Bandit Camping in the Catskills?

I'm headed to the Catskills to complete the Northeast 116 this weekend and will be arriving too late to check in at one of the campgrounds (i.e. Woodland Valley or Devil's Tombstone). Are there any good spots for discreet camping, either in a tent or in the back of one's car? Feel free to PM. Thanks!

TEO said:

I'm headed to the Catskills to complete the Northeast 116 this weekend and will be arriving too late to check in at one of the campgrounds (i.e. Woodland Valley or Devil's Tombstone). Are there any good spots for discreet camping, either in a tent or in the back of one's car? Feel free to PM. Thanks!

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Did I miss one?

I assume the goals are Slide and Hunter?

For Hunter, the Becker Hollow trail on Rt. 214 starts out very level, (but quickly becomes steep), so I imagine you could find a place to camp there.

Overnight parking is allowed at most trail heads, but I'm not sure what a ranger/cop would say if they saw you car camping.

teo, I sent you a PM, when are you coming to my neck of the woods?

Jay

Tom Rankin said:

Did I miss one?

I assume the goals are Slide and Hunter?

For Hunter, the Becker Hollow trail on Rt. 214 starts out very level, (but quickly becomes steep), so I imagine you could find a place to camp there.

Overnight parking is allowed at most trail heads, but I'm not sure what a ranger/cop would say if they saw you car camping.

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Probably.

Thanks! Isn't it worth going over Cornell & Wittenberg? Is the West approach a nicer hike?

TEO said:

Probably.

Thanks! Isn't it worth going over Cornell & Wittenberg? Is the West approach a nicer hike?

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Yes, absolutely, in fact, it's probably much nicer than Slide itself, IMO.

But since Slide is your goal, your best bet is to start at Slide and go east and go back the way you came, at least without a car spot which would be the most ideal. You could do the big loop in a day, it's about 16-17 miles but would probably preclude you getting hunter in the same day. If you have a weekend though, by all means, do the loop, it is very nice.

Jay

TEO said:

Probably.
Thanks! Isn't it worth going over Cornell & Wittenberg? Is the West approach a nicer hike?

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Actually, probably not, but let's not quibble!

Ah, now I see why you are mentioning Woodland Valley. But, it's worth doing ALL 35, IMHO! I've heard it can be done over a long weekend!

I've only been going to the Catskills for a little over a year , so I'm certainly a newbie there, but how would the trailhead at the end of Spruceton Rd. be for doing Hunter ? It's a pretty quite place to stay with the car , but you could easily walk in a ways and pitch a tent . It's just a woods road for at least the first mile to the falls .

Dave

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. You've been very helpful (I think ).

lattinhill said:

I've only been going to the Catskills for a little over a year , so I'm certainly a newbie there, but how would the trailhead at the end of Spruceton Rd. be for doing Hunter ? It's a pretty quite place to stay with the car , but you could easily walk in a ways and pitch a tent . It's just a woods road for at least the first mile to the falls .

Dave

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However, the west kill parallels the road all the way to diamond Notch falls so you would have to walk 150ft from the other side of the road, which not sure if there would be flat spot. You should be able to find a flat spot if you cross the West kill (hopefully it's not running high) because there is an old bridge that used to cross and probably a homestead over there. I just don't know if that is private property (i guess once you walk away from Spruceton road, it has to be public but don't quote me on that).

There's an obvious flat spot right at Diamond Notch falls as well as a horse fence and a wide flat section but not sure if there are legal spots and what does the TC consider a trail...

Jay

Hi TEO,

I've slept in my vehicle at many different trailheads without a problem. I'm not sure if this is legal or not, but I've done it before, and I'll do it again!

Technically, camping at a trailhead is illegal. It falls under the same 150 foot rule that governs camping in general. You definitely are not 150 feet from the nearest road.

That being said, I've never heard of anyone who got ticketed for sleeping in their car at a trailhead.

There is also a designated campsite right on the Neversink River at the Biscuit Brook Trailhead, which is several miles west of the trailhead for the Slide Mountain and the Burroughs Range. Park in the parking area, and walk into the woods on the South side of the road (not the north side where the trailhead is) and you'll find it.

DSettahr said:

Technically, camping at a trailhead is illegal. It falls under the same 150 foot rule that governs camping in general. You definitely are not 150 feet from the nearest road.

That being said, I've never heard of anyone who got ticketed for sleeping in their car at a trailhead.

There is also a designated campsite right on the Neversink River at the Biscuit Brook Trailhead, which is several miles west of the trailhead for the Slide Mountain and the Burroughs Range. Park in the parking area, and walk into the woods on the South side of the road (not the north side where the trailhead is) and you'll find it.

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I've been there, but don't recall ever seeing a designated campsite disc, there are about 3-4 obvious campsites with one very large site at the end...

Jay

I just went through my photos and there's actually 2 designated sites there it seems.

Cool, I wonder if those discs are new. The first time I ran into them was when MCorsar and I were bushwacking from West Wildcat to Bisquit Brook and going over to do Hemlock and Spruce. We crossed the neversink there and ran right into those campsites before the parking lot.

I've since camped there and don't recall seeing any discs. Obvious herdpath from the parking lot to them though.

Jay

DSettahr said:

I just went through my photos and there's actually 2 designated sites there it seems.

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Cool. Good to know. Thanks!
It's good to have options!