The principal option here is along the trail just northwest of Papp Rd. This area is accessible from the Kurnick Trailhead, about 1/4 mile northwest. A service access from Papp Rd reaches this site directly (which is an advantage for maintenance, but a disadvantage from the standpoint of keeping camping areas away from road access). If the trail were to consider walk-in camping with adjacent parking, another alternative would be directly across from the Kurnick parking lot.
Just west of Papp Rd, there's a wide area with trail down the middle. Although
there's room for a row of tents back along the tree line, there
isn't really enough room to clearly separate the camping from the trail use, and the patch
of land near the ramp down to Papp Rd is soggy. However, just inside the woods
and well back from the bridge, there's an extensive flat area. This pan is taken
from the flat area in the woods; the trail is visible.
Camping at Kurnicks (Montour Garage, Quonset Hut, Etc.) . . . I like the idea of allowing camping right at the picnic table near the quonset hut, but I think the intention was for people to be camping down towards the bridge over Papp Road. There is a clearing on the North side, along the trail next to the bridge, that is a thin strip of grass, but thought it was plenty big for setting up tents in a row. It was no less wide than C&O Campsite Huckleberry Hill, but it also was off the trail more, where as this site would be very close to the trail. The photos you took were more in the woods, and in my understanding of it, it wouldn't be where you were standing.
We have discussed both walk-in (close enough to a parking lot to carry a tent to the camping area) and bike-in-only (no road access) alternatives. This location offers one possibility of each kind. We understand that current thinking is to support through-bikers rather than camping from cars. This favors the Papp Rd alternative.
With respect to the area near Papp Rd, a big difference between this area and Huckleberry Hill on the C&O is that the camping area at Huckleberry Hill is clearly separated from the trail. For comparison, a photo of Huckleberry Hill is below; it looks wider to me.
Another note about the Papp Rd area: there's easy access from Papp Rd, though I don't know what the parking situation is down there.
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Papp Rd area, looking toward Papp Rd (photo by Troy) |
Papp Rd area, looking toward Quonset Hut |
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For comparison, here's Huckleberry Hill. The photo is taken from about the midpoint of the campsite -- there is at least as much space behind the photographer as in front. |
There is easy access from Papp Rd. We did not check on the parking situation near the gate |
Current thinking is that we should support through-bikers, which means putting the campsites farther from road access than most people will want to walk. If that thinking were to change, there might be a suitable area directly across from the parking lot.
Across the trail from the Kurnick parking lot, behind the kiosk, there's potential for a campsite in a level patch of woods. This would be directly across the trail from the parking lot.
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