camping ? for nj / eastern pa folks

[nephthys43]

such an odd question for those of you who camp. i have always done my camping at actual campgrounds. mostly i do "comfort" camping, or what my bf calls "girly" camping. tent, air mattress, food in a cooler, camp stove, etc... he wants to go "real" camping. i know, i know...

middle of nowhere, no electricity (fine, no big), cooking over a fire (again, no big), no running water (lake or river nearby), fishing (our food supply ), and no pottys

anyhoo, where the heck in jersey or pa can you do this? most campsites i've found are just that. campsites. a road that runs along with clearings every so many feet. does what i'm looking for exist? i think this is the closest i've found to what he wants, but it's still a bunch of sites all grouped together. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/round.html

help!!!

 

[FredinFL]

You know there's bear in NJ right? Where no one can hear you scream is NOT where I wanna camp. I'd tell bf to make it a boys weekend.

 

[nephthys43]

i've camped where there's bears before. just gotta take some precautions and maybe a rifle or two

 

[Janet Hill]

http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/f...ahela National Forest - Dolly Sods Wilderness

well the above spot is in WV, but it is truly wilderness camping. In my youth I went hiking and camping here a couple of times.

We always opted for a small island that we found. We were always the only ones camping there. Definately not girly camping.

 

[java]

Hey that's close to us. It's not crazy rural. - There are "bathrooms" as this is also a "beach" area- they have a tiny lake beach that is cramped with YMCA camp kids. We saw the campsites and they seem nice. as far as campsites go- it's not exactly in the middle of nowhere though. - I78 is close enough to hear I would bet. Oh and there are lots of Bear here. There is a Rita's Ice nearby lol so not exactly roughing it.

I am drawing a blank on the name of the place we visited in PA- it was near Bushkill Falls - about 5 miles down the road from there- it's a state park with hiking trails and camping available I believe- they had cabins. I am sure there were campsites.
It was beautiful hiking. And THAT was rural. I can't seem to find it though.

 

[nephthys43]

janet - that place looks lovely. we'd probably have to do more than just a weekend if we're gonna travel that far. but i'll definitely show him the site.

java - thanks for the info. i'll see if i can find anything around the bushkill falls area.

 

[ckay87]

Go on up to the Appalachian Trail and start hiking in. Find a spot and pitch a tent.

 

[Northstar]

such an odd question for those of you who camp. i have always done my camping at actual campgrounds. mostly i do "comfort" camping, or what my bf calls "girly" camping. tent, air mattress, food in a cooler, camp stove, etc... he wants to go "real" camping. i know, i know...

middle of nowhere, no electricity (fine, no big), cooking over a fire (again, no big), no running water (lake or river nearby), fishing (our food supply ), and no pottys

anyhoo, where the heck in jersey or pa can you do this? most campsites i've found are just that. campsites. a road that runs along with clearings every so many feet. does what i'm looking for exist? i think this is the closest i've found to what he wants, but it's still a bunch of sites all grouped together. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/round.html

help!!!

What you want is not campsites, but regulations about "dispersed camping" (camping along a trail where you just pitch your tent and bury your, umm, feces, preferably not where they'll contaminate a stream). Or trail shelters. Most of the big long trails in national forests and parks have trail shelters available first-come-first-served.

To find info, look up the name of the public lands you're interested in.. .the park or forest. Then look for either shelters, or dispersed camping info.

If you're camping on private land, you're supposed to get permission from the landowner to camp.

Good luck! I think my days of toting my camping gear on my back and sleeping with tree roots sticking into my back are over, but it's an experience I'm glad I had.

 

[LisaNJ25]

I know some of my girls scouts have been here http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/wharton.html and where out in the middle of nowhere.

I can help to much.. I prefer cabins theses days and when we tent camped we did it in PA on the Delaware River.

Stokes Forest is nice also. I did camp there years ago
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/stokes.html

Maybe they have camp sites or lean to's out of the way

 

[nephthys43]

Go on up to the Appalachian Trail and start hiking in. Find a spot and pitch a tent.

not allowed . you get ticketed if you get caught. already checked into that.

 

[vikkil70]

Several years ago we hiked through Worthington State Forest and saw quite a few camping areas along the trails. I know the Appalachian Trail runs through there, along with several other trails. You can get there right from Interstate 80 a mile or so before the PA State line. Not sure if they still have those there but it might be something to check out.

 

[njmom47]

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/hickoryrun.aspx#staythenight

http://www.monmouthcountyparks.com/Page.aspx?ID=2540

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/allaire.html#camping

Probably none of these are as primitive as bf would like, but here's a few links anyway. Good luck and have fun!

 

[nephthys43]

Stokes Forest is nice also. I did camp there years ago
http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/stokes.html

Maybe they have camp sites or lean to's out of the way

this is looking like the best so far. thanks!!!

 

[disneyfans95]

We camp, but only at KOA campsites and in their Kabins.

That way we can bring our dog. It is as rough as we can handle it.

For the people we see tent camping, God bless you folks. No way I could do that.

When we stay at the KOA's we take the dog and walk all the loops. First off, great way to chat and meet people. But some of the freaking RV's are amzing. HD TV's that flip from inside to out. We ended up watching a Yankee game last year with some people we met, it was a great night.

Anyway for the OP, check out the KOA site. They have tent sites with or w/o electric/water. The one really nice thing about them is their bathrooms are always spotless.

 

[donac]

Go on up to the Appalachian Trail and start hiking in. Find a spot and pitch a tent.

There are spots to camp along the AT in NJ. THere are at least 4 trails in NJ and a few in PA. Dh has camped on at least 2 or 3 of the ones in NJ. There are lean to's to camp at but if they are full you can tent around there. Stokes is very close to the AT

Check at Worthington in NJ. It is right over the border from PA. Also very close to the AT