how do you find places to hang?

I'm curious what resources the fellow HF folks use to find places to hang. It's easy to locate state parks or paid campgrounds, but what I'm really interested in is all kinds of camping areas, whether primitive dispersed sites in national forests, car camping, backpacking, etc. I wish there was a huge google earth map set that I could just input and find all the primitive camping opportunities near me, but I'm looking for other tips.

What do you guys do when you want to find a new place to hang?

I think of the recent Colorado hangs, and I would not have been very likely to find either location without other people telling me about them first. Both turned out to be beautiful locations, but sometimes I just want to go somewhere new. How do you go about finding that sweet new place?

Other than word of mouth, I've found a few gems on forums of one sort or another. Most were before I was a member of HF. These were usually related to local hiking/backpacking in a particular area. I am planning a trip to the Linville Gorge with my son based on threads on HF. Also found some ideas on trip journal sites.

You've got a good resource in Denver but the rumor is he's a "man eater"! I believe he was one of the folks to whom you referred...

One of the things i've been doing last fall and this spring is doing day hikes , truck excursions, exploring possibilities for overnights etc. Its fairly easy to find a place to hang around here but harder for me to find a place i like to hang at. Its the artist in me that craves an ascetically pleasing site. Like this one i found by accident the other day, This will be the view FROM the hammock when i get back there for an overnight .
http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_0557.jpg

I've used google earth for the lakes around here looking for beaches with no trail or road access, and when i get my kayak, hopefully next week, i'll be able to check them out 1st hand. A number of the places i have on my list to go to i won't get to physically check out first. It will be an adventure. I try to stay away from established sites but there are a few that are so beautiful, in the big parks and lakes around here that i'll just hope there aren't too many people.
There's a rec site about 1/2 hr from that last pic that doesn't get used allot and there's only a few camp spots but a little sorta beach to put the yak in. This is the view at this one.
http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_0491.jpg
I've also used , am using, a Backroads of BC hand book for the West Kootenays that shows the geography,topography , old roads,small out of the way rec sites, trails to small lakes with no established camping and a whole lot more. I only started hanging last year and have found these things to be of help to this fairly new hanger.
BTW that hammock view shot. I saw a beautiful 5 yr old cinnamon bear not far from there and i think i will be in his area as he makes the rounds but hopefully we'll only meet again in the daytime. I'm trying not to think about that,,,(-:
The weather is finally letting up around here so i'm hopeing to get out a bit more. Hope this helps

I do my camping via motorcycle. I get every other Friday off, and will often do a short, two night trip somewhere that has twisty roads to play on. I also take two longer, 6 to 10 trips each spring and fall. I use Provincial or State parks often, as those services have good maps of where the campgrounds are. I also like US Forest Service campgrounds, which can be found by browsing the arcane pages at the USFS (they don't seem to have a standard, and each forest arranges its page as they like, and finding information can be difficult).

However, the folks at Forest Camping have done a nice job, but do not have a map. They can be found here:

http://www.forestcamping.com/

I have found the National Forests are the hidden jewel of camping out west. As are the BC Recreation Sites (formerly BC Forests Recreation Sites, now a seperate department). They are less crowded, out of the way, and usually well set up. If in BC, many of those sites can be found here: http://www.campingrvbc.com/ with a nice Google mpas based app. Or their official site: http://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/, which does have a map application, but it is a huge pain to use.

Washington and Oregon States both have excellent online resources for their state parks, as does BC Parks. With the exception of a trip to London UK a couple of years back, I have not stayed in a hotel in years.

you might want to use trails.com, its a site set you join annually, but set up only for trails , hiking, bikes, etc, you can download maps and other info in many different formats, from topos to standard maps. thee cover from mexico to canada. you can get a 14 day look but, for those who go alot may be worth the $49.00 a yr. plus have feedback from folks who used trails and areas. each year besides long wknds i take off for about 7 r 8 wks usually out west, 2nd home is santa fe, NM, so go by there each yr couple times. Anyway this yr going NM, AZ,Utah, WY, MT, Banff, over to coast and down, Im using most on info on trip from site. Sorry for long response, anyway get out and enjoy

get a plat book.i camp all over state land here in mich.i either drive in to a back road off a back road,usually a logging road and set up.or i research using plat book,google earth and a topo an area,and pack it in.i rarely camp in campsites,never see anyone and camp in undisturbed areas.there is a huge differance between camping in often used,all resources used up campsites versus undesturbed wild places.i have done this at least 200 times.on state ,fed and commercial forest lands.

I've used trails.com to identify nearby "Off-Road Drives," I believe is the category. They are typically Forest Service roads, and there are always spurs, many of which offer camping opportunities. Specific locations I've found by exploring spurs and "secondary" logging roads.