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The Thru Hikers Companion says there is camping at Dennytown Rd in a group campsite. Far Out says you may need reservations. I cannot find anything on the Fahnestock SP site that explains if reservations are required or how one goes about obtaining one. Does anyone have any information on this or the beach campsite at Canopus Lake?
The group sites on Dennytown Rd are called Group Wilderness Campsites, reservations are made through the Park Office 845-225-7207.
There is an area where they allow AT hikers to camp/tent north/NE of the beach area. A new shelter was built there in 2021. Assuming you can still tent near the shelter as well.
AT hikers never needed reservations for the group site. Where did that come from? You just come in off the trail and find a spot.
I camped at the Dennytown Rd site on my section hike last fall. No reservations required. It's a large grass field with picnic tables and porta potties. Bugs were pretty bad in warm weather. Water comes from a spigot on a building on the opposite side of the road. There's plenty of space - a whole boy scout troop could camp there.
Are you perhaps thinking of Canopus Lake rather than Dennytown Road?Quote:
Originally Posted by justhike
The sites on Dennytown Rd are called Group Wilderness Campsites by the Park, and (technically) reservations are required ($50+).
The park does not 'advertise' those sites as for AT hikers - they will point you to the new shelter and tenting north of the beach, where the restrooms are left unlocked for hikers and during the summer months there are concessions open.
HOWEVER, (as I understand from speaking to a park employee), if an AT hiker was to find the Dennytown Rd sites unoccupied, particularly late enough in the day when it is unlikely that any group with a reservation is likely to be arriving, the park is ok with hikers camping there. And if the park office is still open (hours generally 8am-4:30pm) you can call to confirm there are no reservations if you are concerned about that (certain times of year/weekends they tend to get used/reserved more).
On a related note, the new (2021) "AT" parking lot on the east side of RT 301, at the south end of Canopus Lake is posted as DAY USE only. EXCEPT that AT Hikers may request a permit from the Park Office (you can call them or stop at the office) to park there overnight - at a rate of $10/day. They don't seem to have thought it out very well, as there is no obvious way to take care of the permit/fee when the park office is closed. My recommendation for section hikers - park for free at Dennytown Rd.
There are a few obvious 'previously used' locations just north of Dennytown for 'dispersed' camping. :cool:
Thanks for all the replies.
FWIW, the ~2 miles on the AT from NY 301 to the new shelter side trail are the hardest in NY north of the Hudson River, IMO. The trail is really rocky and steep in places. I fell a couple of times going through there. Oddly enough, the trail north from the new shelter side trail to RPH was super easy.
Yeah, I actually think those are THE roughest 2 miles on the whole trail.Quote:
Originally Posted by LittleRock
Have you submitted Mt Katahdin yet?Quote:
Originally Posted by HankIV
Nothing I remember in NY compared to that.
Yep on Katahdin. And while that (and many other spots) are much tougher, I’d still say that is the roughest. It’s pretty flat, but you just can’t get a pace going.
I spoke to the F State P two weeks ago. It is open, free and the blue trail goes right to the park and to a tenting and shelter area. And there is water. The ranger there said they love trail hikers.
Are you referring to Dennytown Rd or Canopus Lake?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lynnette
Duplicate post.
These are helpful comments, but I’m still confused. I hope to be on this section, alert and oriented and Southbound, in July. But:1) Does the new shelter in Fahnestock State Park have a name? Has anyone posted its coordinates? Is there a map that it appears on? I’ve looked at several from the Park. I see Pelton Pond Pavilion, but the pictures I can find make it look like an older structure, not one built last year.2) Southbound from RPH Shelter, how far is it to this new shelter?3) The AT crosses Dennytown Road (772 from Katahdin) at a picnic area with water etc. Is there camping there?4) I am a little curious about these 2 miles, from the shelter to 301, that are “the worst of the whole AT/whole AT in NY”. “How bad can they be?” says my curiosity. “How can we avoid them?” says the rest of me, the bigger part that is old and lazy. Is there a way to 301 that’s a little less interesting?
