Car camping or more remote?

[ghostdog]

Originally Posted by Grandpa

This is my idea of car camping as well. I also have a large list of drive to hide-aways enroute to the backpacks. Now coming out is a different story. I also have a list of cheap motels specializing in nothing but hot showers and clean sheets before a long car ride home. Not to mention a list of great hamburger shacks I have found.

We park so remote for our backpacks that we just wash up with a 5 gallon jug back at the vehicle and put on a fresh set of clothes for the drive home. But like you we treasure our list of food shacks and out of the way eateries. If you ever get down to Escalante, Utah for some world class canyon country trekking there is a great little place on the west end of town for feasting, Cowboy Blues. Breakfast at the Comb Ridge Coffee House in Bluff is a pleasant experience too. I like a good cup of coffee before the long ride home.

[briansnat]

I don't see car camping as "getting away". Campsites packed on top each other, hordes of people, noise, car exhaust, generators and air conditioning humming, headlights all night long and often the sound of traffic on a highway or main road nearby. Yuk.

We do car camp but its more as a way to save money when we travel. We may book a public campsite the night before stepping off on a backpacking or canoeing trip, or if we're sightseeing we may stay in a campground for a couple days, but just as a place to sleep. I just don't get the idea of spending a week or weekend in what is basically a city, except for the nylon walls.

There are some spots around here, but not many, where there is no campground but you can pull up a car and make camp. That's not too bad, but if I'm going to do that I may as well walk in a few miles.

We much prefer backpacking in a few miles or paddling a wilderness river and setting up camp to get away.

[msdoolittle]

What I find interesting is how some people define car camping.

The above poster defines it as where a person stays, that being a campground.

I define it as a means of how I carry my gear. Where I end up, I don't have neighbors. I don't pay for my campsites.

Car Camping is when I pack my car with camping gear and head out to find a camping spot in an undisclosed location.

Backpacking is when I load my backpack with lightweight camping gear and head for the trailhead.

Because my significant other does not backpack, when I head out with him, it is to car camp in a quiet spot. We live in a state that makes that possible with abundant National Forest areas and BLM.

[Grandpa]

Originally Posted by ghostdog

We park so remote for our backpacks that we just wash up with a 5 gallon jug back at the vehicle and put on a fresh set of clothes for the drive home. But like you we treasure our list of food shacks and out of the way eateries. If you ever get down to Escalante, Utah for some world class canyon country trekking there is a great little place on the west end of town for feasting, Cowboy Blues. Breakfast at the Comb Ridge Coffee House in Bluff is a pleasant experience too. I like a good cup of coffee before the long ride home.

Slackers drive inn in Torrey is a favorite for us. Will have to try Cowboy Blues and the Comb Ridge Coffee House. We've stopped at the ??twin rocks Cafe on the east end of Bluff a couple times.

But, since we still have an 8-10 hour drive from down there, that hot shower and clean sheets still sounds good.

And yes, done some great hiking down on the staircase.

[ghostdog]

Originally Posted by msdoolittle

What I find interesting is how some people define car camping.

The above poster defines it as where a person stays, that being a campground.

He is from New Jersey, a small state with probably less than 1% public lands. Much of the east is like that with a few states that that thankfully have better percentages but they are still small states that have a population density that competes for these sparse spaces.. On the other hand your Colorado is 34.4% public lands with 14.5 million acres of NFS lands and 8.4 million acres of BLM lands. Much of the west is similar, huge states with huge portions of public lands. Nevada is 76.1% public land. Utah is 70.2% and Idaho 60.5%. Many western states are close to 30% or more public land. Lots of places to get lost in and car camp for free in obscurity.

Originally Posted by Grandpa

Slackers drive inn in Torrey is a favorite for us.

Thank you sir, Slackers is in my notebook now. I like backpacking into Capitol Reef and some of the surrounding areas. When it takes me through Torrey I will know where to eat.

[wvbreamfisherman]

Like anywhere, there are crowded places and not so crowded. I know of some capmgorunds in public hunting and fishing areas in WV that rarely see more than 1-2 campers at a time unless it's a holiday weekend.

There are others, especially in some of the more popular state parks, that you need reservations to get a spot.

Personally I'm glad that those crowded places are there because it leaves some of my favorite spots nearly empty.