Shelters that don't get used.....

[blw2]

I have been watching quite a few AT vlogs, learning and living vicariously....
One thing I'm noticing is a few shelters are famous...in the it seems everyone goes in for a look see and 'tour', but I have yet to see a video about anyone staying in them. Maybe it's just location and the way most people's schedule land. I don't know, just stuck me as odd....
The two that come to mind are
Blood Mountain ... I understand this one is cold and not great
The Fontanna Hilton... is it becasue it's close to a real hotel?

[MuddyWaters]

I have been watching quite a few AT vlogs, learning and living vicariously....
One thing I'm noticing is a few shelters are famous...in the it seems everyone goes in for a look see and 'tour', but I have yet to see a video about anyone staying in them. Maybe it's just location and the way most people's schedule land. I don't know, just stuck me as odd....
The two that come to mind are
Blood Mountain ... I understand this one is cold and not great
The Fontanna Hilton... is it becasue it's close to a real hotel?

Blood mtn requires bear cannister. It used to be used too much.

Fontana is heavily used.

Theres a couple a long ways off trail, 0.5 mi, etc that get light use. Rest are all used well if in decent condition, If not by hikers, by partiers.

[egilbe]

Cloud Pond Shelter in the HMW is .4 of a mile off trail. Not used that often because that's almost an extra mile. At this point, most hikers have learned not to take any extra steps, if they don't have to.

[tdoczi]

I have been watching quite a few AT vlogs, learning and living vicariously....
One thing I'm noticing is a few shelters are famous...in the it seems everyone goes in for a look see and 'tour', but I have yet to see a video about anyone staying in them. Maybe it's just location and the way most people's schedule land. I don't know, just stuck me as odd....
The two that come to mind are
Blood Mountain ... I understand this one is cold and not great
The Fontanna Hilton... is it because it's close to a real hotel?

never stayed at fontana but the two times ive been by it there were people in it. once, during thru hiker time, a lot of people. not sure what gave you the impression it was otherwise.

i think the only shelter/shelter areas ive ever had 100% to myself for the night was eagle's rest in PA and pico camp n VT.

the latter surprised me, it was a nice fall weekend and there were definitely plenty of people out hiking, but no one went that way i guess.

the former is 1/4 mile or more off the trail in a totally unremarkable location and i imagine doesnt get much use.

i've even actually stayed at the widely reviled cooper lodge. and i wasnt alone.

[evyck da fleet]

Blood mountain is popular with day hikers since it’s two miles from a road so even without the canister rule I wouldn’t want to stay there. There’s no bunk so every child and dog would be wandering on and around your stuff as it sits on the ground.

Fontana is also near a road and makes for a good place to party. I encountered several hikers that had been there for days. I chose to move on.

[Slo-go'en]

There are three shelters in GA which are rarely used by thru hikers. Woods Hole is a double whammy, being 0.4M down hill and in the bear canister required area. Blood Mountain simply isn't a good place to stay since you have to sleep on a stone floor and the stone construction keeps the place cold. Finally, Whitley Gap shelter is a whole 1.2 miles off the trail, also down hill. These places probably get more use during the summer season.

The Pico cabin (Vermont) mentioned is no longer on the official AT so it doesn't get a lot of use. It's showing it's age too and might fall down some day. Cooper lodge (Vermont) is another shelter built of stone so also tends to be cold. Plus it's used as a trash barrel by skiers on Killington.

There are a few other shelters here and there which are either a bit of a walk off the trail or in disrepair so aren't often used.

[tdoczi]

The Pico cabin (Vermont) mentioned is no longer on the official AT

still in the guidebooks and not as far from the current AT as some other "official" shelters though.

[illabelle]

Cloud Pond Shelter in the HMW is .4 of a mile off trail. Not used that often because that's almost an extra mile. At this point, most hikers have learned not to take any extra steps, if they don't have to.

Cow Camp Gap Shelter near Buena Vista in VA is .6 off trail. Did we go there? Nope.

[LittleRock]

Cow Camp Gap Shelter near Buena Vista in VA is .6 off trail. Did we go there? Nope.

Two others I remember in Virginia - had them both to myself.
1) Sarver Hollow. It's on a fairly lightly used section of the AT to begin with, but being a steep 0.4 mile down from the trail makes most people pass it up.
2) Cove Mountain. It's right on trail, but there's no water and a nice campground with food and showers another 3 miles NOBO.

