Nora S.

The Dyrt Pro

Fairfield , CT

Joined August 2020

A lifelong of camping and hiking shows you the best life has to offer!

First to Review
Cozy Night.

Stopped at Corbin cabin on a longer backpacking trip. Great little cabin with some more luxurious camping facilities than we were used to (Stayed across the river at a more primitive spot as well). Good spot for families and we had a great time . Need to book in advance to make sure you can book it. Bears and wildlife is expected by the river.

Hard to find.

This campsite is another one we found on a list provided by Shenandoah’s park rangers and was listed as moderate hike and easy camping. I think, just like some other on the list, the easy camping might be a slight exaggeration. It was not particularly easy to find and we couldn’t find a super great spot. Good views on the hike.

Secluded Paradise

Found this spot from a recommended list provided by Shenandoah park rangers, and I’m glad we choose this one. They have a variety of lists based on hiking ability and difficulty as well as camping ability and difficulty so I recommend checking that out. I choose this one, which was a moderate hike and an easy camp because I started out later in the day and didn’t want to set up in the dark which was a wise idea in hindsight as this campsite was not an easy find. We ended up looking around the summit for awhile before we found a good spot so be careful. However, the spot was perfect in every other way, secluded, a great view and full of wildlife.

Semi-secluded camping close to acadia

This campsite is semi-primitive and semi-private. Although the site describes the sites as relatively dispersed, we were located right next to another family with a dog and we didn’t get that primitive experience. However, the sites are nice and the area is beautiful. They provide a picnic table, restrooms, and a fire pit additionally. Be prepared to walk until you find your reserved campsites because we could not find any signage until we walked up the hill and realized the campgrounds are individually marked on a trail that goes up the hill. Last thing, make sure to bring firewood, because there is no one monitoring the camp and not a lot of places to buy it nearby.

First to Review
Hidden Paradise!

We absolutely loved this little lean-to next to Bear Mountain. I'll make this review short, as we also stayed at the Brassie Brook lean-to which is located only about a mile apart from each other. The Brassie Brook was actually on the way to Riga and offers a very similar experience. Riga has the lean-to as well as about 4 or 5 sites all around. There's no picnic tables at the other spots but there is one for the lean-to. Carry out all your trash, but there are toilets. We had an awesome experience and would 100% love to return. Last thing; make sure to hit the summit of Bear Mountain; incredible view!

A refuge in the woods

We ended up stumbling on this campsite on our way to the Riga lean-to, which was a very happy surprise. We started our hike at the under-mountain trailhead, located right off route 41, and climbed up the mountain. Be prepared for steep inclines, and lots of rocks. After about a mile, you reach a trail intersection, stay left and continue up the hill until you reach the giant sign that reads "Appalachian Trail - North and South". As we started pretty late in the afternoon, we ended up directly taking a left and heading to the Riga shelter. On the way, you pass the Brassie Brook Lean-to and its about another mile to Riga. As I said earlier, we stayed for one night at Riga, and after hitting the bear mountain summit (right at the big sign), we turned back to spend the night at Brassie Brook. Brassie Brook has a small lean-to as well as about 4/5 campsites located all around. Firepits, toilets but that's about it. Leave NO Trace! We had a phenomenal time, and definitely recommend!

A great spot for CT hiking!

We arrived at the parking lot of Onion Mountain Park at around 2 pm and proceeded to get our bags packed for the hike. I saw in the other review, that it is classified as a walk-in but it's definitely more of a hike. We ended up finding a very primitive spot off the blue trail (on top of the mountain), where we settled down for the night. The spot is not very big so make sure to bring a smaller tent (no group sites) but has a firepit already set up. We set up the tent and started a fire (very easy as there are sticks and wood everywhere). Overall a very good camping trip, and we highly recommend it. 

P.S - There are a lot of bugs so be prepared, and we did put a bear bag about 100 feet away.

A well-earned view!

