C A M P S I T E S
I’m about to go on a rant about campsites so buckle in for a ride. Fair warning: this is kind of a lengthy post, but I promise you’ll learn a lot about campsites.
In New Jersey, where I’m from, almost all of the in-state campgrounds exist as private or state run campgrounds. To me, this was the world of camping for the first 18 or so years of my life. Then, someone told me about the Appalachian Trail and I learned that many people backpack out and camp overnight. That sounded pretty neat. I wanted to try that. So I did.
After my first trip out on the Appalachian Trial with my friends, I was hooked. Next, I hiked the John Burroughs Loop in the Catskills in New York. I almost dehydrated to death, but again, I was hooked. I fell in love with backpacking, and one of the best parts about it was that it’s completely free.
I love being able to park at some trailhead, walk 3 miles out on a trail, set up camp, and not have to worry about paying for a thing. This past summer, I discovered that tons of National Forests around the country operate this way. You can drive up to a trailhead, hop out the car, and hike on your merry way. Completely free of charge.
You can probably imagine how excited I was after discovering this.
You can probably also imagine how excited I was after discovering that you can also park just about anywhere in a National Forest and legally car camp.
Holy guacamole. Did you know that you can legally park overnight in any National Forest Land or Bureau of Land Management Area? As long as you’re not blocking a road and there is no sign that says “no camping” or “no overnight parking”, you’re good to go. This was very exciting news indeed.
After this discovery, I started to plan to camp in “primitive campsites” in National Forests quite often. At first, I used freecampsites.net to find good places to camp. Sometimes the places I found on the website were already occupied though. Over time, I learned that camping wasnt just restricted to wherever the website took me. I could camp ANYWHERE!
A new strategy for finding free campsites developed.
- Find a National Forest or BLM land.
- Find some sort of service road.
- Drive up the road.
- Keep your eyes peeled for “pull outs”
- Drive into an empty pull out. If it has some flat ground, then congratulations, you just found a campsite.
For example, on my first night in Colorado, I planned to stay in a “primitive campsite” along the North Fork of the San Juan River in the San Juan National Forest. Freecampsites.net took me to the campsite I wanted to stay at, but it was occupied. In fact, most of the pull-offs along this gravely forest service road were already occupied. Knowing what I knew, I just kept driving. Just before sunset, I found this beautiful campsite pictured below.
My tent was only 20 feet to the left, just out of frame. The San Juan River rushed by me 100 feet below. That night, I had an incredible view and privacy, which is something that is hard to come by in campgrounds.
Things didn’t start out that way though. On my very first night on the road, I stayed in a regular campground. As I drove to the Little Oak Campground in the Cherokee National Forest, I saw numerous pull-offs, just like the ones that I would later see in the San Juan National Forest. At the time, I was terrified to try camping in one of those spots. What if someone pulled up in the middle of the night and robbed me or murdered me in my tent? I was alone and this was a real justifiable fear to have.
On my third night on the road, I gathered the courage to attempt to stay in a primitive campsite. I was in the Nantahalla National Forest in North Carolina. Freecampsites.net brought me to “Panther Creek”, which was an incredibly nice primitive campsite. The campsite had a picnic table (most don’t), tent pad, backpack hanger, and a fire ring. I only saw two other cars drive by during the 2 nights I stayed there. It was serene and peaceful, and I didn’t pay a dime to stay there.
After that, I became more comfortable staying in primitive campsites. Actually, I have stayed in more primitive campsites than any other kind of lodging this summer. It’s really a glorious thing once you get used to it.
With that said, I still think that backpacking out to a backcountry campsite offers the most beauty and solitude in the world of “campsites”. Yeah, carrying all of your belongings in a backpack kinda sucks, but it’s totally worth the effort. Just check out the view below.
I lied a little bit before. Time to bring you back down to earth. Some National Forest and most National Park backcountry campsites require a permit. They do this to prevent overuse of the trail and promote conservation.
Camping in the backcountry is really unique because it removes you from the luxuries of modern society and brings you closer to your primitive self. I’ve learned that a very peaceful life can be lived out of a tent on some trail in the mountains. There are tons of incredible views to be had out in the backcountry, each and every one of them are beautiful in their own way.
In conclusion, there are a lot more free campsites out there than you think. You can find comfort in the campgrounds, beauty and solitude in the backcountry, and a mix of the two in primitive campsites. Established campgrounds can be beautiful, just look at the campsite below at the City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico, but they just dont provide the same solitude as the backcountry. Primitive campsites in National Forests can also be beautiful but also can be ugly too. You usually have to drive up some unmaintained gravel road to get there, and there’s no guarantee of solitude or beauty. All in all, they’re my favorite type of campsites because they’re fairly accessible, and usually free!
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