Primitive Camping In The Chequamegon National Forest

[KAANAN]

I am looking to do some dispersed camping in the Chequamagon National Forest in late December. According to the federal website, you can do primitive camping in the Chequamagon’s sister forest, the Nicolet National Forest.

The site offers nothing stating whether or not it’s allowed in the Chequamagon. It’s been a big headache between navigating multiple websites with differing information and calling ranger stations just to have nobody answer the phone.

Can anybody here help me out? All I want to do is drive my jeep into the forest, along forest roads. Park on the side of the road, pitch a tent and start a fire.

[Mike]

Re: Primitive Camping In The Chequamegon National Forest

Yes, you can camp anywhere in the Chequamegon Forest on public federal land.

There are many fire lanes and old lumber roads that you can use to access with your truck.

Yes, you can park right alongside these roads, make camp, and camp there.

Better yet, there are many primitive camp areas designed just for this purpose. They have road access, a clearing, and are often at nice spots beside rivers or lakes. Just call the Ranger Station in the forest district you want to explore and ask for suggestions. The rangers are excellent and will help you.

[markkee]

Re: Primitive Camping In The Chequamegon National Forest

Kanaan,

I have been disperse camping long before it was called dispersed camping. We never bothered to ask-while today it's good advice to call the local ranger district for a list of do's and do nots. When I was driving or bicycling cross country, I stopped when I was tired and made camp in the national forest.

All dispersed camping is pack it and pack it out.

I tend to stick to well traveled roads and pick sites near rivers and lakes where other folks have camped. There used to be a great website dedicated to free and cheap camping. EugeneCarsey.com if officially shuttered. This guy traveled all over the west and told where the best free campsites were. Search the term "boondocking" in Google and you will find a plethora information about free camping on public lands.

I buy a BenchMark Road & Recreation atlas for every state that I travel to. It has great maps for all the national forest. While the maps are not detailed, it will give you enough general information on what roads to drive though to find dispersed campsites. The key is to blend in. One is not allowed to cut down trees and clear meadows to make campsites.

If you have never dispersed camped before, find a national forest campground and drive a mile or two away from it in any direction and find a gravel or dirt spur in the road. Drive a few hundred yards and more than likely you will come across an abandoned dispersed site.

[Mike]

Re: Primitive Camping In The Chequamegon National Forest

I just completed a four day primitive camping trip in Chequamegon/Nicolet National Forest. Just to be sure, I called the rangers to ask about the rules. The rules were pretty simple;

- Make sure you are on National Forest Land and not on private land
- If possible, please use a pre-existing primitive campsite in order to reduce impact on the land. You can camp pretty much anywhere, but it is preferred that you camp in an existing primitive campsite. Primitive campsites can be found on the website.