Camping Legally

>>1055856
>just say fuck it and go find a place in the middle of no where
This
If you are just car camping, bring a ton of water and drive into a national forest
There are plenty of logging roads to explore

State parks often have shitty registration systems that allow assholes to spam reserve everything 6 months in advance for a small fee
Then they flake and the sites are empty
The federal park and NF permit system doesn't allow type A assholes to reserve everything in advance and saves some permits for people who walk in that day

>>1055856
Stealth camp tips:

Camp above any nearby roads or trails. People tend to look down more than they look up… and climbing uphill is difficult, so it is less likely that others will come looking for you if you are up high. Plus, from up high, you can look down on others who might be approaching your camp.

Don’t make a fire unless you absolutely have to.

Don’t make camp on the other side of a river, estuary or canal. They may flood overnight and cause you to get stuck.

A dirt road will turn to mud overnight in a rainstorm. Be sure you have an exit strategy for the following morning.

Don’t camp in an area where you might easily be discovered by dogs. A dog on a walk with his or her owner will quickly give away your location.

The best time to find and set up a stealth campsite is just before it gets dark. If you set up camp too early you might be discovered by people who are still out for the day. If you set up too late, on the other hand, you could find yourself trying to pitch your tent in the dark -- Not only can you not scout out the location of your campsite as well when it is dark, but any flashlights or headlamps you might use will give away your location.

Break camp early.

The harder it is for you to get to your campsite, the less likely it is that other people will find you. People are generally lazy and will usually give up before navigating to difficult locations.

Sometimes (but very rarely) the best hiding spot is right out in the open where people passing by will think, “I guess you are allowed to camp there?”

If you do get caught, play dumb and/or if necessary, offer to leave. There is no need to get in trouble for stealth camping. Simply pack up your campsite, move on and find somewhere else to spend the night.

Be willing to change camping spots if after a short while you realize the campsite you picked out initially is unsafe or in a location where you might be discovered.

>>1055912
continued:

Don’t camp in areas where there are “Private Property” and “No Trespassing” signs.You won't have the excuse of saying you didn’t know you were allowed to be there.

Use shadows to your advantage. Hide in dark spaces – under trees and bushes (for example) where you are not easily spotted.

Avoid camping in places where children might play. Not only are kids good at climbing into small spaces and building forts in and under trees, but if they do find you they will surely run home and tell mommy and daddy about the strange person they saw camping in their play spot.

Sometimes simply asking if you can camp somewhere is the best approach. Don’t be afraid to ask locals, land owners and even the police where you can find a good place to camp for the night.

Don’t let anyone see you going to or leaving from your campsite. If you must be seen, be seen on your way out of the campsite – just as you are leaving. By then you are already on your way and there is little anyone can say or do if they discover what you’ve been up to.

Remove all lights, reflectors and white, light or flashy material from your tent, bicycle, backpack or other gear so as not to be detected by flashlights or passing automobile headlamps.

Keep an eye out for hunters. Know when hunting season is and stay out of areas where you might be mistaken for a deer, bear, bigfoot or other such animal.

Watch out for surveillance cameras that might be mounted in the area.

Avoid areas frequented by geocachers.

Don’t set up camp right away. Find a spot you think might be good and then wait a little while. Scout out the location. See if anyone walks past. Notice what animals are in the area. Listen for other campers that might be in the area.

All the regular camping rules still apply. Avoid camping in the wind. Don’t camp under anything that could fall on you in the middle of the night. Sleep on flat ground. Hang your food if animals are in the area... Leave no trace

File: p226_navy_mk25_bty_dwn-tfb.jpg (69KB, 900x670px) Image search: [Google]

69KB, 900x670px

>>1055912
/out/ loves dogs.

Dispersed camping is allowed in certain locations in national forests and on Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands.
Just go to one of those areas. Bonus points for National Forests is that you can bring funs with you.

Bought one of those OnXMap hunt chips for my GPS so I could find BLM and state lands, just about every road that isn't private says no camping and they try to funnel you to a fee area camping ground. I was getting frustrated because I just want to get out in the middle of nowhere and not have to be around other people.

Found a pretty decent spot behind a rock outcropping off of the road that I was thinking about trying out since it's right next to a stream with beaver dams.

I don't remember it being so hard to find a camp spot when I was a kid.

>>1055856
>Get away from town and people

>Pay to camp around people

Campgrounds are shit.

