How to Go Camping Without a Car: NYC Edition

Live in NYC without a car? Camping is still possible.

Bikes! Trains! Buses! Feet! All of these car-free options are in play if you’re looking to escape the city for a day or week or month or whatever. Our goal is to make it easy for people who don’t own a car in NYC to go camping without doing a ton of planning or hiring a personal cartographer to map out a route.

🚲 Bikes!

What could be more fun and spontaneous than hopping on a Citi Bike and never turning back? Well, I don’t think you can do that. But you can definitely take your own personal bike or rented bike out of the city. If you have a bikepacking setup for carrying gear, great. If not, you can always opt for a camping structure instead.

Here are a few Hipcamp bikepacking collections for people looking to leave the city on two wheels:

• Empire State Trail Collection: Camping within a 30 minute bike ride of the trail.
• East Coast Greenway Collection: Camping within a 30 minute bike ride of the route.
• Delaware Water Gap Loop Collection: Camping within a 30 minute bike ride of the bikepacking route.
  • Note: You’ll need to take a bus to East Stroudsburg, PA. See “Buses!” section below.

🚄 Trains!

The thought of camping via train may conjure images of Great Depression era hobos hopping freight trains. While romantic, this isn’t what we’re recommending. A safer and more reliable option would be to purchase a train ticket online and head northbound from either Penn Station or Grand Central. Check out our Amtrak and Metro-North collections below.

• Metro-North Collection: Camping within 5 miles of Metro-North stations.
• Amtrak Collection: Camping within 5 miles of Amtrak train stations.

🚌 Buses!

Trains will only get you so far – this isn’t Switzerland. Or Japan. Or any other country with an extensive rail network. This is America. In America, we have buses. Yes, there’s a high likelihood that someone on the bus will be eating a bologna sandwich. But that’s okay. It’ll make the fresh camping air that much fresher by contrast. Here are a few bus options:

• Megabus to the Catskills
• Ourbus to East Stroudsburg, PA
• Adirondack Trailways to New Paltz, NY

🦶 Feet!

Sweaty, sweaty feet. They can take you far. Forrest Gump it. While it’s technically possible to walk out of the city, we recommend taking the train to the trail and then hoofing it from there.

The simplest option would be to take Metro-North to the Appalachian Trail stop, which spits you out near the trail on the New York–Connecticut border. If you’re willing to go farther afield, you can take the Amtrak Vermonter to … Vermont. The White River Junction stop puts you within 5 miles of the trail near Hanover, New Hampshire.

The more “New York” option would be to follow the Old Leatherman Walk. There was a recent NY Times article and Sunday Read podcast about the history of the route and the enigmatic Old Leatherman. While camping is somewhat sparse along the way, there are certainly options. And there are no shortage of train stations that plop you directly on the route. Use these collections to help plan your walking adventure.

• Old Leatherman Walk Collection: Camping within 5 miles of the Old Leatherman Walk.
• Appalachian Trail Collection: Tent or structure camping within 5 miles of the trail.

✈️ Planes?

Well, this isn’t the most environmentally or budget-friendly option. But it is an option. And it’s pretty wild that you can take a train to JFK, hop on a flight to any place where Hipcamps exist – Australia, Canada, UK, France, all 50 US states – and hitchhike your way to a campsite. To make it easy, we put together an Airport Collection.

• Airport Collection: Camping within a 30 minute drive of a major airport.

Trip inspiration

Imagination running short? We get it. You’re probably burnt out from not getting enough Vitamin C – I bet you didn’t know that the “C” in Vitamin C stands for “Camping.” Anywho, here are six pre-packaged trip ideas to get you started.

Idea #1: Metro-North to Tenmile River

🚆 Take the Harlem Line to the Tenmile River station. Camp at Archmage Sanctuary. In the Hipcamp description, they mention that they’ll pick you up if you give them advance notice. Spend the next couple of days exploring local trails and nature preserves.

Idea #2: Amtrak to the Horses

🚆🐴 Take the Vermonter Amtrak to Waterbury-Stowe, VT. If your train gets in late, we recommend staying in town for a night before hoofing it to Vermont Ranch & Riverside Retreat. They offer a Horsemanship and Riding Lesson add-on where you can “learn non-forceful bareback and bit-less leading and mounted techniques step by step.”

Idea #3: Empire State Trail Century Ride

🚲 Wake up early and pedal ~100 miles to Taliaferro Farms – campers frequently mention their farm store on site. If your legs can’t handle a hundred miles, there are other options along the Empire State Trail that are closer to the city.

Idea #4: Gunks Bus

🚌 Take the Adirondack Trailways bus to New Paltz, NY. Go for a long walk or take a short Uber to The Mountain Top @ Wright’s Farm. If you’re a climber, Wright’s Farm is a stone’s throw away from The Gunks.

