Sleeping at trailhead?

Anyone know if the local police / forest service (whoever has local jurisdiction) objects to hikers sleeping in their cars at a trailhead? I am planning an early start on a hike and hope to sack out in the car at the Appalacia trailhead. I'd rtather not discover at 2am that I need to move on. ANyone have any info on this? Thanks

Officially, no, you cannot sleep at the trailhead at Appalachia. The cops (it's state land) can and do kick people out from time to time if they catch you. People still do it, but you should be prepared for knock on the window in the middle of the night.

Choose an inconspicuous location not on private land. Don't post it here.

Ok, lets guess where Jason wants to catch some zzzzzzz's

Appalachia/Randolph/ Route 2? Talk to the folks at Lowe's, before you get there at oh dark thirty. .

Or another AT Trail head? How many of those are there in NH?

c'mon Jason, be a little more specific.

Breeze

Well, my original post references Appalacia, but my question was about trailheads in general.

Camping is illegal on state hwy or state park property, or on NF land within 1/4 mi of a trailhead, people I know have been chased

Camping is also illegal on private land without owner permission but police may not know you are not the owner and leave you alone

There are several legal primitive roadside campsites in the NF including Haystack Rd and Cherry Mtn Rd, some you need a parking pass

There appears to be a legal roadside camping spot on the far north end of Jefferson Notch Road on the right (if you are driving south from Meadow road) just after you have crossed the powerlines and gone past the winter gate. Its about a 10 minute drive to Appalachia. Groups tend to use it but it isnt posted one way or another. Alternatively there is a campsite about 1 mile in further at the old ranger station pull off and a gravel pit in on the left about 1/2 mile further.

RoySwkr said:

Camping is illegal on state hwy or state park property, or on NF land within 1/4 mi of a trailhead, people I know have been chased

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Yes, but now the question is.....being as he is in his car, can one still consider it camping?

Brian

NewHampshire said:

Yes, but now the question is.....being as he is in his car, can one still consider it camping?

Brian

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Exactly. What do you do if you arrange to meet friends in the early AM at a trailhead, you arrive earlier than they do, and take advantage of the situation to catch a few z's? You're fine if you're sitting in your car with your eyes open, but not with your eyes closed?

I solved this problem last year by learning to sleep standing up. Now I arrive at the TH late the night before a hike, put all my gear and my pack on and get out of the car and stand fully erect and sleep for 5 or 6 hours. Now I have varicose veins.


We had a pretty good thread on this subject on Adirondack Forum and someone posted the DEC regs and consulted with one of the head foresters. The conclusion was pretty clear that you can't sleep in your vehicle in the Dacks at the trailhead but rest areas along the Northway are a different jurisdiction and it's OK to sleep at them. Truckers do it all the time.

NewHampshire said:

Yes, but now the question is.....being as he is in his car, can one still consider it camping?

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Yes, the police and rangers do consider it camping.

David Metsky said:

Yes, the police and rangers do consider it camping.

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Ok, gotcha. I was curious since there was not a tent or such involved. But then again if it was not then someone could conceivably park their camper at a trailhead and say "hey I ain't camping", so I can see their point of view.

Brian

Neil said:

I solved this problem last year by learning to sleep standing up. Now I arrive at the TH late the night before a hike, put all my gear and my pack on and get out of the car and stand fully erect and sleep for 5 or 6 hours. Now I have varicose veins.

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Neil said:

Neil, recently I solved this problem too. You start hiking upstead of
sleeping and you sleep after the hike (from 4:00 am and 8:30 am)
and you return hiking after.....

I never had any problem at sleeping at many trailhead in my van.
If the police knock on your door, just answer Live free or die....

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Rejean said:

I never had any problem at sleeping at many trailhead in my van.
If the police knock on your door, just answer Live free or die....

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I know at least 2 cases of sleeping in vehicles where the people were told to move on, presumably you are ticketed if you don't

Hey, there are always Wallmarts to count on

What about the Wildcat lot? Stayed there overnight a couple times...


Its not fun being woken up with a bright-a** flashlight on your face. Maybe next time I'll try Neil's approach.

Who is to know if I park and then walk into the trees a little bit, out of sight and sleep in my hamock?

Little Rickie said:

Who is to know if I park and then walk into the trees a little bit, out of sight and sleep in my hamock?

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The rules say you have to be at least 1/4 mile from the trailhead and many roads. Additional restrictions apply in a number of places.

See http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/white_mountain/recreation/camping/backcountry_rules_2008-09.pdf

Doug

Whats worse or the bigger rule to break? Sleeping in a car or stepping off into the trees for a snooze?

Last weekend a couple came in late, 11:00pm, to a parking area in the Adirondacks High Peaks with two spaces left, parked in one and set up a tent in the other.

How bad are they?

Little Rickie said:

How bad are they?

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That's bordering jail time, right there.

Just do it, whatever it is and don't talk about it. If you are out of sight 50 feet from a road and don't tell anybody then nobody is going to know or care.

The worst thing you can possibly do is draw attention to the fact that its going on.