Touring - Stealth Camping

Is that an order?

Seriously, how can I have a great time in a country where I'm not welcome? If private property is not marked, how do I know it is private property? If someone doesn't want me to camp for the night how do I know who owns the land so I can ask for permission? It sounds too much like a Catch 22: Never stealth camp on private property. There only is private property.

Crazygreen, the US has a lot of nice places to bike and camp - I've done most of my touring here - but it pales in comparison to all the other countries I've been to in regards to backpacking/camping in the manner we are talking about here.

You won't be missing much if you skip out on the US - if you do decide to stealth camp in America, try doing it at national and state parks rather than on people's property. Americans just tend to be more possessive about their stuff than others in the world are. Large state forests are generally nicer to be in anyway.

Better yet: Go tour Thailand sometime - I just got back from cycling through the entire country, and it was magificent - best touring I've ever done. You will be absolutely bombarded with kindness and smiles and people willing to accommodate you without your having to ask. Anyone saying Americans are super friendly, well...I'll take issue with that in general. The Thais contrast with the "mine mine mine" nature of the US is truly amusing, and is just one reason I'm moving there this year.

what if you were in the woods, and came about someone stealth camping. would it then qualify as stealth camping?

what if you were in the woods, and came about someone stealth camping. would it then qualify as stealth camping?

No

Didn't someone, some where at some time define stealth camping?
Something about camping away from civilization. no fences, no signs.

I've gypsy camped before and also wild camped. This stealth camping should be called Ninja camping if you can't be seen.

i stealth camped last night in missouri. this place has to be one of the best southern/midwest states to camp in. theres so many rolling hills and trees to blind people from you. its great but the small towns are erie and freak me out.

The RVers are usually good for a cup of coffee, and sometimes breakfast if you chat it up the right way. I almost always enjoy a campground.

Would there be havoc? If everybody stealth camped, would anybody even know?


This is probably just an indication of my geekiness, but this is a wonderful application of Kant's Categorical Imperative (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_imperative).

The RVers are usually good for a cup of coffee, and sometimes breakfast if you chat it up the right way. I almost always enjoy a campground.

I'd take the coffee, but I find that RVers tend to be a noisy, wastefull lot. Firing up the generator for the AC or to keep the steaks cold in the freezer.

That's not my scene. I go into the woods for peace and tranquility, not to listen to Hank Williams (or who ever the current R+B fave is) and quoff bloody Coor's Lite.

Then again, to each their own. I find nothing wrong with RVs, their owners or Coor's Lite.

Having just gotten back from a tour, I spent 4 nights in state park campgrounds and two nights in privately owned campgrounds. Not one RV kept me up with music or generators. In the one with the most RV'ers, the sound of the river next to our tent was louder than anything else there. They also had the nicest bathrooms for that matter, and that counts in my book. Bears s--- in the woods, not me. And of all the bad things that happened from camground riff-raff, some evil New Yorkers offered us firewood before we even started setting up our tent. Scumbags. Worse, they offered to take us to the nearest store, which was out of the way, so we could pick up some fresh food. Those jerks! Worse yet, they bothered us with their stories about the area. Such boorish pigs! Like I want to learn something about an area I'm traveling through. I remember in the other private campground, so punks asked us where we were going before they said "cool" and wished us good luck. In fairness, I've been to rowdy campgrounds too, but still, I went 6 for 6 on this tour and the worst complaint I could come up with is one of the campgrounds had cheap toilet paper.

Edit: PS, why bump up an argumentative thread that was finally dormant for 9 days?

RV campgrounds are a lot quieter than tent campgrounds. RVers seem to want the quiet small town atmosphere, tenters want a campfire, beer, and yackity yack. I'd prefer to camp in the bush any day.

As a cyclist, if I didn't have pretty good vibrational alignment with motorized vehicles I'd be having a pretty miserable time of it.

Stokel the new avitar is pretty nice, though it wasn't necesarry to go with a picture of me. Still I appreciate it.

Perhaps I've been unlucky. I have only camped in one campground in the past few years and I found my experience hadn't changed from the last time. In the spring I tried to check into a conservation area with a campground and was refused. It seems they had no trees in the campground and I need a couple for my hammock. I told the woman that I could tie up anywhere where there were trees, but she said I could only camp in the campground. I biked another hour or so looking for a campsite. Finally, after searching for a while, I found a great stealth site in a boreal forest. It was a great nights sleep.

I feel freedom when I just ride my bike and my tent is with me, without any worry about where I will spend the next night. We are so often restricted in our routine urban life by various stressful duties that we need sometimes just to cast all of them with all this “comfort life” away, for a while. I think the wild camping is the best way to do it.

Inspirational

what if you were in the woods, and came about someone stealth camping. would it then qualify as stealth camping?

Absolutely ! Sometimes you can't help getting found. Odds are, if you stealth camp enough times somone is bound to stumble upon you. Out of the dozens of times I've stealth camped, I've been found (undisturbed) twice. On one occasion the land owners dog found in the early morning. His master was taking him for a walk !! Fortunately for me the gent was quite friendly, even offering me breaky back at the cottage ! Good thing it was a yellow lab..not a pitbull !!