The US Forest Service (FS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) (and other state and local agencies) allow dispersed camping on most of their land – which is a lot!

Dispersed camping means you can drive along a FS or BLM road and basically pull off, drive a few feet and set up camp. As long as the area is not posted “no camping,” and 20′ from the forest road, you are good to go with just a few rules to follow:

• Camping at any one site is limited to 14 days per visit.
• Pack out what you pack in.
• Avoid camping within 200 ft. of any water source.
• Do not leave campfires unattended.
• Whenever camping outside designated camp sites please practice the following minimum impact style camping:
  • Camp at previously used sites, if possible.
  • Fire pans or stoves are recommended.
    Avoid building new fire rings.
  • Use only dead and down wood for campfires.
  • Do not put cans, bottles, or aluminum foil into a fire ring.
  • Burn campfire logs to ashes, then douse with water. CAMPFIRES OF ANY KIND MAY BE BANNED DURING HIGH FIRE DANGER PERIODS.
  • Dispose of human waste properly. The use of portable toilets is highly recommended. If no portable toilet is available, solid body waste and urine should be buried in a hole six to twelve inches deep. The disposal site should be located well away from streams, campsite, and other use areas. Toilet paper should be placed in a small plastic bag and put into your camp trash bag.
  • Pack out your trash (and a little extra).

Check the website of the particular national forest or BLM area you are going to be in or (better) stop at the local NFS or BLM office. Each national forest will have “localized” rules and suggestions.

One other note. If you are going to have a campfire in a FS dispersed area camp you will need a campfire permit (good for one year) and available at any National Forest Office.

For us, this is easiest and best way to camp. And don’t forget, Tread Lightly!

Tags: boondock, dispersed camping

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 4:16 pm and is filed under Camping. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.