Directions to ten campsites near road access or boat access are given. Maps and photos lead you to places other people just do not want to visit. Here is the list of locations:
Plomosa Mountains, North of Yuma, Arizona
Road access to many miles of flat free country.
On Route 95 betweeen Quartzite and Parker, take
Plomosa road East into freedom. They really make
you feel welcome here, just pull off the paved road
at one of a hundred places, and you got your own
private parking area to start your hike. The Bouse
Community Park is near Rt. 95, but there are
more secluded areas East of there. The Plomosa
Mountains rise sharply from the desert plains,
giving various opportunities. You can have 12
square miles to yourself for 2 days.
Horseshoe Lake, Arizona
Boat access to the far side. Logs jam the lake in Winter
as the Verde River fills the reservoir. On the
far side, there is an Indian
settlement with 12 buildings outlined. Beyond that
are unoccupied 50 square miles. Javalina hogs
are common. You can have 60 square miles to yourself
for 3 days.
Sequoia National Park, California
Hikers can fill out a form without a ranger and go
hiking the High Sierra for days. The forms are at the
visitor center during the warm seasons. Winter visits
were not explored. You can have 2 square miles to yourself
for one day.
Blue Mountain, Pennsylvania
This mountain is one long ridge without hills
or irregularities. When you look up at it,
Blue mountain extends over the horizon, left and
right. The smooth, forested slopes are mostly uninhabited
but a few roads cross the long thin summit. From
one of these roads you can walk the flat ridgetop
for many miles without trail or obstacle. It is near
Harrisburg. You can have 2 square miles to yourself for
4 days.
Pineapple Field Margins, Hawaii
The pineapple fields are on land that is almost flat,
but ravines cut the fields every half mile. These ravines
are dark jungles of mango, guava, hala, and mosquitos.
Few people want to go there, so it is open to trespassers.
To minimize the insects, go close to the ocean. With the trade winds
blowing into the north shore the mosquitoes are completely blown away
for a significant distance inland. In this margin, one may have a
square mile to oneself at night, while during the day,
workers cross the fields nearby.
Metacomet Trail, Connecticut
Blue dots on trees lead the Metacomet train through
Suffield, Connecticut. It then goes onto the Appalachian trail
toward Georgia. You can have 1 square miles to yourself for
12 hours.
Io Stream, Side-Canyon, Hawaii
On Maui, in the Io Valley Park, is an asphalt trail
down to the stream. Cross the stream and there is a narrow
gorge barely visible through the trees. Enter this narrow
valley and no one will follow, it is yours for the day.
A foot-tall waterfall is stepped over and for a hundred
meters, the ground is almost flat. Ti plants are everywhere,
like slender trumpets, uplifting the view and the mood.
Each succeeding waterfall is twice as tall as the last. Two foot, four, and eight foot waterfalls form small obstacles as you hike uphill. To the left the rock is so steep that fewer plants live there. To the right, a hikable hillside has a jungle of broadleaf trees. The sixteen foot waterfall can be climbed by footholds cut into solid basalt. Pools of cool water are deeper before each waterfall. Moss and giant ferns darken the scene. The next waterfall is too high for me to climb, and behind it one can see an 800 foot waterfall. The cliff is higher than that. Walk back down to a level area and spend a warm day in the shade. You can have .5 square miles to yourself for all day and night.
Santa Cruz Mountains, California
Redwood forests. You can have 2 square miles
to yourself for 4 days.
Antelope Valley, California
A grid of dirt roads is open to visitors.
You can have 1 square mile to yourself for
2 days.