Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 07:33:39 -0600
Reply-To: Ryan Mark Shankland <mark.shank@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ryan Mark Shankland <mark.shank@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Camping question.
In-Reply-To: <DNEFLHPPMKKCMAEKKDCCGEGLDBAA.jhecht@alum.mit.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
It is also legal to camp in all undeveloped national forest and blm
land as long as it's not regulated (ie signed no camping within x feet of
streams, etc.). It's recommended that you use a GPS and an atlas with the
lat/long marks to confirm you are indeed on public land, and in case there
is a dispute you can be certain you are in the right. Even in areas of the
nat'l forest with developed camping, you are paying for the development, so
look for access roads and essentially park and camp where you can, just
don't block the roads and respect the time limit for camping in areas-- I
think 14 days in nat'l park, but you can literally move fifty feet away in
14 days to comply with this. It's created to let the sites rejuvinate and
keep a wild appearance, which is what we come for, no?
Blm can be trickier as there is a lot of mineral development and
land lease, and access to public land is always hindered by locals who view
remote public land as "their" public land. (support public lands in your
area politically to ensure access easements) However, BLM is not as
regulated, so free camping, etc. If you have a good atlas, you can often
find free wilderness camping right alongside the most popular national
parks... Not that I'm going to share specifics with everybody. Look for
shared private-public land use signs too, these are printed so small you
have to stop and walk up to them, and often involve a wired gate-- just make
sure to close the gate! If you find a truly beautiful private area, ask the
landowner if you can stay for a couple of days! A lot of large land owners
put up with wahoos hunting illegally on their lands without asking and
respond well to a respectful request. If there are more than two no
trespassing signs at the gate, skip it!
Another good area of free camping is some of the smaller town parks,
my favorite is Lander, WY that lets you camp for a couple of days for free
in their beautiful streamside park. I remember waking one morning from a day
of climbing/ night of caving to realize I was parked in the middle of a
fairly busy walking trail and had slept until almost noon without police or
anyone knocking. Needless to say, I was embarassed and quickly moved, but
everyone was good-natured about it, just skirting around the van. Many
smaller towns appreciate you filling at their stations and eating at the
diner, but by the same token small town police can be notorious too...
Happy camping, Mark '87 hitop
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Joy Hecht
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2004 12:24 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Camping question.
What about legal free camping? I doubt that Jean-Woo was looking to stealth
camp with his kids, or to stay in WalMart parking lots. And with a kayak
and a bicycle on my van, I'm a bit conspicuous for stealth camping. But if
there are safe and legal places to camp for free, I'm definitely interested!
The archives are quite interesting on the subject of stealth camping,
though.
Joy
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
> Of Malcolm Stebbins
> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 4:20 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Camping question.
>
>
> Search the vanagon archives for "Stealth Camping".
> You'll get every good idea known to this list. M
>
> http://gerry.vanagon.com/archives/vanagon.html
>
> --- Jean-Woo Kim <jeanwoo@FULLER.EDU> wrote:
> > Is there a way to
> > camp for free without checking into a campsite?
>
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