All things back-country camping! Gear discussions, destination talks and everything else within that realm
Great topic! Im on the west coast and not doing much camping this summer due to the heat, so I guess I'm not much help. I will be lurking though.
I did backpack / camp across Catalina island this spring and I enjoyed it. More amenities than I'm used to on a backpack for sure
Now I'm imagining backpacking by golf cart, haha!
Acadia is a great option for you!
I love Acadia! I went last year and it broke into my top national parks list. Beautiful park, wonderful camping experience. Only bad part is how out of the way it is (which is also a good part)
If you're into hiking, there are so many great places to hike there. We did the Gorham Mt Loop, the Beehive Loop, and a Mt. Cadillac sunrise hike, and all of them were incredible.
If you're into biking, there's the carriage roads on Mt. Desert Island, and if you're willing to go a bit out of your way (perhaps on the drive up or down the coast), Isle au Haut is a fantastic little island to rent a bike and ride around on (but bring bug spray!)
If you're interested in a more relaxed experience, there's puffin tours, the flat and calm Jordan Path Pond and neighboring Jordan Pond House, the Wild Gardens of Acadia, Sand Beach (water is cold though!), and Bar Harbor is also just wonderful to visit and walk around.
While you're up in that area of the world, be sure to visit the Bioluminescent Bay in Castine Harbor and do the kayak tour! I've been to the bio bays in Puerto Rico (which claim they're the "only ones in the world"), but they have nothing on what I saw in Maine. Truly magical experience.
I've been wanting to give Maine a try since I met a couple friends that would spend their summers there. I don't know why I think of it as so far away when I just basically drove that far to FL and back. But we'd have to set aside a good chunk of time because there is so much to see there. I didn't even know bioluminescent kayak tours were a thing, and now that's on the list!
Unfortunately I haven’t really had the opportunity to go camping this summer, though my partner’s birthday is in August and he likes to go then. We normally go to Dos Picos in CA, it’s a cute little campsite with some nearby trails and mountains (like Iron Mtn and Potato Chip Rock); it’s also pretty affordable.
August babies unite! Our next trip is planned for August too. I love little park campgrounds. They feel like they have more character.
I live in the Top End of Australia, and we got some pretty nice camping spots here. Unfortunately I don't go camping to much because when I go camping it's usually with a few other families which is great. The other reason is because we only go in the "winter" here which is just 18°C lol, the other half of the year is too damn hot to do anything.
Anyways we went camping at Daly River, we got a nice spot where we all set up and we had this nice little creek just to the side, there was also some nice crabbing spots a bit to the left. The current was a little strong though so it was basically a water treadmill haha, if you got sucked down you kinda just had to drag yourself back along the bottom with a couple of conveniently placed logs.
A short ride down from our camp-site the river opens wider surrounded by stone cliffs and this cool arch thing, you can go fishing there too, I caught a little fish. Although you can't really go swimming here because of the risk of crocodiles. Some people do, some people don't, depending on how brave/stupid you're feeling, personally I didn't because fuck that.. the water is murky, I don't know how deep it is, it looks crocodile paradise, oh yeah and don't forget that it's right next to a croc trap. I guess there were lots of people braver then me though because there was a rope swing on the other side of the bank from me.
Sorry for going on that little rant I just really love camping, I could probably keep writing about it until it's my own book but it probably doesnt matter haha. Also I have to wake up early in the morning :(
I hope to get up your way the next time we do a trip to Australia. Darwin and Perth are two major areas that we haven't explored yet. I would not be one of the ones to brave swimming, and I've done some pretty risky dumb shit. I loved camping in Tassie though (Cradle Mtn). Fewer crocs up on the mountain but the Park's bus drivers are hella cranky! 😂
Yeah I'd say it's definitely worthit to check out all the places around here! Make sure you book the places a few months beforehand though. I would definitely recommend going to Jim Jim falls
Summer is tough because of bugs (northern MN), but I went to a backpacking site at Itasca State Park in late May and the weather/site was beautiful. Unfortunately the ticks were already out though.
I ventured out to Hayes Lake last weekend, and it rained on me. Skeeters tore me apart after.
I highly recommend the portable Thermacell devices. As long as the wind is minimal, they work well..
I live across the street from protected wetlands, so I totally get the bug nuisance! We can't turn the porch light on, and frogs hang out on our windows aka the bug buffet, lol.
At least it's nice for the froggy boys. I may try another summer trip, but I'm definitely bringing two portable Thermacells minimum.
ya it can be tough out there
i was in Paul Bunyan state forest last summer and thought i was going to be carried off the air was so thick with em
I last stayed at James Island County Park in 2006, and it was great then! I keep meaning to get back to Charleston but haven't made it.
We live in the DC area. So far this year we've been to:
The Raleigh site is a fairgrounds that's right across from the stadium where the game was held.
Edit to correct a typo.
You won't be very far from Fossil Butte National Monument. We stopped there and at a fossil quarry 2 years ago on our way up to Yellowstone. I had the best time splitting rocks looking for fossils! We came back with some nice specimens.
We used to be in the DC area as well (the back side of IAD) but escaped and moved closer to family. I miss things like Clydes and the 930 Club but now we're so much less stressed, I don't know how we stood it for as long as we did.
Working from home (or at the moment, the trailer) helps a lot! DC has some bad things but it also has a lot of great things. It's also reasonably close to family on both sides.
We're out near Annapolis, in a very quiet neighborhood where we're friends with our neighbors. Love it!
We purchased a 13ft Scamp during the winter and have got out a few times so far this year. Been all over Oregon, USA. Cove Palisades (desert side of Oregon), and Seaside(Coast) have been favorites so far.
I just LOVE it when I see a Scamp in the campground. Soo cute!!
We haven't had the opportunity to camp in Oregon yet, but it's on my list. We drove the seaside a few years ago and I was smitten.
Just came back from a 4 day trip today, near Mont Tremblant in Quebec. Was a lot of fun and the first time that I really camped for the sake of camping (usually would go hiking and then camp for the night). Weather was perfect, location and trails were beautiful too.
Not being from the area, only problem was the bugs - I’m pretty sure I saw more in the past 4 days than I had in my lifetime
There's that point in one's life where you go from thinking "I'd never wear a bug net, they look so derpy" to "gimme that thing, I can't take the bugs in my eyes any longer!" For me it was the midges on Isle of Skye that did it. And I've lived in the Keys, currently live in a swamp, and visited the red centre of Australia and Alaska during summer. Unashamed bug net believer right here.
Haha yeah! I was stupid enough to not pack one but my friend let me use his.
We also brought bug spray, but ran out on the last day, that was kind of hellish.
I haven't done as much camping yet this year as I'd have liked, but I did an amazing camping trip in Banff where we managed to snag a spot in Two-Jack Lakeside, a gorgeous little campground right in the forest on the side of a beautiful and calm lake.
At the time, all of Alberta other than Banff was blanketed in smoke and under a fireban, but Banff was exempt from the fireban so we even got to have campfires and such which was really nice.
That sounds really lovely! Some of the smoke made its way here. Not as bad as NYC or even DC, but enough that I felt it. You were really lucky to have a little oasis!
We did two nights at Cosby Campground, Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Cosby, Tennessee. Two hammock campers and a tent camper. It was nice enough. A wild turkey visited us for breakfast, we saw a deer on the trail while hiking the area, and the fireflies were a nice bonus after sundown.
Generally I'd prefer dispersed camping / backpacking over staying at a campground, but the convenience of car camping was nice.