It's quite a hike to get to this dispersed campground, so be prepared! We packed on our backpacks early in the morning and arrived there mid-afternoon. Very beautiful view, and an awesome spot! No fires allowed, however.

A beautiful serene look at nature!

So it's about a mile to three miles to the closest campsites on the western side. Very secluded, and peaceful weekend by the water. Make sure to get a reservation if you're going in between march 15 and labor day. The only disappointments were that there are no campfires allowed and no dogs, but it's very understandable why. The park and is protected which is the only reason it has stayed beautiful all this time, so let's not stop now!

A peaceful weekend

We had a wonderful weekend of peace and quiet. Definitely returning!

First to Review
One of our favorites!!

We arrived here early afternoon, which ended up being perfect timing as we could set up everything and catch sunset by the fire. The place is pretty easy to access with paved road the whole way there except for the last 1/2 mile where it is very bumpy. Some might say 4*4 but we made it just fine in our little Camry. There are two campsites located right outside of the park where you can park your car next to your tent but we opted to hike in. The first spot is less than 1/2 mile down the path, with the next three in the next mile. The campsites are very spacious with lots of room between you and other campers, and have a fire pit and some have picnic tables. We had a stellar time just hiking down the path and relaxing by the water. There’s no noise at night apart from the running water of the stream and we had a very peaceful weekend. We’re most definitely returning!

A quiet night by the river

We stayed here mid-March and although it was a little chilly at night, overall a great spot. We got to the spot at around 4pm, and choose a spot in the “upper field”, although we didn’t see anyone at the lower spots on the road. The upper field spots have a little more flat area and were more secluded. The only thing was there was no port-a-potty at the upper field. There was a fire pit with lots of wood available and flat ground for tents. The area was pretty big and we walked down the river to watch the sunset which was beautiful. At night, the only noise you’ll hear is from the river and animals in the forest which is of course an added benefit! In the morning we went hiking, and there are lots of cool hikes close by to do so. Really cool spot, can’t wait to return.

A sick semi-secluded spot!

This was an awesome spot for sure, we actually happened upon this spot after hiking through the Black Hills all day. We were planning on backcountry camping in the park, but the amount of bugs and the inability to find a flat spot out of the trees pushed us to try and hike back to our car. We stumbled upon this spot on our way back, and as a big climber I couldn’t resist climbing up some boulders. We ended up just setting up camp at the base of one of the boulders and had a great stay! It was amazing to be completely surrounded by beautiful forest and giant rocks, and we had a peaceful nights sleep! I climbed up again in the a.m to take some pictures of the view, and we left shortly after but would definitely recommend to anyone that’s a fan of dispersed camping and wonderful scenery!

Beyond cool but crowded.

This was a really cool campsite, mostly because of the wildlife and the views! It’s only about 30 minutes away from the Badlands NP, and very close to Wall,SD. The campsite is actually made around a flat spot in the prairie lands, and the tents are set up in a circle. We set up camp around 5pm, and went to visit the Badlands which is a definite must! Upon coming back, we ran into a herd of bison on the road and because they were so close we got some awesome pictures! Prairie dogs are also everywhere, which if you can be quiet and quick enough you can maybe snap a pic! The only problem with this campsite is as it’s a popular campground, the amount of people there was too much for us. We had our tent moved by a group of rowdy people who kept us up at night and woke us up in the morning. Nonetheless, we had an awesome time and I would definitely recommend staying up long enough to check out the stars because it was quite a sight! Also we were traveling in a 2wheel drive, and the last part of the road to the campsite is a bumpy one so drive slow..!

A beautiful state park campsite site

This campground is definitely an awesome spot to spend the night. We arrived there around sundown, and set up camp in the spot we reserved. The view was absolutely beautiful over the hills, with the forest giving us cover from the bright sun rays in the a.m. Slight warning though, if you aren’t an early riser the sun might not be a problem but the railroad is right behind most of the sites and we did hear a couple trains go by. We headed out early in the morning, unfortunately too early to drive through the bison range but we did stop to see the beautiful waterfall on the other side of the highway exiting the campsite. Would 100% come again, and hopefully check out the range. Side note, drive slowly on the gravel road we saw a lot of little bunnies and they hop everywhere regardless of cars!

