Camping on the AT, SOBO
The only location that I know of that you have to pay for the campsite while on the AT is at my start in Baxter. Is there anywhere else I need to know about for out of town expenses?
There are a few shelters in VT and NH with caretakers that charge fees. You can avoid most of them by camping in between shelters. The only problem might be the White Mts where you can't camp above treeline. Chances are when you hike through the Presidentials & Franconia range, you'll have to pay somewhere unless you find work-for-stay at the AMC huts.
Further south in Shenandoah NP, the Trail passes near some drive-in campgrounds. You don't have to camp or stay there but if you choose to do so, you'll pay the fee.
There are sites and huts maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) in Maine and New Hampshire that are pay sites, and others in Vermont maintained by the Green Mountain Club that are pay sites as well.
I think I might be too busy with my homework and captioning photos for a photo book I promised my dad for the work/stay that I have read about.
My hike is being funded by the GI Bill, providing I keep my grades up. I managed to get the hike to count as a field project, 4 credit hours.
The shelter and tent sites through the Bigelows in Maine at Horn Pond have a caretaker and require a fee (not a lot of alternatives in the area).
Starting at Speck Pond in the mahoosucs you most (but not all) of the shelters have caretakers and you have to pay a fee. Many dont have great alternatives for legal camping nearby (thats why they have a caretaker). Some years the shleters arent fully staffed so you may luck out.
The ones that have had caretakers in the past in the mahoosucs and whites are
Speck Pond
Full Goose
Carlo Col (frequently not staffed)
Guyot Shelter
Garfield Ridge
The Dungeon at Lakes of the Clouds (chance fow work for stay at Hut)
Nauman Tentsite (near Mitzpah hut) (chance for work for stay at the hut)
Liberty Springs
I am not sure about
Kinsman Pond
Ethan Pond
There are many in VT with caretakers which require fees but I dont have a list. Many are in hardwood lowlands with options to camp elsewhere.
Ethan Pond has a caretaker and $8pp fee last year when I was there in there, as did Liberty Springs, near Franconia Notch.Originally Posted by peakbagger
The easy way to remember VT is think bodies of water:
Griffith Lake
Little Rock Pond
Stratton Pond
Work for site at those LT sites
I read that at the sites that have caretakers sometimes they let you work for your campsite fee....
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