EVERY YEAR, ITS ESTIMATED THAT MORE THAN three million people hike on the Appalachian Trail. The good and the bad news is that number will likely grow. It’s good news in that more people are going outside and enjoying the wealth of benefits from their public lands. It’s bad when those visits negatively impact the lands that people love so much, and that make this country great. Everything we do outside has an associated impact to the local ecology. The problem is when that impact exceeds a sustainable level for the ecosystem.

One example of these impacts is with camping. As a former thru-hiker, and now the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s (ATC) southern regional Trail facility manager, I have seen the full spectrum of good to bad campsites along the A.T. and have seen firsthand that camping has the potential to do a lot of ecological damage to our public lands. As a person who loves to camp, and wants others to enjoy a great camp experience along the A.T. — it is important to me that everyone understands how to respect the complexity along with the beauty of an overnight stay in the Wild East.

EVERY YEAR, ITS ESTIMATED THAT MORE THAN three million people hike on the Appalachian Trail. The good and the bad news is that number will likely grow. It’s good news in that more people are going outside and enjoying the wealth of benefits from their public lands. It’s bad when those visits negatively impact the lands that people love so much, and that make this country great. Everything we do outside has an associated impact to the local ecology. The problem is when that impact exceeds a sustainable level for the ecosystem.

One example of these impacts is with camping. As a former thru-hiker, and now the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s (ATC) southern regional Trail facility manager, I have seen the full spectrum of good to bad campsites along the A.T. and have seen firsthand that camping has the potential to do a lot of ecological damage to our public lands. As a person who loves to camp, and wants others to enjoy a great camp experience along the A.T. — it is important to me that everyone understands how to respect the complexity along with the beauty of an overnight stay in the Wild East.

the hitches
From Top: Campsites along the A.T. – By Tom Bieber and Jocelyn Songer
When use exceeds capacity, new user-created campsites materialize, sometimes impacting sensitive areas. Each new campsite may lead to vegetation loss, erosion of organic material, and soil compaction making it difficult for the forest to regenerate. New fire rings at these sites can sterilize the soil below the fire, making it unable to grow anything for some time. Campfires can also feed into a cycle of tree damage that is very common. Look around your favorite campsite. Most wooded sites have trees with haphazard hatched marks, saplings cut down to burn, and most anything burnable torched. Every time someone cuts into a living tree, it opens them up for potential infection and mortality. Trees of Appalachia already have a full plate of adelgid, blights, borers, and other insects and diseases; they do not need more harm from hikers.

As campsites get used weekend after weekend, if hikers aren’t responsible with their food and trash, animals will be attracted. Popular campsites can be spots bears frequent because its where they often find food. A bears’ sense of smell is dramatically better than a humans’, so food you throw in the fire has a smell that will still attract bears long after it burns. When bears get too accustomed to feeding on hiker food, they may become aggressive and could potentially be euthanized.

Camping is amazing, and, as a frequent camper myself, I do not plan on stopping anytime soon. The good news is that everyone can continue to enjoy the experience of camping if we do our part to respect the wild and mitigate our impacts.

There are three types of campsites
Designated campsites are the only areas where camping is allowed — and are required to be used in some areas. You will find designated overnight sites in popular backcountry or front country areas that are frequently at capacity. Staying in a designated campsite is a way to concentrate impact to protect areas with sensitive ecology. On the A.T., designated camping is rare but occurs in popular parks like Baxter State Park or the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These are listed in agency and A.T. info.

Established camp sites are created by the manager and maintainer of certain areas but staying at these sites is not required. Established campsites let the maintainer and manager select camping areas without sensitive animals or vegetation, or archeological sites, and add capacity in a sustainable way. These are listed in A.T. info.

Dispersed campsites, also referred to as ninja or stealth campsites, are user-selected and not listed in A.T. info. This is a backcountry option that gives visitors the ability to maximize their wilderness experience. Dispersed camp sites should be more than 200 feet away from trails and water to help preserve other visitors’ opportunities for isolation, to protect sensitive water or riparian zones, and should be completely undetectable once the camper has left – requiring the highest level of user responsibility and experience. Dispersed camping is available in most areas of the national forests along the A.T. Following Leave No Trace ethics, especially while camping in dispersed sites, is extremely important.

tips for low-impact camping
Camp in established areas. Good campsites are found and not made. Check agency and ATC info for sustainable campsite locations.

Always camp more than 200 feet away from water to help protect the water source and local ecology.

Burn wood that is dead, down, dinky, and distant from your campsite. Do not cut anything down or break branches for your fire. Or, skip the fire entirely and skip the impact.

If you do dispersed camping, re-naturalize in the morning by scattering any campfire (wet and cold remains) and brushing over your site.

Use a bear canister for peace-of-mind food protection. Using a bear canister is about doing your part to protect bears and the campers that follow you.

Be Considerate of other visitors. If you know you are going to camp with a group of your friends that might be a bit boisterous, use a group campsite or camp far away from the Trail and other people — check your map for old road or railroad grades leading off the A.T. If you are around other folks, share a fire ring, respect other’s space, and reduce your impact when you can.

With the right education, we can drastically limit our impact in the Wild East. Together, we can prevent a lot of resource degradation from camping so the A.T. does not lose any of its amazing character.

Hikers can find info about designated campsites in official ATC guidebooks and maps. Regulations regarding camping and campfires can be found at: appalachiantrail.org/camping
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