Mathews Arm Campground - SNP question

[Scott B.]

Anyone ever camped there? Thinking about heading that way after work on Fri. to camp Fri and Sat nights. I see that tent camping is walk up, so I'd hate to show up around 7-8pm and not have a place to stay. Any intel or advice for camping in the SNP without going more than 2.5 hours away? Thanks in advance!

[TurbineBlade]

Many times - if you arrive early enough Friday there are plenty of walk-up sites.  I've never tried to get a site after 3 pm or so, so I can't comment on availability in the evening during "leaf" season.  

If you do get a site, you have crazy-easy access to Piney and Jeremy's Run -- both streams where Beth and I have fished (and have fished within the last 4 days).  Both streams produced basically as many fish as we wanted to catch -- you can also drive more or less the same distance from 211 on the other side of skyline and hit the Hughes and some other great streams aren't far away (Rose, etc.).  

If you make it out -- enjoy!  I recommend camoflauge, water/snacks, and fishing upstream.  Remember that mid 30s temps at night mean your pancake syrup will just about refuse to come out of the bottle.  

Correction:  Fished J-Run many times now, Piney once.  They're basically the same but J-Run probably sees 6 more fisherman each season because it's a shorter hike.  We like to hike down to the 4th stream crossing way down past where all the backpackers always set up camp on the north bank down there and store their bottle filters by the stream.  

Gene

[Scott B.]

Thank you kindly for this! If I do an early morning trip on Saturday, will that affect my chances? How busy does it get on the weekends?

[TurbineBlade]

It gets about as busy as you can imagine on skyline and on the more popular trailheads this time of year....especially on a Sat morning.  If you want to park at a trailhead to fish one of the streams, I would plan to be parked by 7:00...but that's just me.  Rocky Mountain N.P. was amazingly similar in July -- in fishing and parking.

Note that full parking lots does not = people fishing.  One day coming out of J-Run on a 100+ fish, memorable day last year at this time we found the parking lot absolutely packed but didn't see another fisherman the entire day.  Not too many hikers were out either to be honest.  Most people look at stuff out their window and stop at the picnic tables to eat.  Or they eat while looking out of their windows. 

Americans do a lot of eating while sitting in cars, looking out of windows. 

for J-run be sure to park at Elk Wallow Wayside Picnic area (not the wayside itself) and go down the trail immediately to the left of the outhouse.  I'll save you the 10 minutes of guessing if you haven't been there before ;). 

There are so many streams in the SNP and so few people willing to hike in to fish them, I'm not sure one can "bust" one of them. 

Gene

On Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 9:23:46 PM UTC-4, Scott B. wrote:

[Yambag Nelson]

It is going to be a zoo there this weekend. I got stuck with a walkup site there a couple years ago and got stuck with a handicapped site. It wasn't ideal as the thing for a fire was elevated a few feet off the ground which made the campfire much less enjoyable.

There is another walkup campground a bit further down the road with better sites that may be more likely available.

Bear activity can also be extremely high this time of year so be careful with your food.

[Scott Stankus]

Nope, Gene - that was me! 

And hello!

--Scott S.

On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 7:30 PM, TurbineBlade <doubl...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey -- are you the Scott sitting across from me at Port City earlier this year at that tie thing?  I can't remember names -- if you are, hello!  

Gene

On Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 7:25:27 PM UTC-4, TurbineBlade wrote:

Many times - if you arrive early enough Friday there are plenty of walk-up sites.  I've never tried to get a site after 3 pm or so, so I can't comment on availability in the evening during "leaf" season.  

If you do get a site, you have crazy-easy access to Piney and Jeremy's Run -- both streams where Beth and I have fished many times (and have fished within the last 4 days).  Both streams produced basically as many fish as we wanted to catch -- you can also drive more or less the same distance from 211 on the other side of skyline and hit the Hughes and some other great streams aren't far away (Rose, etc.).  

If you make it out -- enjoy!  I recommend camoflauge, water/snacks, and fishing upstream.  Remember that mid 30s temps at night mean your pancake syrup will just about refuse to come out of the bottle.  

Gene

On Tuesday, October 13, 2015 at 7:15:49 PM UTC-4, Scott B. wrote:

Anyone ever camped there? Thinking about heading that way after work on Fri. to camp Fri and Sat nights. I see that tent camping is walk up, so I'd hate to show up around 7-8pm and not have a place to stay. Any intel or advice for camping in the SNP without going more than 2.5 hours away? Thanks in advance!

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[Scott B.]

Does the campground have staff on hand? Say I get there 8-9pm on Friday, is it closed for new business, do I randomly choose a spot, is there an employee that will sell me a spot? Thanks again for yalls help! I think I am going to fight the crowds! Too gorgeous not too. I have tried calling the number listed online to no avail.

Does the campground have staff on hand? Say I get there 8-9pm on Friday, is it closed for new business, do I randomly choose a spot, is there an employee that will sell me a spot? Thanks again for yalls help! I think I am going to fight the crowds! Too gorgeous not too. I have tried calling the number listed online to no avail. 

[TurbineBlade]

Scott -- I have an option for you.  I'll PM.  

Gene

[Rob Shane]

When I was there over the Summer we didn't get in until around 9-10 and they still had the park hosts working the front desk. not sure if they stick around after Labor day though. also we reserved a tent site online so not sure if this is relevant in any way. 

Since SNP is a ntional park, isn't open camping allowed anywhere within the park boundaries? I've had that mentioned to me a few times from fishing buddies but never had the gusto to just post up somewhere. plus not sure what status is on open fires on unimproved sites.  

ALSO, Americans do a lot of eating while sitting in cars, looking out of windows made me LOL pretty hard at my desk.

[tperkins]

Here are the regulations for backcountry camping in SNP. Fires are not allowed unless you are at a AT trail hut or day use hut. 

http://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/campbc_regs.htm