jamawani 

It really, really is tough cycling back east.
Not only is there oodles of traffic -
but it is darn difficult to find any camping.
And when you do it is small and ridiculously expensive.

For ex.
Near Delaware Gap -
https://www.delawarerivercampground.com/tent-campsites/
Driftstone Campground Rates | Camping Rates on the Delaware River

Granted, Spruce Run S.P. is only $25 for out-of-staters.
But state and federal campsites are few and far between.

<<<>>>

"Oh, give me a home where the bufalo roam."
Make that -
"Oh, give me a camp site where the buffalo hitch-hike."

jamawani 

The GAP - C&O and the Erie Canal Trail have free hiker-biker sites.
Getting off these two popular bike routes makes camping a challenge.
And expensive.

bktourer1

I camped on the Champlain Canal sites for free. Water/toilets/grills and tables. Lock 5 & 9 on the Champlain Canal were great. Right on the trail

veganbikes

It does seem like a little steep but it does depend on what you get and where it is. Some spaces are really nice and well maintained and some are quite primitive. I might not pay that much for just a small camping space with my bike but for a car or rv type hook up sure that seems not so bad, maybe?

staehpj1

Yeah, That is one reason most of my touring has been in the west. I don't like to spend more than that for a room.

cyccommute 

Check Allstays. There are a bunch of campgrounds on both sides of the Delaware. Some are even state or federal campgrounds. It’s been a while since I rode through there but finding campgrounds wasn’t that difficult.

indyfabz

Worthington State Forest is on the NJ side of the river, not that far away from Driftstone. $25 for out-of-staters. Very nice. Just have to be mindful of bears. There is also a place a bit above Portland, PA, that has inexpensive ($15) tent camping. It even has a pool. The tent area is away from the RV areas and completely wooded. That whole area has a limited season. It can get below freezing at night up there as early as early October. The rates reflect the relatively short season and the fact that it is a popular vacation area. I have a great option up that way. Some friends of mine have a place on the river just up the road from Driftstone.

I rode across PA again back in September. Stayed for free (in a lean-to) at a municipal, riverside campground.the first night. Paid something like $25 at a private campground for a site with water and electricity the second night. Spent three nights total at two state parks for around $20/night. Another private campground was $25 for a site with water and electricity. The biggest camping expense was for a site at a county park in Jim Thorpe, PA. $45 if you are not a county resident. IIRC, it's $25 if you are a county resident. I spent the final night near the river in Upper Black Eddy, PA, just off ACA's Atlantic Coast route. The owner of the place is very bike-friendly. $10/night. I have stayed there numerous times. He doesn't even make me register. I just drop my gear, search him out and hand him the cash.

And not everywhere in the east has oodles of traffic.

With all that said, yes, there are some crazy expensive sites. Last year, when I was planning my tour home from northern Vermont, I looked at the KOA in Goddefroy, NY. I had stayed there before (2018), so I knew it was on the high side. (Think I paid in the 40s for a riverfront site.) When I priced it last year, they wanted $97. Hard pass. Went off route a bit and paid around $45 for a super cool riverfront site with water and electricity. I was the only person down by the river on a weekday. Very pretty and peaceful.

indyfabz

See my post above. Those two places are right along a popular river area, have relatively limited seasons, and are not that far away from Worthington State Forest, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Pocono Mountains. You don't go to Disney World and gasp when you see the price of admission.

Not all camping in the east is that expensive. I have toured enough in the east/northeast to know that.

veganbikes

True I don't well I do but I have still gone. Now if these camping spots had a mouse in costume that visited your campsite and space mountain...they got themselves a deal...LOLOLOLOLOLOL

indyfabz

During my 2020 trip across PA I:

1. Camped for free in Connellsville, PA, along the GAP.
2. Paid maybe $20 to camp at Husky Haven in Rockwood, also on the GAP.
3. Got a motel for less than $100 in Cumberland, MD, at the end of the GAP. (I could have camped at the YMCA for much less.)
4. Paid between $20 and $25 at a private campground near Everett, PA. Had the entire place to myself, and there were power outlets to charge the phone and Kindle.
5. Paid around $20 for a site at Cowans Gap State Park.
6. Paid about the same for a site at Caledonia State Park.
7. Paid no more than $30 for a site at a nice, private campground a bit south of York, PA that is accessible directly from a bike trail leading from the center of town.
8. Got a sub-$80 motel room in New Holland, PA. (Long final day the next morning, so I wanted to be able to hit the road quickly.

