Boondocking in the east

WandaLust · 05-23-2009, 01:05 AM

Boondocking is easy enough in the western states.... but what about the east and midwest? How are you people finding unoccupied land to camp on? Everything is owned, fenced and/or posted with No Trespassing signs. Is boondocking even possible east of the Great Planes? Do you just go to Federal or State Campgrounds?

Poppy & Nana · 05-24-2009, 07:04 PM

Yes it is possible - come to the Adirondacks - there is a lot of primitive camping on state land..or go to the rear of my yard and you'll be in the "boondocks"

emam · 05-28-2009, 12:22 AM

We've found it pretty impossible to camp anywhere along the East Coast or Mid-West and have the true Boondocking Experience we have while in the West.

Like you said, it's too hard to get away from the Urban Sprawl that has encrouched on so much of this area.

Now granted, we found some beautiful areas in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and a few very random spots here and there along our never ending travels, but nothing like the Millions upon Millions of BLM land that is scattered across the West.

WandaLust · 05-28-2009, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poppy & Nana

Yes it is possible - come to the Adirondacks - there is a lot of primitive camping on state land..or go to the rear of my yard and you'll be in the "boondocks"

I wish you lived closer than 1200 miles from us. How close to Cooperstown are you? We'll be up there after the SunLine Rally in PA, for almost a week.

WandaLust · 05-28-2009, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emam

We've found it pretty impossible to camp anywhere along the East Coast or Mid-West and have the true Boondocking Experience we have while in the West.

Like you said, it's too hard to get away from the Urban Sprawl that has encrouched on so much of this area.

Now granted, we found some beautiful areas in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and a few very random spots here and there along our never ending travels, but nothing like the Millions upon Millions of BLM land that is scattered across the West.

That's what I figured. I remember finding some beautiful secluded places to boondock out west in the 1970s. Nothing to compare it to in the East from what I can see.

**JohnB** · 05-28-2009, 10:23 PM

While we do not have anything close to out west, there is a level of Boondocking possibilities here in the east.

National Forests. Do you have any of them in your area? We have Wayne National Forest here in southern Ohio and in a National forest you can camp where ever. However I have only done this in a tent and highly practice no trace camping. Never would know we where ever there.

There is some level of RV un-powered camping at the trail heads that I have seen, however driving inland with a camper and setting up camp like the EMANs is harder to come by. Our Forests are too thick to drive into and not tear something up on the rig.

We do have several State Parks that have beautiful CG’s and no power. There are established CG’s and they have a dump station too, just no power or hooks p any kind. Many of those parks have more beautiful sites then the once with a power post. And there are many that use them with PU’s and TT’s.

John

Poppy & Nana · 05-29-2009, 01:08 PM

[quote=
I wish you lived closer than 1200 miles from us. How close to Cooperstown are you? We'll be up there after the SunLine Rally in PA, for almost a week.

[/quote]

Oh I would say about an hour and a half south east of us!!!!

WandaLust · 05-29-2009, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnB

While we do not have anything close to out west, there is a level of Boondocking possibilities here in the east.

National Forests. Do you have any of them in your area? We have Wayne National Forest here in southern Ohio and in a National forest you can camp where ever. However I have only done this in a tent and highly practice no trace camping. Never would know we where ever there.

There is some level of RV un-powered camping at the trail heads that I have seen, however driving inland with a camper and setting up camp like the EMANs is harder to come by. Our Forests are too thick to drive into and not tear something up on the rig.

We do have several State Parks that have beautiful CG’s and no power. There are established CG’s and they have a dump station too, just no power or hooks p any kind. Many of those parks have more beautiful sites then the once with a power post. And there are many that use them with PU’s and TT’s.

John

We have a few in our state but not near us. There is no free dry camping or boondocking to my knowledge. The only one I heard about, somewhere in east TN, is pretty bad. When I camped in the 1970s we just found a nice isolated place, pulled off the road, and camped. No one ever bothered us. This way our time and our coming and going were more or less our own. No fees, no clocks and no reservations.

I don't recall driving to any particular park or forest out west to camp. We would stop every so many days at a regular CG to take showers and do our laundry. It sure would be nice to be able to do that all the way to NYS.

WandaLust · 05-29-2009, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poppy & Nana

I wish you lived closer than 1200 miles from us. How close to Cooperstown are you? We'll be up there after the SunLine Rally in PA, for almost a week. WandaLust

Oh I would say about an hour and a half south east of us!!!!

Will you be at the Rally next month?

Poppy & Nana · 05-29-2009, 05:48 PM

Will you be at the Rally next month?

The good Lord willing......had open heart surgery 7 weeks ago and I'm still a bit sore - but we are planning on going.

WandaLust · 05-31-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poppy & Nana

Will you be at the Rally next month?

The good Lord willing......had open heart surgery 7 weeks ago and I'm still a bit sore - but we are planning on going.

I'm sure we'll recognize each other. We'll be the long hairs with the TT seen in the sig below. No awning. The one we bought wont work with our old TT and those that will are out of our price range. We will have a screen room, PIA that it is to set up.