You may want to avoid the smokies ,,,sad but true

**ntxkayakr** · 05-14-2014, 17:28

It seems that GSMNP-AT is still much easier to camp than many areas out west where the odds of winning the BLM ' s lottery for a permit are very low. One friend has been paying for a Grand Canyon permit request for 13 years no luck. This year we paid $6 each for over 60 requests for the Rio Chama one only got one. So I guess the Smokes can tolerate a lot more humans as long as they don't hang from trees.

**southmark** · 05-14-2014, 17:54

Originally Posted by ntxkayakr

I So I guess the Smokes can tolerate a lot more humans as long as they don't hang from trees.

Actually you can hang in the Smokies just not on the AT. And you are right about the Smokies being easier to secure a permit than a lot of others out west. I tried for six different times to get a permit to start the JMT from Yosemite before I finally got a permit and then not for my first trailhead choice.

**Junebugdawn** · 05-14-2014, 17:58

It has been asked on this forum before about hanging on the AT. Many HF members have thru hiked the AT and hung the whole way. I remember a thread specifically asking about the Smokies. If I remember correctly, the park did not want hammocks hung inside the shelters. Some members said the rangers never gave them any trouble as long as they hung near the shelters. It would be helpful if some of those thru hikers could respond with their experiences.

**TallPaul** · 05-14-2014, 19:28

Originally Posted by Junebugdawn

It has been asked on this forum before about hanging on the AT. Many HF members have thru hiked the AT and hung the whole way. I remember a thread specifically asking about the Smokies. If I remember correctly, the park did not want hammocks hung inside the shelters. Some members said the rangers never gave them any trouble as long as they hung near the shelters. It would be helpful if some of those thru hikers could respond with their experiences.

The link provided above by Dougalcorn lays out the rules for Thru Hikers:

"Thru-Hikers may tent in the immediate area around shelters only if the shelter is full.
Thru-hikers are required to stay in shelters when there is space available.
Thru-Hikers must always give up bunk space in shelters to those with shelter reservations".

This is why some Thru hikers try to show up late at the shelter hoping the shelter is full so they can stay in their tent or hammock. Otherwise they have to stay in the shelter per the rules.

**ntxkayakr** · 05-14-2014, 19:50

Originally Posted by Junebugdawn

Some members said the rangers never gave them any trouble as long as they hung near the shelters. It would be helpful if some of those thru hikers could respond with their experiences.

This clears it up and makes sense. It has been almost 15 years since my last visit to GSMNP-AT and i would like to visit again. Especially now that the west is getting so dry and fragile. I have heard many bad reports from all over but especially west TX/OK to the Pacific. So brace for even worse crowds out East this summer.

**CrankyOldGuy** · 05-15-2014, 15:36

Since there are lots of side trails that intersect the AT, is it a simple as taking on and stealth camping?

**L8Hiker** · 05-15-2014, 18:05

You could try - but anywhere in the Smokies you are required to have a permit and declare where you will be stopping each night - even on the many other trails (non-AT) within the park boundaries.

**NMardin** · 05-16-2014, 18:28

I just read the Backcountry rules and regulations and saw this:

"8. Hammocks may only be used within designated backcountry campsites. They may not be used inside shelters and may not be attached to shelters in any way."

I would imagine the shelters along the AT may be considered designated sites. Perhaps some better clarification from the rangers there would be helpful. It wasn't the AT but my wife and I spent a night in our hammocks in there last summer for our honeymoon.

**L8Hiker** · 05-16-2014, 19:14

"Shelters" are located only on the AT - "Campsites" are located everywhere else in the park. A 'designated' campsite is just that - a site 'designated' where you are allowed to camp. You are allowed to pitch tents and hang hammocks at all designated campsites but never at a shelter - unless of course you are a thru hiker and then only if the shelter (AT) is full

**TallPaul** · 05-16-2014, 19:30

According to this, you can't use a tent at a shelter. I believe they consider a hammock a tent.
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisi...revise-map.pdf

"General backcountry permit holders may not use tents at shelters. AT Thru Hiker permit holders may tent at shelters under
certain circumstances."

Sites with shelters are marked on the park map - it includes more than just along the AT.

I posted the rule about Thru Hikers above.
Here it is again:
"Thru-Hikers may tent in the immediate area around shelters only if the shelter is full.
Thru-hikers are required to stay in shelters when there is space available.
Thru-Hikers must always give up bunk space in shelters to those with shelter reservations".