Harpers Ferry ..tent camping ?

[Albeham]

Going to take a few folks out , and we starting out from Harper's Ferry.

Would like to find a no-cost place to rack out for the night before we move on.

Any ideas?

AL

[Newb]

There's no camping within the park at Harpers. I believe you can pitch a tent along the river next to the C & O towpath. You can stealth it south of HF on the AT after you climb the hill next to the bridge.

[Albeham]

Got a few scouts going so I need to think this out real good.

going to getting in around dust and other later . hope this helps all to understand what I am trying to do.
AL

[dzierzak]

AT north or south?

AT north - Ed Garvey Shelter about 6 miles from HF
- tent camping two miles north on the C&O from HF (then just backtrack the next morning)
- Harpers Ferry Hostel - tent camping $8 per person (10 or more - $6 per person) - no inside access to hostel
"Overnight camping in Maryland is allowed only at designated campsites" Thru-Hikers Companion 2011

AT south - David Lesser Shelter 10 miles from HF (camping may be possible once out of the HF Park area south on the ridge)

On the C&O - "Camping is allowed only in designated sites." - from the NPS C&O website.

[Odd Man Out]

I believe you can pitch a tent along the river next to the C & O towpath.

Camping on the C&O Canal is restricted to designated campgrounds only. For the hiker/biker campgrounds, you can only stay one night. First come-first served. Non-family groups of 8 or less.
http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/camping.htm

The closest campground to HF is Huckleberry Hill
http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisi...ad/parkmap.pdf

According to this site, it is about two miles across the bridge and up river from HF.
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzez35jp/s...ando_canal.pdf

[yushan]

Check out

http://www.historicharpersferry.com/....php?type_id=4

to find out all lodging opportunitie in HF.

[Damaged]

Camping on the C&O Canal is restricted to designated campgrounds only. For the hiker/biker campgrounds, you can only stay one night. First come-first served. Non-family groups of 8 or less.
http://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/camping.htm

If you don't want to walk after dusk, there is a drive up campsite at Antietam Creek about 10 miles away from Harpers Ferry along the C & O canal. It is not no cost but it is fairly low cost. It is first come first servered. They allow for 8 campers per site at a cost of $10 per site. If it fits your agenda, you could stay in there the first night and drive into Harpers Ferry the next morning. The campsite is located at N39 25 05.0, W77 44 45.0.

[flemdawg1]

I arrived in Harper's Ferry around dusk, when I sectioned in that area in feb. the C&O canal is pretty much a wide dirt road to the turnoff, then using headlamp intermittently I made another 2 miles, then headlamp on fulltime till I arrived at the Ed Garvey Shelter.

[BigHodag]

I camped for free at Huckleberry Hill on the C&O in May 2010. Its about 2 miles of good level towpath north of the Harpers ferry railroad bridge. There is an access road and parking area about 1/2 mile below Huckleberry Hill, so you could start there.

While stealth camping along the C&O is forbidden its also not a good idea as most of the area along the sides of the C&O trail are thick with poison ivy.

Huckleberry Hill featured 2 picnic tables each with a pole mounted metal grill. There was a porta-potty. I don't recall if there was a water tap, but the camp site is right on the Potomac River. Very pretty view across the river and of the northbound trains. I hammock camped and there are several good pairs of trees to choose from.

[JAK]

First night might be a good time for a short night hike to the nearest campsite. I would make that your plan A anyway. Hope you get clear skies. Teach the kids some of the constellations, and let them observe how the stars rotate around Polaris. Planets are fun to spot also.

[veteran]

I camped for free at Huckleberry Hill on the C&O in May 2010. Its about 2 miles of good level towpath north of the Harpers ferry railroad bridge. There is an access road and parking area about 1/2 mile below Huckleberry Hill, so you could start there.

While stealth camping along the C&O is forbidden its also not a good idea as most of the area along the sides of the C&O trail are thick with poison ivy.

Huckleberry Hill featured 2 picnic tables each with a pole mounted metal grill. There was a porta-potty. I don't recall if there was a water tap, but the camp site is right on the Potomac River. Very pretty view across the river and of the northbound trains. I hammock camped and there are several good pairs of trees to choose from.

Huckleberry Hill Campsite.jpg

[Odd Man Out]

First night might be a good time for a short night hike to the nearest campsite. I would make that your plan A anyway. Hope you get clear skies. Teach the kids some of the constellations, and let them observe how the stars rotate around Polaris. Planets are fun to spot also.

My dad taught me a formula for using the position of the stars around Polaris to calculate the time of day. I thought that was cool. But now that I think of it, I can't come up with a good reason why I would ever really need to know what time it was in the middle of the night when the stars are out in the middle of the woods. I guess that wasn't the point. I always found the way the mountains and the rivers all come together at HF was especially scenic.

[Albeham]

Thanks all.
Going to look at each idea...
AL