And not everything out west is cheap. Not a resident and want to stay at a Montana state park? As of 2019, that would cost you $28 ($18 for residents) unless you stayed at one of the 5 that have special hiker/biker sites. ($12 for non-residents.) Want to make a reservation at that park to guarantee a space? Add another $10. (Reservation fee in NJ and PA is only $5.) Want a shower? Cough up another $3. (Free in PA and NJ.) Damage came to $41 for a night at Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park.

Pratt

Last summer I stayed at a campground in Quebec. I forget what the fee was, but the showers were coin operated and you had to pay if you wanted WiFi at your site.

Tourist in MSN

I paid 50 percent more than that for a campsite in Florida Keys in Feb 2017, with tax a few pennies short of a three digit cost, the few tent sites were already gone so we had to pay for a RV site. But it was so small that there is no way an RV would have fit. Half of the site was used for the dumpster and picnic table

staehpj1

That is true, but on the coast there are lots of nice cheap hiker biker sites. Elsewhere near the coast sites can be a bit pricey in places. Once away from the coast a bit things mostlty aren't bad. In the west and middle of the country more often than not I camped for free with no need for stealth so campsite prices weren't something I paid a lot of attention to in much of the country. I did stay in campsites here and there and paid what I thought was expensive rates at times, but in general I think they were cheaper than in the east.

ClydeClydeson

A few years ago while touring with friends in Eastern Canada we found a campsite that wanted us to pay $35 PER TENT on a small tent site, which would have been $105 for a night on a small patch of grass with no services. We lied and said we were all sleeping in the same tent, then arranged our tents so my larger tent was partially obscuring my friends', should anyone from the campground office come a-snooping.

After that trip, we have been primarily travelling in rural Eastern Canada where unguarded forest is too easy to find to bother paying for a campsite.

ClydeClydeson

Was this just on the Western side of Quebec City?

Pratt

Clyde-
Les Cedres, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Montreal.

indyfabz

It’s often market-driven when it comes to private campgrounds.

A tent site at the St. Mary KOA near the east entrance to Glacier National Park will cost you $60 next June 15th. That’s for a site with no water or electricity.

jamawani 

It may also be that they just want to keep the riff-raff in tents out.
Without actually have a "No Tents" rule - which lots of private campgrounds now have.
When you drop $350,000 for an RV, you don't want some people in an old Honda with a tent next to you.

I am of a certain vintage where I remember when 90% of the folks camping were tenting.
The people with trailers - and they were called trailers then - had small, sometimes homemade, units.
Now, quite a few state parks have all pull-thru sites with electricity, water & sewer. Sometimes even cable.
And, despite the quiet hours, the generators or at least the ACs run all night.
Not quite sure why they still use the term "camping".

Yes, there are a few public camp sites in the Delaware Water Gap area with moderate rates.
But in places like northern Ohio & Indiana, nearly all of the camping is private, pricey, and packed-in.
The few natural lakes in the lower Midwest have every inch of lakefront lined with summer cottages.
Maybe we should just sell lots on the edge of the Grand Canyon to pay off the national debt, eh?

Tourist in MSN

When I rode the Pacific Coast and stayed at the hiker biker sites at some of the state parks, I politely made a suggestion for improvement at one of the California state parks to one of the employees. She in a hostile voice said - you people in the hiker biker sites are low revenue, you are lucky we let you stay here. That was eight years ago, maybe their attitude has changed since, but I suspect not.

That California state park employee with a bad attitude was an isolated case, but we did feel like the California parks would rather just have higher revenue RVs. We thought that the Oregon state parks were staffed with employees with a much better attitude.

Where practical, I prefer to stay at state or provincial parks. But there are some surprises with private campgrounds and in a few places I found them to be preferable.

saddlesores

oh, the humanity!

Thulsadoom

I wouldn't want to stay somewhere where they charge $63 for a tent site any more than I'd want to roll up to a Four Seasons in my truck. Pretty sure they wouldn't want me there. There's tons of free and reasonably priced camping in the "east".

Congested traffic is certainly not confined to the eastern part of the country. Pick your routes.

Pratt

Many of the "campers" were in RVs that had long since lost the V part of their designation. They were semipermanent, often with landscaping on the site.

bktourer1

Could try to join Warmshowers. Some hosts provide camping and other amenities
on their properties. As a host myself I allow camping and showers and kitchen use

jamawani 

Already a member - have hosted dozens of folks.

Yan 

I tried to get a campsite last month in NY state and it was the same thing. Absolutely insane. I ended up just camping in some random bushes instead.