Wild camping
 

Although I am specifically thinking of Southern Ontario, between Windsor and Cornwall, I would like to hear from anyone who has wild camped in any part of North America and their experiences. Have they had any troubles (woken up and asked to leave)? How have they solved them (approached a land owner and asked for permission to camp well away from the dwelling)?

My first choice is to camp at an official campground. 2nd choice is to camp where it is legal (such as some national forests) on public land. 3rd choice is to camp descretely on public land (such as some national forests). 4th choice (but not infrequent) is to camp out of the way and well hidden on private property where there is no gate, fence, equipment, structures, or signs. I've yet to be challenged but would promptly leave if asked of course.

In my (and I think most?) state it is not trespassing unless there is a sign or you are asked to leave and don't;)

I'm not familiar with Ontario, but I have toured a lot in British Columbia. I've never been hassled
while camping other than a couple of fellows trying to steal my bike. I usually find an out of
way spot where I'm hidden and there are no fences or 'no trespassing' signage. I have camped behind
big commercial entrance signs on boulevard lawns, making sure I was gone before their morning shift. I've
actually had some great conversations with night patrol people, even accepting coffee from them, while
camping there.

Kinda like a treasure hunt finding the right spot to free camp where you won't be disturbed. I've been in a cemetary, on a golf course, behind rural churches, under bridges, in and behind vacant buildings, at rest stops, and on private, state, BLM land. I've never been disturbed. Key is to find somewhere within an hour's pedal of a second breakfast.

I do prefer a state park, when convenient. Small town city parks sometimes work too.

:lol: Most of these are places that I wouldn't even try to camp in, getting disturbed in a cemetary might rattle me a bit! LOL

I'm new at this bike touring game and am trying to plan something for next summer and some of the distances between 2 points (such as provincial parks) seem a little awkward, such as 200km one day followed by 50km the following day, so I'm wondering if the occasional wild camping night might be possible to even out some of the distances between points.

That's what I do. I find peace of mind in knowing I can stop soon after I'm tired. There's lots of stealth camping tips discussed here. I prefer just Forest area if available.

Wild camping was what I did back in the 1970s.
And trust me - - it was wild.

Have spent dozens of nights in "unofficial" campsites. Have never had any human issues, goats on the other hand....

I never camp at the side of the road "outlaw" style in the USA any more. First, it's hard to find property not surrounded by barbed wire. If you do find that, chances are you will have to wade through poison ivy, sumac, nettles, ticks, chiggers, soggy ground, thorny vines, roadside ditches, and do without fresh water, toilets, and shower facilities. Good luck pitching a tent. You will stink like a wild animal after one or two days of this and probably look like $h*t too. Which then gets you noticed in town when you hit the grocery store or restaurant as some sort of vagrant.

OK...let's say you find the perfect spot at the side of the road. Every passing car is going to wake you up, every barking dog will get your attention, even farm dogs who are allowed to roam all night will sniff you out. Ants, bears, raccoons, and skunks will come-a-prospecting for your food supply keeping you awake half the night. If you get a rain storm, God only knows where the runoff is going to go. No...wait...it's going right through your tent for sure. Not using a tent? Hope you like mosquitoes buzzing around your ears all night.

Otherwise, go for it!

I camp in a hammock that zips up and keeps me bug free. I find plenty of property that is not fenced. Sure, you have to look around for a good spot. I just keep my eyes open as I ride down the road. I'm interested in the countryside anyway. I stock up on water before I camp so there's plenty for well into the next day. I "bathe" with baby wipes - works great. To avoid lots of traffic in the night get off of busy roads. That's where the most secluded places can be found anyway. I've thought about dogs sniffing me out in the night and barking up a storm. Somehow it just does not happen.

All in all, I do "go for it" and enjoy going back for more when convenient.

That said, camping "outlaw" style is not my first choice. It means I'll avoid using ANY light. It means I will not cook or even make coffee. No music, etc. And pretty much staying put at my little site. The impact of all that can be minimized by camping close to a good breakfast stop the next morning. But I don't like to stealth camp day after day. It's just a good option to have when distances between stops are otherwise too short or too long for my liking and/or abilities.

I find it not nearly as onerous as you seem to. All of your bad outcomes are very "achievable". But with only a few minutes of attention to detail and a little experience they can be avoided or minimized.

I like camping in plain sight for free when it is convenient, but use state or federal park/forest camp sites when available. If none of those are available I'll use stealth as a last resort.

I have camped many times in a lot of the same type of places Cyclebum mentions and have never been run off either. My first choice is the picnic areas in town parks in small rural towns. In those I sometimes talk to folks to get a feel for how likely I am to be run off, then I usually pitch camp early so if I would be run off I'd likely still have time to find a new spot.

FWIW, I have had my sleep interrupted more often by noisy campers in official campsites than any of the stuff you mention in this post. Passing cars don't bother me. The only barking dog that woke me up on tour was in a campground. Never had a farm dog "sniff me out". I have had bears, raccoons, and skunks in camp while on tour, but always in an official campground.

