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  1. #1
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-22-2013
    Location
    Denver, Colorado
    Age
    41
    Posts
    105

    :banana Camping in NY outside of shelters - please read and advise! :-)

    Hi everyone - I could really use your advice here. I'm doing a through-hike of NY state beginning Labor Day weekend. The shelters aren't at convenient locations for my timeline, and this is my first time on the A.T. All the guidebooks I have state that camping outside of designated areas (i.e. shelters) is prohibited. What I'd like to know is if this is really strictly enforced and what are the risks of camping outside these areas? I will definitely follow leave-no-trace guidelines...but if I camp off the A.T. a few hundred yards each night while in NY, am I running any risk? Any suggestions or thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

    Also, what if you camp in the area around shelters but don't stay in the shelter themselves? I'm not a fan of rats, so even if I camped in an area around a shelter, is that a bad thing?

    Thanks!!!

    Brad

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    01-27-2011
    Location
    New York, New York
    Posts
    394

    Default

    You are allowed to stay in the general shelter area. That is legal and occurs frequently.

    You are not allowed to camp outside of these areas. That is minorly illegal and occurs frequently.

  3. #3

    Default

    "i am going to ignore the laws regarding designated campsites" and "i am going to follow LNT principles" are two completely incompatible statements.

    The rules exist for a reason, particularly in an area as populated as New York, every time someone creates a new campsite, it has a negative affect on the environment.

    If the question is will you get caught and if you do how sever the punishment will be, I can not answer that. But my speculation is about a serious as littering, both in enforcement and severity of punishment. But it is not okay to litter either, even though the likelihood of punishment is remote.
    Love people and use things; never the reverse.

    Mt. Katahdin would be a lot quicker to climb if its darn access trail didn't start all the way down in Georgia.

  4. #4

    Default

    Camping a few hunderd yards off the AT in NY will often put you onto private property. The other issue is water. Water sources are few and far between in NY and typically only available at shelter sites. Plus they have a place to sit down and poop. You may not want to sleep in a shelter, but you must stay with-in it's immeditate area.
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  5. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    07-22-2013
    Location
    Denver, Colorado
    Age
    41
    Posts
    105

    Thumbs up Thanks

    Well you definitely made some strong points. I appreciate it and will make every effort to camp in the vicinity of shelters. Thanks much.



    Quote Originally Posted by JustaTouron View Post
    "i am going to ignore the laws regarding designated campsites" and "i am going to follow LNT principles" are two completely incompatible statements.

    The rules exist for a reason, particularly in an area as populated as New York, every time someone creates a new campsite, it has a negative affect on the environment.

    If the question is will you get caught and if you do how sever the punishment will be, I can not answer that. But my speculation is about a serious as littering, both in enforcement and severity of punishment. But it is not okay to litter either, even though the likelihood of punishment is remote.

  6. #6

    Default

    Please don't start threads or make posts about illegal camping along the trail. (see the User Agreement #4) We may not always agree with the regulations, but they are generally in place for conservation reasons so that the resource is not degraded. Even practicing accepted LNT may not be sufficient for high use areas and thus camping is sometimes restricted.
    "Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
    Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
    Call for his whisky
    He can call for his tea
    Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
    Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan

    Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.

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