Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How true is that from your experience living in the area? Is it common for people to just find a place to camp even though is a private property (if they don't make a mess or anything)?
Maine fowling laws give everyone free access to floodplain land, so long as they come onto your land from a canoe. About 10-acres of my land is in floodplain and produces fiddleheads. Every Spring I find dozens of people picking fiddleheads, they are always friendly and I wave and smile in return.
Recently Maine changed their fiddlehead laws, now days if you sell fiddleheads you must have written permission from the land owner before you forage. It has caused a reduction in the quantity of people foraging fiddleheads.
On the other hand, if you beach your canoe on tribal land, they do not allow non-tribal folks on their land, and they will issue tickets so a judge can hand out fines. A few of my neighbors have stories to tell about that.
I think you are best served by visiting the nearest house and ask them, who owns the land, and if they mind you camping on it.
There is a couple that come to me every Fall asking permission to tip fir trees to make holiday wreaths. They have seasonal jobs, making wreaths is their holiday money. They often give us a huge wreath for our front door.
A pair like to run trap-lines on my land trapping coyote and bobcat.
One of my friends is a bear-hunting guide, he setups a bait station and he takes tourist bear-hunters in to get bear.
One of our neighbors boards horses, and sometimes they ride horses on rt 116. Whenever I see them I invite them to take their horses on my jeep trail, just to get off the pavement. [sometimes I-95 gets shutdown and the trucks get detoured to use rt 116 from Howland to Old Town, those trucks do not slow down when they drive rt 116].
I am happy to give these people permission.
Quote:
... I ask this because so much of Maine is private and most of it is forest land. I imagine it's not difficult to find a place in the woods/forest that is isolated enough to camp for a while, even if is posted.
If land is posted.
DONT DO IT!
DO NOT go onto posted land without permission.
Quote:
... I also ask this because I know people who say they boondock their RV around that area and other places around the country, just find a safe spot to spend a few nights, maybe a week, and move on cleaning after themselves. Not sure if they ever had problems with the landowner, though.
In my township about one-third of the parcels have paved road access or power grid / phonelines. The majority of this township does not [which is a really good metaphor for the entire state of Maine]. All of those parcels are privately owned, some may have a cabin, or a year-round dwelling, but most just have a campsite.
Every summer I see hitchhikers coming in looking for land parcels that belong to their aunts or uncles, they come up to camp and fish for the summer.
There are a few cabins that the owners only use occasionally.
This is the kind of disrespect that will ruin it for everyone. If we were talking about using your vehicle without permission, it would be theft. Eventually, people who feel entitled and think they have a right to use posted land will cause the law to be changed to require permission first.
I agree completely. It should not be done without the owner's permission. I am more interested in the concept that all that land is private, yet it's mostly forestland with no to very little people around. It's so much land one could easily get lost and never find his way back in a few places.
Thank you for the info, really helped.
So, if a couple people is just passing by the proprieties, freehiking, it's not a problem? Ask permission if you want to use the land somehow or camp/boondock.
I agree completely. It should not be done without the owner's permission. I am more interested in the concept that all that land is private, yet it's mostly forestland with no to very little people around. It's so much land one could easily get lost and never find his way back in a few places.
Christopher Knight lived without human contact for 27 years between 1986 and 2013 in the Belgrade Lakes region.
My adult son lived with us [his parents] for a year. He has 'Auditory dyslexia' his hearing range is above most people's hearing. He can usually hear female voices but he cannot hear male voices, and ultra sonic sounds give him headaches. Life is very difficult for him to be exposed to other people, as he must lip-read. He wanted us to let him be a hermit on our land. But we felt that if he were to live a year without exposure to other people, he would lose what skills he has gained. Eventually he would be forced to interact with other people and at that time his frustration would be multiplied.
Maine is an ideal location to be a hermit.
I have come to know a few Mainers who live in tents, or yurts, or old abandoned school buses, they grow veggies and sell them in Farmer's Markets.
Christopher Knight lived without human contact for 27 years between 1986 and 2013 in the Belgrade Lakes region.
My adult son lived with us [his parents] for a year. He has 'Auditory dyslexia' his hearing range is above most people's hearing. He can usually hear female voices but he cannot hear male voices, and ultra sonic sounds give him headaches. Life is very difficult for him to be exposed to other people, as he must lip-read. He wanted us to let him be a hermit on our land. But we felt that if he were to live a year without exposure to other people, he would lose what skills he has gained. Eventually he would be forced to interact with other people and at that time his frustration would be multiplied.
Maine is an ideal location to be a hermit.
I have come to know a few Mainers who live in tents, or yurts, or old abandoned school buses, they grow veggies and sell them in Farmer's Markets.
That's truly fascinating.
I'm sorry to hear about your boy's condition and I hope he you guys are doing well, as a parent I know it's a life full of hard decisions. Mostly we go with your gut and hope for the best.
I guess becoming a hermit, living isolated, is doable when you know what you are doing. I wonder if it would be doable with an RV, boondocking from place to place, moving after a few weeks or so, and still be somewhat isolated.
