Stealth Camping Advice

[Monte Masterson]

Now that I'm living in the East, there's not the millions of acres of National Forest and BLM land to camp in like there was in the West. Often times I may find myself having to camp on State/County Park or private properties. Like on the Florida Trail for example where there are long stretches that follow along roadways. I have a camo tarp and earth tone clothes to wear and I realize the importance of staying quiet and gaining as much cover as possible. I guess dogs are one of my biggest concerns. I can fool a human, but dogs are another story. My ex Green Beret buddy said that his biggest problem with staying undetected in Nam was the darn dogs. I saw on YouTube where some guy says to use a dim red light after dark, and of course no cooking at night. It goes without saying no fires at any time. Alcohol, Esbit or canister in daylight hours. Any other advice on how to avoid being noticed?

[Tipi Walter]

First off, I agree with your definition of stealth camping as being so-called "illegal" camping—off the Interstate in the treeline on a long hitchhiking trip, behind a rural town church, in a town cemetery; some guy once told me he camped in a dugout on a baseball field, etc etc. Many people here will probably post something like: Such stealth camping is Not Allowed and therefore Should Not Be Discussed!! Amen, pass the oatmeal and peanuts. I won't say anything to encourage such activity in this day and age of snitches and tent police and "anti-gypsy" types. Let the discussion therefore begin.

[Monte Masterson]

I certainly don't want to camp illegally, but sometimes there's just no way around it. I think as long as someone practices good LNT principles, no damage is done. What people don't know won't hurt them. I've noticed on YouTube that it seems to be the Bikepackers who are the masters of stealth. Of course like most YouTube videos, the majority are so boring and incoherent you can't sit through them. Hobos of the past were also masters of stealth. It's become a lost art, but who knows, if things get any worse a lot more people may find themselves stealth camping.

[Billy Ray]

"I certainly don't want to camp illegally, but sometimes there's just no way around it." Sure there is… don't camp where it is illegal. Very simple, actually. Just obey the law. If that means not doing the trip, then don't do it. What you are doing is putting your own selfish desires above the law. " I think as long as someone practices good LNT principles, no damage is done. What people don't know won't hurt them." Your arrogance is thinking you can do what you want, regardless of the law or private property or what other people/society wants. This kind of thinking can get you in prison eventually. We are a society of laws. Obey them. billy

[Adam Kilpatrick]

I've stealth camped in a lot of places now, mostly cycle touring. I think I'm up to about 20 countries, four continents. Probably the biggest thing you haven't mentioned, is timing. Camp right on or after dark, wake up, pack up and leave just before or as the sun rises. At the least, don't pitch your tarp until you are about to sleep (ie cook on the edge of the trail, or sit there and no one will bat an eyelid), and pull it down first-if you are eating breakfast on the edge of the trail people will think you are just an early riser. Really, stealth camping in wilderness areas is a piece of cake. Trying to stealth camp when travelling along a country's main road or something is a particular challenge. Or when people are actively hunting you. Dogs; think about the wind. Don't cook in camp. Move at least 100m off the trail. Otherwise don't stress. If its someone walking their dog, and the dog notices you, chances are the owner won't care (or notice you), just keep moving.

[W I S N E R !]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOa4fvUlhiE

[Monte Masterson]

Wow Billy, I feel like I just got admonished by a judge. Dang Adam, you've been around some.

[Ken Thompson]

Don't forget to not tell people…

[Adam Kilpatrick]

^This. I would recommend waiting until people aren't there watching you, before you head into your stealth campsite. (Again, this is infinitely easier in a wilderness area, and when backpacking as you can just walk straight off and into the vegetation…).

[Tipi Walter]

Billy Ray rears the ugly head of what I call Gypsy Hysteria—No Unauthorized Sleeping!!! Sleeping is a crime. It reminds me of some cities trying to pass anti-camping ordinances against the homeless. The Dep of Justice calls such ordinances and citations for such behavior "cruel and unusual punishment". "Criminally prosecuting those individuals for something as innocent as sleeping when they have no safe, legal place to go, violates their constitutional rights." DOJ. Cities are treating their homeless populations much like their forefathers treated the Indians—Removal from the land, no tipi or wigwam or tent living wanted or allowed, gather them all up and put them off somewhere, preferably on the most barren pieces of property in the state, and use the court system to enforce no-camping ordinances. Meanwhile we as backpackers try to stay legal in recognized and designated public-land adventures to our wilderness areas and national forests. I like to be legal but it's our public land anyway so let's enjoy it. And like others I have spent countless years and countless nights stealth camping wherever I found a treeline or a rhododendron thicket in what's left of America the Beautiful. When the beautiful is gone then we'll all be illegal.

[Richard Lyon]

Billy's post is spot-on. It isn't lecturing, it's just a reminder that the law is the law, which apples to all of us. And that those who believe that because they leave no trace (or think they don't) they are exempt from the law is arrogance pure and simple. Tipi's comparison of trespassing (stealth camping, in BPL-speak) on the trail to prosecuting the homeless from sleeping under bridges or on park benches insults the homeless. The homeless have no alternative. Nearly every backpacker could camp in designated sites or otherwise comply with the law. Those who don't do so in almost every case because they're just too special to follow the rules.

