Re: Boondocking in the East

Pepperoni wrote:
"D. Arlington" <invalid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:gv811l$bmq$1
@news.tornevall.net:

Boondocking is easy enough in the western states.... but what about the east and Midwest? How are you people finding unoccupied land to camp on when weary of the campground crowds? In the east, everything is owned, fenced and/or posted with No Trespassing signs. Is boondocking even possible east of the Great Planes?


Well, you just have to look around. In Michigan, good places are maintained by the state, counties and cities. I specialize in access sites along rivers and the Great Lakes. A fishing license gives me all the reason I need for being there overnight. The game warden is the only person who bothers to check. Good parking is usually available around flood-control dams which locally also serve as access for an extensive bike trail system. Some parks close at night, usually to curtail party drinking, but more rural areas are usually open. Most good sites don't even bear a sign, but are used by fishermen with no hassle.

Some park-n-ride (carpool) lots are in obscure areas. My favorite is a well maintained area shielded by trees. You could drive past and never suspect the beauty of the place. During the weekdays, maybe a dozen cars are parked on space for 100. You can't see or hear cars on the road 50 feet away.

When the interstates were built, a lot of dead-end roads resulted. I have a few favorites out in farm country. No traffic to bother me.

In other parts of the state, State and National forests are designed to accommodate sportsmen and wanderers. This is a problem when fishing is hot or during deer season, but those well maintained lots are deserted much of the year.

Don't pass up historic markers, travelers rest areas (spaced about 50 miles apart on state roads), scenic viewpoints, boating access and city parks.

For stops of 3-4 hours it is sometimes hard to beat a shady cemetery or a ball field.

A lot depends on your rig, but there are plenty of places to pull up where no one will bother you.

Pepperoni


We are going to have a difficulty with terminology here. I will post "Life outside of a house" for reference.

You might as well come to Michigan, everybody at can is leaving. Kind of like Oklahoma in the 30's, but with newer cars and U-haul trucks.

There is a lot of opportunity to stop for the night or maybe a couple in most of the eastern states, but you have to know where to look. Unfortunately, you were not at all descriptive as to your interests.

If you color in a band that is about 80 miles wide from the coast from Boston to Richmond and then taper that band to about 15 in the next 200 miles, that will be your "tough to boondock zone". It is almost all city by most standards. There are also lots of RV unfriendly local ordinances. There are still lots of ocean front state parks and resorts. This pretty much closes off Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Many of the museums in this band allow RV parking overnight.

You can plan to get real lost in a lot of Pennsylvania and New York. Maine was contemplating a "no flatspotting RVs" law, but came to their senses at the last moment.

For a small fee you can hook up with the Overnight RV Parking group.

Matt
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: VED Down Shocker!
    ... polluting ones you can actually buy are band B... ... Nickel based batteries. ... My daily commute is 22 miles, another 10 miles at night if I go ... tighter and tighter they would stifle all cars into being lame crap. ...
    (uk.transport)
  • Re: If you were stuck on a desert island and had only ten fonts...
    ... the roads the instructors said they used. ... It turns out other instructors from the same ... traffic and huge open roads with cars everywhere, ... I think I had probably done in excess of 20,000 miles by my bike test! ...
    (uk.comp.sys.mac)
  • Re: biking equivalent to running
    ... I did use the bike, it was for cross training i.e.extra training. ... never used the miles in any ratio in my mental log book. ... It's much more fun and safer to ride on back roads with an occasional ... with cars after riding a couple of hours. ...
    (rec.running)
  • Riding in a bicycle timetrial
    ... I've been riding since last summer, and have spent a lot of time since ... Thought I'd share my experiences during an experimental ride ... The ride was 10 miles along a single carriageway road, quite wide, ... behaving quite carefully and passing at distance - many of the cars ...
    (rec.sport.unicycling)
  • Re: "Jazz-Rock" by Stuart Nicholson- Juicy tidbits...
    ... the bands that were left out of the book proper (like the English band ... Macero claimed that in the entire amount of time he worked with Miles, ... tenor player Azar Lawrence audition for him at a Carnegie Hall ... Many other trends in jazz-rock are gone into, and guitarists such as ...
    (rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz)
Loading