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Car camping in the Northeast
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I recently moved to New Jersey from Arizona. In Arizona there is an endless supply of unregulated car camping. Where in NJ, NY, NH, and Vermont can you pull down dirt roads and camp (basically not at an official campground)? Can you do so in the Green Mountain National Forest? The Catskills? Adirondacks? White Mountain National Forest? |
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Much tougher to do this in the Northeast then out west, but there are places in each of those areas where it can be done discreetly--though those 'in the know' usually want to keep such places to themselves. The Adirondacks has historically had a number of these unofficial/semi-official camping areas but my understanding is that things have 'tightened up' in recent years, especially around popular places like Keene Valley. |
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Eric. I feel your pain. The farther away from destinations the better off you are. there are places in GMNF and WMNF that have dispersed camping but they tend to Not be near north Conway... I usualy look at the map when i am on the road and try to head for the green parts but here in the east you can still get hosed if you are anywhere near destinations where others have had the same ideas.... |
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Best bet pre covid was to head north into Canada and stay there until you are west of wisconsin... |
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Hey Eric, you're heading in the wrong direction!! lol Spent most of my lifetime in the NE, now in Vegas. Primitive camping out here is definitely more widespread and much more loosely regulated (there's obvious pros/cons to this). There's almost no BLM land back East, so you're dealing with rules that vary widely preserve to preserve, state to state. When you're ready to hit up a particular area, few weeks before I would suggest posting up on here and getting specific suggestions. There's a number of places for those States listed, but they're fairly large States so telling you about something 2 hours from where you're going to be isn't helpful. You are likely also going to find an old guard that won't want to share this for the entire internet and/or strangers to cram into those few sites, so some of this is unfortunately going to be learned driving down dirt roads and exploring. |
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just don't ask in the clear. ask to be PM'ed the info and someone will help you. |
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Not seeing Maine on your list. |
Chris Trautz wrote: I can’t wait to explore Maine but for now it is too far from us in New Jersey. |
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The Catskills and the Adirondacks are very easy. Vermont is similarly very doable. The Whites present a real challenge. |
Nick Goldsmith wrote: There's places I wouldn't share with anyone, regardless of the public-ness of the communications. [this isn't to be a dick, it's simply to protect access for those who I know still rely on use of those spots without sudden competition] |
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There are several state ran primitive sites in the Catskills, first come first serve. Some even have porta-johns! I'll let you do the leg work to unlock the goods. It's a right of passage trying to navigate the DEC websites. |
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lol going from the southwest to the northeast and looking for free camping is ROUGH. i do the opposite specifically to get to places with free camping. |
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"There are several state ran primitive sites in the Catskills, first come first serve. Some even have porta-johns! I'll let you do the leg work to unlock the goods. It's a right of passage trying to navigate the DEC websites." Mathew brings up a good point. NY State actually seems to support free camping, but sadly many of the sites have become overcrowded and trashed. Still, you should begin to familiarize yourself with DEC rules, as they are different than blm, national forest or national park rules. The bureaucracy is crazy and bizarre, but I think it's cool they still permit free camping in close proximity to many climbing areas. |
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Eric - sent you a PM with some ideas in North Conway, the Adirondacks, the Gunks, and Burlington, VT. |