Idea #5: Metro-North to Appalachian Trail

🚆🦶 Take the Metro-North Hudson Line to the Manitou train station. Hike ~15 miles to Fahnestock State Park Campground, which requires advanced reservations. Continue on for another ~25 miles until you reach the Appalachian Trail Metro-North station. Take the train back to the city. Be sure to check the Appalachian Trail Conservancy website for more info, and consider downloading the FarOut app if you plan to spend more time on the AT; it’s a great resource for finding free, dispersed camping and water refill locations.

Idea #6: Bus to Bike

🚌🚲 Bring your bike on the Ourbus to East Stroudsburg, PA. Pedal to Organic Farm in the Pocono Mts.. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can do the full Delaware Water Gap Loop (see Bikes! section above). In addition to private land camping, there are several public campgrounds in the Stokes State Forest – perfect for breaking up the ride.

Bonus Idea: Take Flight

✈️ Fly to Brisbane, Australia and camp at Scribbly Gums. Why Scribbly Gums? Well, we like the name a lot.

Final words

We hope the collections above help make it simpler to leave the city on a whim or otherwise. The camping season comes and goes. And, having spent many formative adult years living in NYC, I know how hard it is to carve out a camping weekend especially if it involves herding cats — both in the literal sense of bringing your cat camping and in the figurative sense of trying to organize a trip with friends.

We recommend booking the site and the transportation first. The rest will come together. Or it won’t. Either way, it’ll be a memorable time.

About the author

Daniel Tomko is a Lead Data Scientist at Hipcamp. He’s based out of Portland, Maine, but spent some of his formative early adult years living in NYC. In his words:

“I was a late-bloomer when it came to camping – late 20s, living in NYC. A group of us rented a car and drove Upstate. Or maybe it was somewhere in Pennsylvania. I have no clue. Either way, we found a place to camp, set up our borrowed tent on a sloping, pinecone covered hill, and barely slept on the bare ground; we didn’t know that sleeping pads were a thing. It was absolutely miserable and absolutely the best late summer weekend.”

FAQs

What happens if it rains while camping near NYC?

Short answer: You can protect your trip with Hipcamp’s Weather Guarantee. Another option would be to book a covered structure like a cabin or airstream.

• Weather guarantees: At checkout, Hipcamp allows you to purchase a Weather Guarantee. You’ll get reimbursed if it rains for 3+ hours on your trip.
• Book a camping structure: Even if it rains, you can still have a great time. We’re fans of the rainy day cabin-in-the-woods vibes.

Can I go camping near NYC without bringing gear?

Short answer: Yes—book a cabin, rent camping gear in NYC, or borrow gear from a friend.

• Book a camping structure: If you book a cabin, yurt, or other camping structure, you can still go camping without a tent or sleeping bag.
• Rent gear: Check out our article on the best places to rent camping gear in NYC.
• Borrow from a friend: More times than not, people who have their own gear are more than happy to share.

What should I pack for a car-free camping trip from NYC?

Short answer: Pack light, prioritize layers, and bring only trip-specific essentials.

• It really depends on your trip. In general, less is more. You’ll eventually get used to smelling and wearing the same thing every day.
• Swift Industries put together a nice packing list for bikepacking.
• If you aren’t bikepacking, you can probably skip packing chain lube.

Is it safe to camp alone near NYC (and how do I ease into it)?

Short answer: Start by joining organized campouts or inviting a friend, then try solo trips when you’re comfortable with navigation and basics.

• Join a group that organizes campouts. Some of our favorites include Usal Project and All Bodies on Bikes.
• Alt: Swipe on dating apps until you see someone in a tent. Ask them to plan a camping date for you. (Don’t actually do this—find a real friend who knows how to camp.)

What bathroom options do Hipcamp sites have (toilets, porta-potties, etc.)?

Short answer: Amenities vary by site—use Hipcamp filters to find toilets and read the site details to learn the specific type.

• There are a wide range of toilet types depending upon where you’re camping: flush toilets, composting toilets, porta-potties, or BYO.
• Hipcamp allows you to filter for sites with toilets. Currently, there’s no great way to filter by the type of toilet, so check the site page for details.
• For backpacking trips, you may have to dig a cathole. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy has a guide for what to do when nature calls in nature.

Do campsites near NYC have showers?

Short answer: Many do. When booking via Hipcamp, filter for showers and read reviews to confirm indoor/outdoor/solar setups.

• You can filter for campsites that offer showers.
• There’s a wide range of shower types—indoor, outdoor, solar—so read reviews to make sure you’re comfortable with what’s offered.

How do I handle food and water on a car-free camping trip?

Short answer: Plan simple meals, treat or boil water, and grab groceries near your destination to lighten your load.

• Water: Sawyer filter, Aquamira drops, or boil water (Jet Boils are great).
• Meals: Good To-Go backpacking meals, tortillas + nut butters, tinned fish (if you don’t mind odors).
• Snacks: Hard cheeses (gouda, cheddar, parmesan) that don’t require refrigeration.