Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People camp for different reasons. The draw for me is the peacefulness and beauty for a reasonable cost.

Lots of campgrounds are pretty unremarkable. But there are dozens or even 100+ within a day's drive of DC that are truly stunning, with large, quiet campsites on bodies of water. You can have 8 people and a dog at one of these for $20, using gear that you use over and over again. These are settings that would cost hundreds and hundreds for a house.

Would you mind to share your favorite?

Locally, Dolly Sods and Seneca Rocks in WV, are great. Dolly Sods has a small car camping area and lots of backpacking sites. Since you’re asking for recommendations, you’re probably not into backpacking. Seneca Rocks has nice car camping spots. Some sites are in the woods and some are in an open field, with views of Seneca Rocks. This area of WV has real spotty cell service. This is great and really allows you to disconnect. Like many, I spend way too much time on my phone and not having service is actually nice.

Assateague is also nice, but probably can’t recommend for the summer- too hot and no shade. Shenandoah and Catoctin are also good options, but can be crowded.

The trails up on the backside of Spruce Knob are STUNNING, but there is no infrastructure so it will be the roughest of the rough backpacking camping. One car site up by Spruce Knob Lake, but no amenities.

But genuinely some of the most beautiful... similar to Dolly Sods but less crowded.

PP, here. We have backpacked Spruce Knob a couple times. Great trails and even though the top of Spruce Knob is only about 5,000 feet, it’s a nice retreat from the DC heat.

Stealth camping is a thing now.
Can do it anywhere. Even under a picnic table in a park.

I camped a lot as a kid - usually state parks in upstate NY. No electric hookups, but bath/shower houses. We had a pop-up camper and brought our bikes. Loved it as a kid; some of my absolute happiest childhood memories. But now I think of all the work that went into getting a family of 5 ready to be in the woods for a week and all the work that needed to be done at the site for meals and such...no. Immediate no.

(Does make me want to nominate my parents for sainthood, though!)

Love to be outdoors still, but will happily enjoy the proper bed, A/C, and bathrooms of a local hotel on hiking trips.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People camp for different reasons. The draw for me is the peacefulness and beauty for a reasonable cost.

Lots of campgrounds are pretty unremarkable. But there are dozens or even 100+ within a day's drive of DC that are truly stunning, with large, quiet campsites on bodies of water. You can have 8 people and a dog at one of these for $20, using gear that you use over and over again. These are settings that would cost hundreds and hundreds for a house.

Would you mind to share your favorite?

Locally, Dolly Sods and Seneca Rocks in WV, are great. Dolly Sods has a small car camping area and lots of backpacking sites. Since you’re asking for recommendations, you’re probably not into backpacking. Seneca Rocks has nice car camping spots. Some sites are in the woods and some are in an open field, with views of Seneca Rocks. This area of WV has real spotty cell service. This is great and really allows you to disconnect. Like many, I spend way too much time on my phone and not having service is actually nice.

Assateague is also nice, but probably can’t recommend for the summer- too hot and no shade. Shenandoah and Catoctin are also good options, but can be crowded.

The trails up on the backside of Spruce Knob are STUNNING, but there is no infrastructure so it will be the roughest of the rough backpacking camping. One car site up by Spruce Knob Lake, but no amenities.

But genuinely some of the most beautiful... similar to Dolly Sods but less crowded.

As modern culture is more and more screen centric and we're nonstop attached to technology and indoors... it's nice to get out and get unhooked.

Also, tied with kayaking or hiking, it's exercise and I've heard some people enjoy that.

It's definitely something that people with money and time indulge in—I see a definite class divide... wealthy and educated like to get out and do stuff outdoors—the gear is fun to buy, the logistics fun to plan, and it requires time. People who don't have money, time or the wits tend to hate it.

But as I noted above, you see tons of immigrant families getting out, so I think it's also become a thing that people who have come here and had success are eager to get into.

Anonymous wrote:In America, I think camping is popular among white people. I don’t see it much with other ethnic groups, aside from the tent encampments set up by the unhoused.

Go to a state campground—on the weekends they are filled with joyful Hispanic and South Asian families having massive get togethers and trying out the trails and water activities. It's crazy—some state parks (cheap and usually no booze, which is why they attract families) have white people in the minority of campers. It's nice to see new Americans getting into our culture so enthusiastically!

Ahhh...no. Last time I slept in a tent was 20 years ago when we visited our friends river house for our 30 birthday celebration. There were probably 10 couples there and not near enough room in the house.