In Maine, every square-foot of land is owned by someone, and over 92% of the state is forest.
Every township initially had a public lot. It was set aside for the benefit of the community and ownership was retained by the state. Over the years, most of these have been traded away by the state in order to consolidate the lands held by the state into larger parcels. Because the Public lots had not had timber harvested on them for years, they contained quite a bit of valuable timber. Logging companies were willing to trade larger parcels of cut-over land that they owned for the patchwork of Public lots in townships. A few years ago the State traded multiple Public lots for ground near Katahdin Lake. I'm sure there are still some public lots which might only be 360 acre parcels throughout the State. Originally every township had one.
If you are planning on hanging out in the woods, be mindful of the abundance of the tiny deer ticks that carry lyme disease. You can go online to find out property ownership so you can contact the owner to get permission. If you trespass on posted land, you could get shot.
How true is that from your experience living in the area? Is it common for people to just find a place to camp even though is a private property (if they don't make a mess or anything)?
I ask this because so much of Maine is private and most of it is forest land. I imagine it's not difficult to find a place in the woods/forest that is isolated enough to camp for a while, even if is posted.
I also ask this because I know people who say they boondock their RV around that area and other places around the country, just find a safe spot to spend a few nights, maybe a week, and move on cleaning after themselves. Not sure if they ever had problems with the landowner, though.
Is it common for people to just find a place to camp even though is a private property (if they don't make a mess or anything)?
I ask this because so much of Maine is private and most of it is forest land. I imagine it's not difficult to find a place in the woods/forest that is isolated enough to camp for a while, even if is posted.
I also ask this because I know people who say they boondock their RV around that area and other places around the country, just find a safe spot to spend a few nights, maybe a week, and move on cleaning after themselves. Not sure if they ever had problems with the landowner, though.
Go to BLM public lands for “boondocking” according to their rules legally.
Why do you insist that it is ok to camp using a motorized vehicle on someone’s else land?
You are ignorant of the forest life - it is different from your “life in the woods”: you can’t “clean up after yourself in the forest” - ever!
How come? Let me just give you some examples:
- if a person walks once on the forest floor he/she compresses the soil - it takes several years to heal it - if ever.
Native endangered plants like trillium, etc which can not tolerate even slightly compressed soil would never recover - and you can not see them off season - usually the so called spring ephemerals lose their foliage and can not be seen: you may walk right on top of them - killing them.
You may trample on other rare/endangered native plants which provide food to numerous insects and other inhabitants of the land
- looks like you are hoping to illegally park your RV- it means oils, gas, rubber, traces of asphalt, if it rolls over /catches tiny seeds stuck in tiny crevices of some noxious weeds from far away you may contaminate that part of forest with invasive species -even just simply from the dirt on your boots.
The weight of the vehicle alone is a huge problem for the very sensitive forest soil.
-your RV may cart in invasive destructive insects eggs or adults from other areas of the country - again through your vehicle, boots, belongings.
We are losing forests at an alarming rates: look up Asian longhorn beetles, emerald ash borer, hemlock wooly adelgid, destructive sirex species, European gypsy moth, lantern fly, etc, etc.
- are you going to use the fire? Any kinds of combustion? Enough said. The mirrors of your RV may start a fire even under some circumstances.
Where will you get wood? Stealing it it from the property? some fallen logs - are homes to numerous insects, lizards, etc. Don’t touch them..
Doubt your plan includes bringing your own wood - which is even illegal due to the possibility of bringing invasive species with it.
Maine woods used for timber, paper production, it is home to wildlife - no grocery stores for them - they need every inch of the woods for food, shelter, procreation- and your “quiet camping” is a menace to them .
Some residents live off the land: nobody wants to suffer economic losses because some camper brought on invasive species and now the whole swath of woods must be destroyed - by federal authorities.
Educate yourself on those invasive bugs I mentioned earlier and see how many acres of trees are destroyed statewide to contain the contagion - the Feds compiled some data.
The woods of Maine - are the last one we have - and it is not a “playground” for YouTubers recording “my van life” and it is not a “plaything” for you to live “cheaply” without paying taxes or contributing in other ways.
It is working woods: providing a few remaining homes to a wide diversity of life - which is fast diminishing elsewhere.
Buy your own land to camp in Maine - and take good care of that land!
I am appalled to read your immature and ignorant posts about the possibility of camping without permission on private lands and I am not even a Mainah.
My suggestion: get a job on a local farm. They will let you park there for free in season - they might need your working hands
Or at the minimum - ask for a permission - some landowners may be unaware of the damage your camping may bring…
Last edited by L00k4ward; 07-31-2022 at 05:55 AM..
If you are planning on hanging out in the woods, be mindful of the abundance of the tiny deer ticks that carry lyme disease. You can go online to find out property ownership so you can contact the owner to get permission. If you trespass on posted land, you could get shot.
Thank you for the info!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
