Wisdom of a quarter mile between campsites
As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that beauty of the state’s policy of keeping dispersed and wilderness campsites at least a 1/4 mile apart.
While that leads to fewer camping opportunities in popular locations, it also means a truer wilderness experience where other campers will not be disturbed by talking, music, chopping wood or other human noise, smoke from other fires or other privacy issues.
I enjoy having my space while camping and having nobody else in sight or sound while in the wilderness.
NYS Leantos
Interactive map showing all of the lean-tos in New York State as of May 2026.
Styrofoam Coffee Cups Suck
Years ago, I would occasionally use styrofoam coffee cups while camping. There convenient, they are one less dish to wash. Despite what the greenies will tell you, in a hot fire, styrofoam burns fine. It’s cheap, and it doesn’t involve cutting down trees. Then I switched to a regular coffee mug, as I like the feel of the mug in my hands on a cold morning at camp.
After a while I started getting tired of washing the coffee cup, but I want a disposable, e.g. that I could discard and burn, and that I could take in the truck to sip coffee. I got these plastic-coated paper cups with lids which were quite nice, but relatively expensive. I used up the paper cups but still had lids, so I was thinking I could get some cheap styrofoam cups, and use them with the lids. They don’t fit, and I hate how they feel in my hands, and how they make the coffee taste.
I went back to the old ceramic coffee cup to enjoy my coffee up at camp. They aren’t that hard to wash. And maybe go green, and use a reusable cup in the truck. Coffee cups are easy to rinse out, they are much less of a pain then plates, which I think I will continue to use paper or foam ones that are disposable and burnable up at camp. I figure if they aren’t going to the landfill because I’m burning them, I don’t have to feel guilty about using them once and tossing them, although I guess you could argue that your still wasting the chemicals and trees that make up the styrofoam or paper plates. But so be it.






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