I've only camped a couple times so I'm no expert. This year I did a 3-nighter at 3 different locations. The first was Bayshore State Park near Green Bay WI. It was horrible! There were yahoos and kids partying until the early hours, I didn't want to go near the facilities because the whole place had a 'dumpy' tone to it and I didn't utilize the fire pit so as not to draw attention!. I payed my money, pitched my tent, slept for 2 hours, washed with wet wipes and bottled water, then took off as early as I could to find a breakfast joint.
I wondered why the heck I paid good money for that - I could've camped in one of a million fields and no one would have been any the wiser.

The following night was worth every cent. Clean shower, plenty of space around plots, clubhouse on site. Awesome experience.

I'd say there are pros and cons to stealth camping, and if it isn't entirely about trying to operate on the lowest practical budget, then mix it up. At least plan on getting a place with warm showers every other night.

Anyone do any dumpster diving..? .:)

I have random camped hundreds of nights, maybe topping 1000. I call it random camping - using a National Forest Service term - rather than stealth camping because I don't ever have to worry about being stealthy. Certainly it is cheaper than camping a park campgrounds and way cheaper than private campgrounds. Usually it is far more attractive. And it always is quieter.

Here is rules of thumb for legal random camping:

1. In general, you can camp on most federal lands (crown lands in Canada) with a few restrictions.
You usually cannot random camp in most national parks.
Wildlife refuges often prohibit camping of any sort.
You need to be a fixed distance from developed areas - often 1 km, 1/2 mile.

2. State and provincial lands vary considerably - often requiring a permit of fee.
(This is because state/provincial lands are required to produce income.)
State and provincial forests often do allow random camping - this is important in the east.
Another possibility is state/ provincial wildlife management areas. Some allow, some don't.

3. Fishing access areas in many states and provinces allow free camping and may have a portalet.
Some of these site in places like Maine, Montana, and Washington are truly stunning.

It takes a little homework and map skills - but it is almost always well worth it.

Photo below - Starvation Lake, Washington - just off the Northern Tier, but nobody knows about it.

You would have to be stealthy between Windsor and Cornwall. It's mostly cottages on the lake shore or farms, with a few parks and conservation areas in between. Campgrounds are expensive (40$+) and not that great. There's a nice campsite near Prescott, just east of the bridge to the USA. Cyclists pay 10-12$ plus a loonie or two for the shower.

I think the US National Forest Service refers to it as disbursed camping. It's now considered preferable to the old school concept of an established camp site that creates an eroded environment and an eyesore.

That's my first choice, when I can find it. I went on about 10 overnighters this summer that were in a Forest where dispersed is the rule. But on tour in my part of the country, I'll find that only occasionally. I know of a 10k acre Forest about 50 miles from home where that's legal. Beyond that I think you go a couple hundred miles before finding it again, assuming that Forest is on the desired route.

+1 on that.

Yes, it can.

Head up a gravel side road, look for a little grove of trees or bushes that are not fenced, camp there.

Me, I'm not looking to shower more than once or twice per week. Baby wipes the rest of the time. But then dumpster diving is something I've never done. I certainly would if destitute and hungry. But I'm particular about my diet and find it unlikely I'll often discover what I'm looking for. So I don't invest the time.

+2, and I have never stealthed camped. You can have some of the things he mentions (e.g., critters coming for you food) in established campgrounds PLUS unruly fellow campers. Another thing to keep in mind is that established campgrounds can be near major highways for easy access. When I crossed PA last year I spent a couple of nights at campgrounds near the PA turnpike. Ever try to sleep with jake braking semis rumbling by? I crossed PA last month via a different route. Again, I had road noise a couple fo nights, although not as bad at night as last year. And don't get me started on the people who fire up their noisy pickups to drive the .25 miles or less from their sites to the bathrooms. At least some fo them are now using golf carts.

I'd go a step further and say that you are much more likely to be bothered by critters in a campground than out. They get habituated to mooching/stealing food/garbage in campgrounds. Away from campgrounds they are less likely to find you and more likely to be afraid of humans if they do. Well established wild campsites do have the same problem as campgrounds though.

So true. I have seen plenty of rodent holes under camprgound picnic tables. Same in the backcountry. I did a 6-day backpack trip in Glacier N.P. In the backcountry, you have to camp at established sites, and you can only prep food and eat in specified areas within those sites. The ground squirrels dug openings in the food prep areas and would come out looking for food scraps.

The funniest situation was at one camp kitchen at the towne capsite in Waterton Village, A.B. There are several old buildings for cooking that come in handy because of the incredibly windy conditions. We walked into one and found that an enterprising ground squirrel had dug a tunnel to gain access. We had to stick a small piece of firewood in the hole to keep the place critter-free. Even the deer in town try to mooch food from people. The next morning, we watched in amazement as a deer harassed a woman for a good 5 minutes. She kept waving her arm to shoo the thing away. The deer thought she was throwing treats and would come closer every time she waved her arm. The craziest part was the woman had a barking dog on a leash. The deer could not have cared less.

That is surprising. I'm used to dears being more easily spooked than about anything. Although in my experience they're not too intimidated by dogs, and I've known of a few dogs that found out the hard way to leave them alone.