[Tennessee Viking]

Laurel Fork - Reason for the light use is the heavy day-hiker traffic and Hampton/Dennis Cove provide plenty of hostel services. Because it sits inside a Wilderness area, if it is ever dismantled it will not be allowed to rebuilt without going through a heavy approval process.

Apple House (former) - Main reason it was a party spot and 0.5 miles from 19E. It was only used during the crowd season whenever Mtn Harbour full or hikers on a budget. Due to road proximity, safety reasons, and new shelter standards, it was dismantled.

[Starchild]

There is the Love Shack, officially called something like the McQueen shelter. 2 person capacity (hence the love shack), no water at the shelter, trashed when I went through 2x, listed in the guide book as a emergency AT shelter, right on the trail.

Also one hut in the whites is not well visited by thru hikers as it is something like 0.9 miles off trail. From what I heard it is the best chance for a work for stay.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Keep in mind that those videos are typically made by thru hikers who are a tiny minority of trail users. Each year there are (very roughly) 3,500 people who try to thru hike out of a 3-4 million total trail users (USDA estimate). So even the thru hikers in youtube videos pass by a shelter for being too far off trail or not up to their standard, it is overwhelmingly likely that there are still plenty of section hikers overnighting there and plenty of day users stopping by for lunch or a break throughout the year.

[FrogLevel]

Lots of people pass the Stan Murray Shelter on Roan and stay at the barn because its less than an hour down the trail.

[tiptoe]

In Maine, I don't think Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to gets much use because it's just a few miles north of Antlers, a beautiful lakeside place to camp. I passed up Antlers because of a big thru drinking bash in progress and stayed there instead. It has much to recommend it: numerous campsites and hammocking possibilities, plus marvelous spring water: cold, sparkling, and plentiful.

[Water Rat]

In Maine, I don't think Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to gets much use because it's just a few miles north of Antlers, a beautiful lakeside place to camp. I passed up Antlers because of a big thru drinking bash in progress and stayed there instead. It has much to recommend it: numerous campsites and hammocking possibilities, plus marvelous spring water: cold, sparkling, and plentiful.

Another shout-out for Potaywadjo - it has two newer, clean privies. They are huge. You could fit a group of people in each one of them.

[Ethesis]

Ive had shelters to myself in October on section hikes in Georgia (not even any mice) and North from Harpers Ferry during the week.

October section hikes seem to have lots of empty shelters.

March or April not so much.

[Dan Roper]

Cold Springs (near Copper Bald, if memory serves), Rufus Morgan (near Nantahala) and Cable Gap (near Fontana) are three of the dingiest, darkest, and least used shelters I've seen over the years. It's possible on or more has been replaced, since I last visited that area about eight to ten years ago.

Rufus Morgan sits just a mile or so up from the U.S. highway at Nantahala. Too, it's water source was listed in the Trail Guide as polluted when I came through, back around 2009. Cold Springs was a small, damp, squat shelter right on the trail in a rhododendron garden. Cable Gap was old (1930s?) and sat on a small creek in a deeply-shaded valley.

[Cedar Tree]

Trimpi Shelter just south of Marion VA gets used very little. Most people anxious to get to Partnership Shelter and Marion skip this little gem. I used to go there quite a bit when I lived in Marion. I could leave my house and be at this shelter in exactly 1 hour. Never saw another hiker there.

[Koozy]

Third shout-out for Potaywadjo; best damn water source on the entire trail IMHO. Think Poland Spring...

The Pipe Bellows leanto near Mt Greylock doesn't get much use either. 1 mile and 1,000 feet off the ridge down the Thunderbolt Trail. First backpacking experiences of my life I tried staying there and I got charged at by a sow with 2 cubs...never returned since.

The West Mountain shelter is about a half mile off trail but because of its view of the NYC skyline, I think it gets more activity than other half mile off-trail shelters.

There's also the Limestone Spring leanto in Connecticut that doesn't get much use. It's located between Falls Village and Salisbury (two resupply points), and since there are plenty of water sources in CT and beautiful camping areas directly off-trail, it sees little use.

[kolokolo]

Docs Knob shelter South of Pearisburg seemed to get little use when I stayed there a few years back. Probably because of its proximity to Woods Hole Hostel, which I assume is where all of the other hikers were.