Tips for TC Boondocking

Rettrooper wrote:

billtex wrote:


There is (legal) dispersed camping available in WMNF...

And many opportunities for "boondocking" in the North woods of ME/VT/NH...not like out West....but it is there if you look!

GOOD JOB Billtex!

There are two areas in the WMNF, Haystack Rd. and Cherry Mountain Rd. in Twin Mtn. NH, BUT YOUR NOT SUPPOSE TO TELL ANYONE THAT!;) Now it's not a secret! ;) And they are FREE!

Perhaps THE most important bit of boondocking info I ever picked up is the little-know fact that by Federal Law, all National Forest (USDA) lands are managed for multiple uses, and allow folks to overnight for free anywhere they choose UNLESS the local Ranger District has designated specific areas off-limits to such use for one reason or another. (Pay campgrounds, private leases, etc.)
This is very different from National Parks(DOI) Lands, where camping is permitted only in designated campgrounds.

There are of course some general rules in National Forests...one is forbidden to take a vehicle down closed roads etc., but generally speaking one can pull over in any wide spot on a Forest Service road and stay there.

I make it a point to check in with the Ranger Station of any National Forest I intend to camp in just to check up on rule changes etc...also to let them know I'm out there, and generally where I'll be and for how long. That last because as someone that often travels alone, it's a comfort to know that someone else knows who/where I am...just in case.

It's sadly true that some Forests are more limited in such open territory than others...this at least in part due to folks abusing the land etc. I see more and more road closures every year necessitated by such behavior.:M