A relaxing spot close to Madison

So I think my impression of this campground mostly has to do with the fact that although it’s an actual campground unlike what we usually do (dispersed camping), it was completely secluded. We were the only ones with a tent, and the rest of the people there were people who had set up semi-permanent RV homes. Although we did see some really cool set-ups, we didn’t see a soul and we weren’t mad about it! They had showers and a pool, as well as other amenities such as toilets and fire pits.This was definitely a relaxing spot, with very little noise and relative seclusion. Also to add the fire pits were actually metal rings, so you can move them wherever you want. Would definitely return!!

A foresty safe haven!

So this campsite we ended up finding last minute in a desperate attempt to find somewhere close as night fell. And let me just say, we couldn’t have asked for a better campsite. The area was very easy to find, although the directions don’t exactly lead you to the right spot. It’s actually a turn farther up the road where you take a right instead of a left, the left leads you to an area where camping is forbidden and is used as a horse trail. Luckily as we had arrived so late and it was dark, a couple of horseback riders just pointed us farther down the road and we quickly found a spot. However, you have to make sure to self-pay at the little turnout before the campsite for a US pass, I think the fee was about $6 but our annual pass was an acceptable form of payment. The campsite was well maintained (as much as you can expect from dispersed camping) with a little fire pit and a flat space clear of rocks. We woke up to the noises of the wildlife around us, and the beautiful sunrise over the mountains. A very enjoyable stay, and would recommend to anyone!

Never seen anything like this before!

So I was hesitant to write a review because I didn’t want this place to have any more visitors than it already does..! It was an amazing experience overall and we can’t wait to come back. The address on google maps however DOES NOT lead to the camping destination but we ended up running into a couple of ATV’ers that led us in the right direction. It’s actually off the highway before where the maps lead you and there is a sign that says Travertine Hot Springs. Having arrived at night, we were very glad to have met the locals that were helpful in showing us the way! So once you turn off the highway, you follow a dirt road that leads you straight to the springs. We ended up turning off and heading up a pretty rough road to find a spot on top of a canyon looking hill to camp. We were looking for seclusion and we definitely got it! The view was amazing from up top, and in the morning with a quick 5 minute drive we changed into our bathing suits and went for an early morning “nature hot tub swim”. The springs are hot but not boiling, and we spent an hour soaking there with absolutely no worries in the world. Definitely an amazing stay, and absolutely no hesitation to go back!

Paradise..!

This campground has to be one of my favorites ever, and that’s definitely saying something! We arrived on this spot after spending a long day at Yellowstone and being bummed we couldn’t get a backcountry pass for the night. But our luck quickly changed when we found this hidden gem, about 20 minutes away from Yellowstone’s west entrance. We followed a dirt road for a short while till arriving upon the lake shore, where we were met by some truly amazing views. With the mountain range reflecting upon the water, and the orange and pink clouds floating above we spent the evening wishing we could stay there forever. After taking many pictures of the view, we set up camp along the waterfront and set a fire (there are about 3/4 campfire rings). We ended up making some awesome bread, mixing only beer and batter together cooked on the fire and it turned out delicious! The only problem was in the morning, after having left the tent open for only 5 minutes at night an unknown critter came into the tent and stung my eyelid, so watch out for bugs!! Still wouldn’t give this any lower of a score, because for us it was truly paradise!!

Wow!

So this campsite was absolutely beautiful, and I would give a longer review but we unfortunately just stayed the night and left early in the morning. Not that we wouldn’t have wanted to stay longer though! The beautiful views of the mountains, and the bird’s eye view of the city of San Bernardino was definitely breathtaking. Slight warning however; the dirt road that leads up to the first spots is a doozy, and very long. When arriving at night, we felt like it would never end but don’t worry it does! Wish we could have explored more, so till next time!