Don't own any gear, don't have huge desire to do it.

Best camping trip I ever went on was when I camped with a bunch of work friends in my early 20s on an island at Lake George. Took all the gear out by boat and had no other access to the island. Jumping in the lake at sunrise was awesome.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love climbing in the Alps, but would be OK overnighting at the treeline there, in a tent. The hiker's cabins are spartan and communal and I would never go there, so one tent night is all I can do before I need real toilets and a shower.
Since I don't want to buy tents and things just for rare nights outside, I rent a nice chalet.

Me again. I don't quite know how to camp in the US. Isn't the entire country overrun with ticks? I'm used to Europe, which has fewer ticks, especially at high altitude in the Alps.

Most of the eastern US has lots of ticks. You check nightly. You check ALL OVER.

You take antibiotics if you get bitten for long enough, or if you don’t feel well after possible Lyme exposure.

For me and many others, it’s worth the risk.

PP you replied to. Seriously? OMG, I would never do that. It would take away all the peacefulness of nature to have such little trust in my environment.

Same. Walking the dog is by a little creek is now super anxiety-inducing since my son saw snakes in the riverbank. I can't relax around nature.

Everyone should go camping
Time to perfect those survival skills just like a real prepper

Anonymous wrote:It's horrible to camp. Now I love being in nature - seeing beautiful scenery and being outside. Not the same as camping. Sorry but I don't have a taste for sleeping in a damn tent on the ground or whatever and peeing in the outhouse or in bushes! I don't feel like sleeping with the bugs or being too hot or wet or cold.

That’s actually fine. I love camping, but don’t see the need to convince others to change their minds.

It's horrible to camp. Now I love being in nature - seeing beautiful scenery and being outside. Not the same as camping. Sorry but I don't have a taste for sleeping in a damn tent on the ground or whatever and peeing in the outhouse or in bushes! I don't feel like sleeping with the bugs or being too hot or wet or cold.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People camp for different reasons. The draw for me is the peacefulness and beauty for a reasonable cost.

Lots of campgrounds are pretty unremarkable. But there are dozens or even 100+ within a day's drive of DC that are truly stunning, with large, quiet campsites on bodies of water. You can have 8 people and a dog at one of these for $20, using gear that you use over and over again. These are settings that would cost hundreds and hundreds for a house.

Would you mind to share your favorite?

Locally, Dolly Sods and Seneca Rocks in WV, are great. Dolly Sods has a small car camping area and lots of backpacking sites. Since you’re asking for recommendations, you’re probably not into backpacking. Seneca Rocks has nice car camping spots. Some sites are in the woods and some are in an open field, with views of Seneca Rocks. This area of WV has real spotty cell service. This is great and really allows you to disconnect. Like many, I spend way too much time on my phone and not having service is actually nice.

Assateague is also nice, but probably can’t recommend for the summer- too hot and no shade. Shenandoah and Catoctin are also good options, but can be crowded.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To me, RVing is not the same as camping. An RV can be just as comfortable as a hotel room, just more compact. There’s running water and electricity, sometimes a bathroom/shower, no sleeping on the ground. That is nothing like camping.

Being in a compact space is not my idea of comfortable.

So you don't use cars, right?

No, I don’t sleep in them. Though I might if I had to go camping.

No. I'm white, well educated, well travelled, yadda yadda yadda, and don't like camping. Few people I know go camping and, no, no one has a RV.

I love being outdoors and outdoor activities but want a proper bed and plumbing at the end of the day. That's why I do things like hut to hut hiking in the Swiss Alps.

I did camp a fair few times in the desert when living in Dubai, a very popular activity across all races and nationalities. I could deal with desert camping (no ticks!) even if the sand got into everything. Do remember one morning waking up and discovering a herd of camels wandering around our tents.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People camp for different reasons. The draw for me is the peacefulness and beauty for a reasonable cost.

Lots of campgrounds are pretty unremarkable. But there are dozens or even 100+ within a day's drive of DC that are truly stunning, with large, quiet campsites on bodies of water. You can have 8 people and a dog at one of these for $20, using gear that you use over and over again. These are settings that would cost hundreds and hundreds for a house.

Would you mind to share your favorite?

DP, but some nearby places we’ve enjoyed camping by water include Shenandoah River State Park, New Germany state park (lake), and Assateague (ocean & bay).