The Smokies is the only park that requires you sleep in a shelter, right? Also, from where (park start) to where (park end)?
Thxnks, Dwg
Dwg
Smokies' Shelters
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#2
DWG. Are you missing an A? Heading north the first shelter is the Fontana(Hilton)Dam Shelter. A nice big, clean shelter overlooking the lake. It has bathrooms a short distance from the shelter. I last hiked the GSMNP last July. You can pick up a shelter registration form at the Fontana Hilton shelter, or call the Park. The Park rangers only want to know your tenative plans in case something happens to you or someone else while your hiking. The Rangers also like to know how many are out on the Trail. You can drop off a copy of your registration at Fontana Hilton or on the other side of the dam, just before entering the Trail. I doubt that anyone will ask to see your copy. There are 14 shelters along the AT and the last one is Davenport Gap. I would plan on stopping at Icewater Spring Shelter on one of your nights (*must see Charlies Bunion, one mile away)and try to avoid Tricorner Knob, to damp and dark. There are a lot of people up there that can shuttle you around. Good Hiking. 
DWG
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#4
DWG, The smokies actually start north of the Fontana Hilton. Bilko was right about everything else. Just for the record, I met one of my dearest friends at Tri-corner knob, so you never know what diamonds lurk in such a dark, dank place. But to answer your question DWG, Camping on the AT is restricted to shelters, or the immediate area around a shelter if it may be full. Throw in a boy scout troop and things fill up quickly. The shelters are nice stone things with FP’s, but are caged with fence to keep bears out. If one comes up and starts poking around the fence then you’ll learn what all the zoo animals feel like.
Have fun in the Land of Blue Smoke.
Tha Wookie
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#5
I thought they took the fences down on the shelters after that one guy let a bear in and it flipped out. Or was that more fiction? Bears like Dawg meat I here.
Bushwhack
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#6
What exactly do the fences look like? Is it just a gate that closes in the fourth side of the shelter, or is there actually a fenced in ‘yard’ around the shelter? I was wondering whether someone who camped outside the shelter would still be inside the fence, or would he just be taking his chances with the bears?
Ardsgaine
system
#7
The enclosed area of the shelter is made of Chain Link.The Gate is a two posted swing gate with a narrow opening.Don’t see how a bear got thru the gate(could have been a young one), when you sometimes have to remove your pack to get inside.In April 2000 I only stayed inside a shelter once in the Smokies.Tented the rest of the time,and sometimes heard wild pigs early mornings around the tent.No bears tho.
If anyone is concerned about bears in the Smokies,they need to cut the hiking day a little short to get a space in the shelters.Otherwise,you’ll have to take your chances with a full shelter or tent out.:cheers
Bill Harris
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#8
yes, it is a fourth wall. Tenting is fair game for the ursas. Nothing to fear, however. You can leave your food inside and tent, tarp, or lay out clean.
Tha Wookie
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#9
I"ve heard most of the fences have been removed. The only one I’m sure about is Cosby Knob Shelter, I was there earlier this month and no fence. Nice shelter. Heading back there in a few days and it looks like I’ll have to stay at Tricorner, hope it aint’ too bad.
steve hiker
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#10
Word has it that some nut was feeding a bear thru the door…he then left it unlatched for what ever reason. It got in that night and bumped the gate shut. Went nutz trashing the place before a brave sole opened the gate again. Tazmanian Devil style. This was in the ATN news last year I think which is why I thought about the fence being removed so the bears and back flipping skunks can be fed close up.
Bushwhack
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#11
Dawg, I hiked through the park in 2001. What a great place! You can pick up the permits from the Hilton or if you stay at the Hike Inn with Jeff and Nancy, they will drop them off for you. The first shelter after Shuckstacks was being torn down when I was there. They were making tent platforms and hanging bear wire. You can tent, tarp or hammock if you wish to (I believe the making of platforms to be an endorsement to do so). I think I’m right in saying that 3 bunk spaces are kept free for thru hikers, all the rest will probably be booked up by over nighter’s. If the thru hiker bunks are full, we were told by a ranger that we, as thru-hikers, could camp out. (Ranger definition of thru-hiker: If you hike from 70 miles prior to the park and intend to finish 70 miles after the park you are considered a thru-hiker)
There, that’s my pennys worth. Hope it is of help.
Ross
Ross
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#12
All of the chain-link fencing has been removed from the Smokies shelters. They have also remodeled them adding a front porch with bench seating and some skylights made from lexan which really brighten up the place. The shelters are a great improvement from the old, dark caged-in feel. Plus, it makes hikers responsible about leaving food/scraps lying around in the shelters.
The Park leaves 3 spots open each night per shelter for thru-hikers. You’re suppose to stay in the shelters, but there are obvious signs that people do camp at or near them. During my thru-hike of the Smokies I stelth camped about .10 mile from one shelter that was full of farting/snoring people. Plus the ground is just so much softer than wood.
guru
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#14
Can I get a non snoring section next time? Guru; any upgrades like chinking to keep the cold wind and snow out?
Bushwhack
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#16
A few weeks ago at Cosby Knob, there was someone who had stayed at Davenport Gap shelter the night before, and I believe he said it had a fence across the front. Most, or all others have been removed.
steve hiker
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#17
I know that Icewater Shelter did not have a fence in July 2003. Icewater did have a skylight and additional porch with a eating/writing/cooking table. What I liked best about the new improvements was the extended lower bunk. You can now sit on the bottom bunk without hitting your head on the top bunk, and people climbling to the top bunk don’t step on your pillow. Russell Field Shelter, Derrick Knob, Silars Bald (to keep out the fox), Double Spring Gap and Tricorner did have chain link fences in July 2003. :smokin
Bilko
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#18
I hiked this past year and there were at least two shelters that I remember that still had gates. Some had no gates but had not yet been remodeled in any way that I could tell. Also, in one or two, the fireplace did not draw the smoke up the chimney very well and the shelter tended to be quite smoky.
Undetermined
