amazing trail.
Cosmo
There is little/no enforcement. Camp where you can find a flat spot. Set up late, leave early.
Here we go again...I personally don't care if someone want's to stealth camp, but it shouldn't be promoted. If there's a rule saying "Don't camp here" or "Camp only is designated sites" there's a good chance that there's a reason those rules were made. Ignoring rules that are actually there for a reason (such as the wishes of a land owner) can reflect badly on all of us.
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.
Lnt
Wherever you camp please practice Leave No Trace aka LNT.
Set up late, leave early. This land is your land this land is my land (m).
we've already agreed not to promote illegal camping along the AT here on WB.except for the smokies and the whites above treeline, there are plenty of legal sites to camp.
Other than some particular regulations here or there the best rule to camp on any trail is following your Common Sense. Using your Common sense is cucial to have a smooth and enjoyable thru hike.
The problem with common sense is that there is no website to order common sense Online!!! either you have it or you don't.
The OP asked for the rules or regulations on the AT for camping. You ended up writing about Hammocks!!?
Not the best thread for hammocking invasion.
NJ has alot of regs and places where you arent allowed to camp. There are only a few places where you can legally camp. Luckily you will be in and out of NJ quickly. The other states are less annoying.
My daughter got hit with a $100 fine by a Game Warden in Pa for camping on State Game Lands, near Bake Oven Knob. That was about 10 years ago, but you might want to check the current regs in Pa.
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