[Cayenne Redmonk]

I was not born with a horse. I was not born with a bike. I was not born with a bus pass. I was not born with a car. I was born with legs. I have the right to walk, and if my destination is days away, I have the right to walk to my destination anyway. Walking is a defining human characteristic. hammocks are stealthy in these hills, ymmv.

[Ken Thompson]

Jury nullification. Trespassing implies the desire to do damage. Or theft.

[HkNewman]

Red light is just used to preserve night vision- the source and beam can still be seem depending on brightness and intensity. Can try to body block it in an UL situation (I imagine most shelter fabrics are translucent).

[Monte Masterson]

I wonder if Skurka or any of the other thousands of cross country trekkers have ever bedded down in a place that might not be designated for camping. How about all the bike touring people? To say that someone always has the option to stay in a designated "legal" area is just not realistic. And I would argue that it's not a matter of arrogance or felling special, but rather one of necessity. But on a site with thousands of people your bound to get some who aren't cool. They're what Elvis called "frustrated old types".

[Roger Caffin]

We have camped in some 'interesting' places too. But the funny thing is, most times we have been able to just ask someone for permission – and get it. Those 'No Camping' signs seem to be aimed generally at car campers and caravans, and I can understand that. One time in the UK (Wales) we were looking for somewhere to camp where there were 'difficulties', and saw a farmer. Oh well, one can but ask. He looked at the two of us, pointed to a corner behind some hedges, and said 'it's flat there, and there is an outside tap at the back of my farmhouse'. Ask politely, and see what happens. Cheers

[Ethan A.]

#ERROR!

[Tipi Walter]

Asking the pertinent person if you can stealth camp is like asking a cop if it's okay to hitchhike or okay to carry a bag of medicinal marijuana—You probably will not get the answer you are seeking. Let's say a guy is hitchhiking or bicycling across country and he needs to sleep in a treeline off the highway—how does he locate the landowner for permission? Does he goes to the county courthouse first and thumb thru the property plats? And wouldn't finding and asking so piss off the owner enough to get a big fat NO! What if a guy finds a church and a place in the backyard to sleep, should he call the Pastor and set up something, and do this every time probably at sunset or late in the evening? Suppose someone finds a nice quiet cemetery for a stealth camp. Who should he call? Does a homeless guy who sleeps under a highway overpass need to phone up the Dep of Transportation honcho for the County or State and ask permission? The reason it's called Stealth is because nobody knows. It's just you on a couple square feet of God's green earth.

[Richard Lyon]

#ERROR!

[Ken Thompson]

In a huge country there are many many places where you could find yourself needing to bed down with no idea who's property it is and no way to contact anyone about it. No cell reception and no structures in sight. And all that public land. I like picnic tables in day use only areas of parks myself. Seasonally closed campgrounds are good too. Get up at 5 and get going. Every situation is different. There is no single correct answer. Use your head, be courteous. Lay down at dark, be gone by dawn.

[Tipi Walter]

Richard Lyon says: "+1 Roger – Ask politely and see what happens. Respect the owner's reply – which in my experience has usually been "Sure, go ahead. Just be sure you clean things up." Must've not read any of my post.

[Monte Masterson]

I own a Hexamid tent and I love it, but even the olive cuben is way too visible for stealth camping. Instead I believe I'm going to use a camo 6.5' X 8.5' Brooks Range Mini Guide Tarp along with an MLD Bug Bivy. I have some MYOG net tents that would provide more space, but I think the quick set up of the Bug Bivy will be better in situations where I need to hastily make camp at twilight. Of course on clear nights the bivy can also work well on its own. I've never seen any of the ZPacks cuben fiber camo in person, but it doesn't look like it would blend in too well. Anybody who's seen it have an opinion on how stealthy it would be in a woodland environment?

[Cayenne Redmonk]

If permission was easy, the saying would be just ask permission, forgiveness is a bitch. But that is not the saying. Have your story, be prepared to plead ignorance, beg forgiveness, and leave.

[monkey]

Bivy rules at stealth camping. Place it behind a log, a rock, in heather etc and even a dog will have difficulty spotting you (providing you don't smell too much ;)

[Billy Ray]

Let call it what it is… 'stealth' camping is illegal camping… the word 'stealth' is just a euphemism that sorta makes illegal sound okay…. at minimum inconsiderate or rude… at maximum criminal. Get over you selfish inconsiderate selves and 'just say no' to the temptation. For those of you who want to stay off private property: With the Backcountry Navigator (BCN) topographic app you can buy boundary overlays for each state… 10.00 per state. you don't even need maps to turn on the boundary overlays. Turn on your phone gps function, fire up BCN and the boundary overlay and you can see if you are on private land, state land, forest service land, BLM land, or national park land. Billy

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