Thanks in advance. It's clear that some of the readers know the Park very well.
Rusty Joints
Half Vast Expeditions
Chapel Hill
I couldn't find the shelter but:
The "ATC" or Appalachian Trail Connector bypasses what looks like 3/4 to a mile of the AT north of Canopus Lake. Both trails are marked and blazed as of October 2020. According to the trail sign at the northern junction of the ATC with AT, it is about .5 mile to the tenting area via the ATC probably near the intersection of the ATC (or B) trail and the Y trail. Using the ATC interactive map RPH shelter is at 1418 and the ATC north end is about 14.2 and the south end around 13.3 Good guess is the shelter would be in this area as Lynette mentions. Using the ATC you would bypass the "high" peak and 2 lookout areas and go near a concession area with showers.
This is from https://scenesfromthetrail.com/2020/...ck-state-park/ which includes a map, a general description of the trail north of the lake along with pictures. You may have seen this already
ATC interactive map: https://nps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/web...b7f6d25453e4e0 You need turn on the mile markers and shelters (upper right corner) and zoom in.
Thanks, Daybreak. Very helpful.
Rusty
The shelter is located in the tenting area at the side of the large field 100-200 yds north of the beach. The plaque inside says Raymond Torrey Memorial Shelter 1940 - 1976. Water is from the bathrooms near the lake. Built in 2021. Shelter log starts in December.
Yesterday on a whim, I hiked the trail north from 301 detoured past the shelter and back to 301 via the AT. The trail has rocks, roots, steps, and smooth trail. There is a rocky creek crossing and several places with large exposed rock on side hill sections where care is needed and poles are advised. No place I felt I needed to use hands. Maybe if the rocks were wet but the trail was dry. There were a couple big steps. There are lots of small slight ups and downs and a couple very short steeper sections This short section is rough with a lot of variability but not difficult or hard and certainly less strenuous than any trail sections with significant elevation gain. Nothing requiring hands like in the Whites. Rough here means condensed like lots of PA but not difficult. Stretch it out some and you've got a typical trail bed.
Be aware that the wells at Shenandoah tenting area, RPH and 4-6 places further north are shut down according to the undated 301 trailhead sign.
Thanks again. I noticed that the White Blaze guide says to carry water to the 10 Mile Shelter.
They have closed the wells at several shelters in NY, NJ and CT. They say they are not up to standards, even though we can filter or treat. This means a dry camp all the way through. Unless you get the water from open brooks. They say not to drink from the ten mile river but that was the source when it first opened a long time ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty Joints
RPH shelter is 100 yards from a road. The caretaker brings in water in gallon jugs. No problem there.
I got water upstream from the footbridge over the Ten Mile River. It was perfectly clear and tasted great. The trail clubs are being overly cautious, IMO.
So I just got back from Fahnestock Park and stayed at Dennytown Road. There are several group camping sites. These have picnic tables, porta potties and fire pits. We got there after 5 PM on a weekday, and a group of bike campers showed up around 6 PM who had rented the site where we were. They were polite, we were polite, and we moved off their site on to the one next door.
What I think is new is a site on the side of the road with the water spigot, across the road from the group sites, designated for AT hikers. The AT hiker site is basically a mown field next to the parking lot, no picnic table. It does provide a legal site to camp on, and we would have camped there if there had been no space at the group sites. Much better than walking 3 miles at the end of the day to the shelter.
Unfortunately the Ten Mile River in CT where the AT crosses has PCB contamination (a probable human carcinogen which, like lead contamination, cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted in water nor can water filtration/purification common to backpacking remove it. Drinking water from Ten Mile or Housatonic Rivers should be avoided per the signs through that area.Quote:
Originally Posted by LittleRock
I know the area and would not camp near a road, ever. Especially if it's that mud hole of a parking lot near the water building.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty Joints
There is a spring just trail south of the TMR shelter near the top of some stone steps and a stream just trail north of the TMR bridge.