3 ms·

There are plenty more places where you'll see zero people on your hike, even on developed trails. Undeveloped BLM Wilderness Areas you're even less likely to se

There are plenty more places where you'll see zero people on your hike, even on developed trails. Undeveloped BLM Wilderness Areas you're even less likely to see someone—some of these in remote areas likely only get a dozen or so visitors per year, mostly hunters. I've visited some 20,000+ acre Wilderness Areas half a dozen times and never once seen another person in them.

SwellJoe 10y ago
Yep, BLM land and campgrounds are some of the most under-utilized resources for getting out into nature. It's not uncommon to be the only person for miles around. There's sort of a continuum of how populated an area will be, based on how it's been designated by the government. What's most interesting to me is that it often has little correlation to how beautiful or interesting an area is. BLM land is kind of like an afterthought for the federal government. They are mostly very sparsely staffed (I can count the number of rangers I've seen on BLM lands on my fingers, and I've cumulatively spent maybe a year on BLM lands), and very sparsely visited.
- mason55 10y ago
  Is there a list of these places somewhere?
  - waterphone 10y ago
    Not really, because BLM land, especially in the west, is incredibly scattered and vast. You could find a list of, say, BLM Wilderness Areas, but not their general land. I would suggest looking at a land ownership map for an area you're interested in to see where concentrations of public land can be found. Caltopo is a great option for this—among many other layers you can turn on, "Land Management" is an option you can overlay atop the background for anywhere in the entire U.S. in the top right layer dropdown. A land management agency legend for the color overlays will appear at the right of the top navbar when enabled. http://caltopo.com http://caltopo.com
  - SwellJoe 10y ago
    This is actually one of the great gaps in available tools. For camping, there are some pretty good crowd-sourced websites that will help you find boondocking spots; these are not necessarily the most beautiful (though reading reviews will often tell you if there's something amazing nearby to check out while camping). A lot of it is targeted to folks who can't afford to camp in RV parks or campgrounds, but wants to get out into the wild. This one is probably the best for finding BLM and National Forest options for camping: https://freecampsites.net/ https://freecampsites.net/ All Stays is OK, too, but has a lot of noise in the form of Walmart parking lots and rest areas and such, as well as commercial campgrounds, (which are also great if you live in an RV and need a place to park for the night on your way somewhere): http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/ http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/ I wish there were a really good website that combined all of my favorite things: Public lands, free/cheap camping, and beautiful or interesting scenery. But, I kinda piece together my travel itinerary once I know where I'm going; I'll google a bunch the day or two before I start driving. Usually I'll have a pretty good idea of the places I want to stop, and how long I want to stay, based on reviews and the information I've found. And, sometimes there are surprises. When I'm on my way places, I'll sometimes stop at all of the public sites along the way (as best I can figure out where they are), and camp at the ones I like the best.

SwellJoe 10y ago

Yep, BLM land and campgrounds are some of the most under-utilized resources for getting out into nature. It's not uncommon to be the only person for miles around. There's sort of a continuum of how populated an area will be, based on how it's been designated by the government. What's most interesting to me is that it often has little correlation to how beautiful or interesting an area is. BLM land is kind of like an afterthought for the federal government. They are mostly very sparsely staffed (I can count the number of rangers I've seen on BLM lands on my fingers, and I've cumulatively spent maybe a year on BLM lands), and very sparsely visited.

mason55 10y ago
Is there a list of these places somewhere?
- waterphone 10y ago
  Not really, because BLM land, especially in the west, is incredibly scattered and vast. You could find a list of, say, BLM Wilderness Areas, but not their general land. I would suggest looking at a land ownership map for an area you're interested in to see where concentrations of public land can be found. Caltopo is a great option for this—among many other layers you can turn on, "Land Management" is an option you can overlay atop the background for anywhere in the entire U.S. in the top right layer dropdown. A land management agency legend for the color overlays will appear at the right of the top navbar when enabled. http://caltopo.com http://caltopo.com
- SwellJoe 10y ago
  This is actually one of the great gaps in available tools. For camping, there are some pretty good crowd-sourced websites that will help you find boondocking spots; these are not necessarily the most beautiful (though reading reviews will often tell you if there's something amazing nearby to check out while camping). A lot of it is targeted to folks who can't afford to camp in RV parks or campgrounds, but wants to get out into the wild. This one is probably the best for finding BLM and National Forest options for camping: https://freecampsites.net/ https://freecampsites.net/ All Stays is OK, too, but has a lot of noise in the form of Walmart parking lots and rest areas and such, as well as commercial campgrounds, (which are also great if you live in an RV and need a place to park for the night on your way somewhere): http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/ http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/ I wish there were a really good website that combined all of my favorite things: Public lands, free/cheap camping, and beautiful or interesting scenery. But, I kinda piece together my travel itinerary once I know where I'm going; I'll google a bunch the day or two before I start driving. Usually I'll have a pretty good idea of the places I want to stop, and how long I want to stay, based on reviews and the information I've found. And, sometimes there are surprises. When I'm on my way places, I'll sometimes stop at all of the public sites along the way (as best I can figure out where they are), and camp at the ones I like the best.