Freecampsites.net
I've used this site so much on road trips. Lots of gem campsites for free. I keep forgetting to add pics to the ones I stay at, I should really give back.

In WA just go to the national forests and drive up some random forest road for 20 minutes and you can camp anywhere. It's called "dispersed camping" if you google it you can find info on good spots.

>>1055856
I wish I could help you out more man, I just spent a month in clark county.
While we were there, we drove up to some lava beds in Gifford pinchot national forest and camped there. It was near a small town called trout lake.
Basically though, if you camp anywhere in the middle of nowhere in the national forest, nobody will fuck with you.

>>1056268
cool

So where I live the closest hike in primitive camping is in the state park that is over 3 hours away, it is a great place but it isn't very convenient for when I get the urge to just go camp out for a night. Everything else close is just shitty camp grounds right next to one another with full facilities and a parking lot 50 feet away...I'd rather just sleep in my backyard. I was reading about dispersed camping on the freecampsites webpage, and it says that alot of times you are allowed to camp in wildlife management areas, there are a ton of those around me...I was wondering if anyone knows how to go about finding out if it is okay to camp in them? Should I contact my local DNR office and ask? I really don't want to deal with stealth camping and run the risk of being fucked with for being somewhere I am not supposed to be...I go camping because I want to relax in the outdoors, not to play a game of cat and mouse out in the sticks.

File: oklycr.jpg (161KB, 800x1037px) Image search: [Google]

161KB, 800x1037px

>>1057011
Where do you live? Would help us figure out where you can camp.

In my state PA youre allowed to dispersed camp in any state foresr, or state wild area. They are all over the place. I live right on the NY border and it's the same in NY.

So check your states laws, and find a state forest. Most the state forests around me also have a network or trails, so it's easy to find a spot to camp.

Pic related, map of closest state forest to me.

>>1055856
dispersed camping is legal in national forests so long as its not a designated wilderness area.
t. wafag who camps several miles into the woods to avoid people

How do you access state and BLM that is landlocked by private property?

>>1055856
>Washington
Motherfucker like half of Western Washington is National Forest that you can camp for free.

>>1057604
By the access road.

>>1057018
IA, can't find anything on the DNR website about dispersed camping in wild life management areas. The nearest state forest with good trails and on trail primitive camping is quite aways away. If it was possible to camp in WMA's it would be a lot easier to just go out for a night or something when I had free time.

>>1057902
There are access roads through private land?

I thought about buying a parcel of land in the mountains that I would only use as a place for a base camp.

>>1055856
>Friends say they're going camping
>Drive an hour to Sacajawea and set up with a playground and bathrooms in sight

Washington's got a good rep but Southeast is hell

>>1058660
>Let's get out of town so we can go and be around other people in a campground!

yaaaaaassss

>>1057935
Yes, it's called an easement. If there's a piece of BLM land there's a 99.99% chance there's road access so that BLM workers can get to the land.

I'm sure it's possible there's a piece of BLM land that is completely surrounded by private land and might not have an access road, but I've lived all over the Western U.S. and I've literally never seen nor heard of BLM land that didn't.

File: 1470966876371.jpg (62KB, 738x640px) Image search: [Google]

62KB, 738x640px

>>1059615
Nice, just bought one of those GPS chips that show private and public lands and have been out exploring new remote places but get worried about trespassing a lot.

Campgrounds are cancer.

Stealth camping seems sketchy

>>1057900
It's beautiful woodlands too, had a chance to get /out/ visiting some friends in Seattle.

>>1057927
From what I am reading, dispersed primitive camping is allowed in Iowa wildlife management areas.

Call the local park office for the area you're in, they will help you out and they're usually pretty cool people, at least in PA they are. Sometimes they can even tell you the best places to camp. They also like if you call them and check in your plans before you go out. It lets them know you have a plan, and if there is a problem they know where to find you. I find the DCNR guys in PA really like when you check in, kind of let's them know you're not just some kickass out there, and you're actually prepared. Had one DCNR guy help me out to find a great spot along the Loyalsock Trail, and even gave some advice about how to legally camp by the state park campground, without actually having to pay for a site.

>>1061365
Not to mention there's also the Pinchot National Forest in Eastern Washington and a bunch of DNR land.

There's so much free camping in Washington that trying to stealth camp a state park is just pointless.