Best place to live in the woods long-term?

[travelingjoe]

Threads old but a lot of good info here.

 

[codycodnyk]

If you can find someone with private hunting land that they don't go to often, you might be able to offer improving their site in exchange for camping there. A lot of suburban folks with money have hunting land far away in the sticks. Some of these people don't go there often because of work, so they might only visit their land for a weekend or two. I have an uncle in that exact situation, and everytime he goes up, he has too little time to make the campsite better. He keeps saying he wants to dig a latrine and build tree stands, but he doesn't want to waste the short weekend on work when he could drink beer and hunt. Perhaps if you put a Craigslist ad out there, you'd get a bite.

I recommend this method because you'd have much less contact with game wardens or rangers, if any at all. Plus they can't run you off since you have permission from the landowner to be there

 

[codycodnyk]

Edit double post

 

[travelingjoe]

Smart idea

 

[Arnold]

There seems to be a lot of information in this post that I would disregard. For instance, firearms are illegal? WHAT?

I've spent the last year gathering knowledge on surviving in the extreme northwest. I'm planning on spending the rest of my life out there sometime soon, 50+ miles from anyone and anything, and I can tell you, a firearm is something I will probably not only need, but want.
I too have grown weary of the urban lifestyle, and am tired of society demanding that I conform to their own standards and demands, so as I prepare to go I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my life doing what I want to do; living life.

My advice is to look into your future and know what you want. You say you're going to take people with you? how will that alter the dynamics of your lifestyle in the future? Being alone can be difficult, that's the one part I'm not looking forward to but I've accepted it, so just make sure you're mentally ready for that if it happens, and above all trust those going with you, as well as understand that they may leave you high and dry. What if they decide they don't want that lifestyle anymore? What will you do if that happens? People change their minds all the time, just look at divorce rates!!
Will you ever want kids, etc? Are you prepared to raise them out there? It can certainly be done but these are some of the things that you will need to ask yourself.

As far as finding land, well... that's the fun part.

 

[Robert zolzer]

Im going to live in the woods still thinking witch one to go to. Im leaveing bout june im going to ride my bike. Been doing alot of study of it and know im ready

 

[AlwaysLost]

just avoid people. look i know everyone tells you to head to the PNW forests and stuff, but thats considered pro-wilderness survivor. u needa start out something much more basic. i recommend the midwest. especially KS, OK, NE, MO, etc. we have lots of forest areas that arent as majestic as those in the west, but theyre still wild enough to train you.

1. Flint Hills - KS

Flint Hills - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

GO to the flint hills as your number one option. Its a large area encompassing much of eastern kansas, and it consists of many rolling hills dotted in woodland forests and many a river and stream. Its a perfect area to learn to live in the forest. The majority of the land is not owned. Alot of it is, but alot more isnt. As far as people goes, theres a very small chance of you having to worry about anyone spotting your camp, or spotting your presence. Theres various small towns that dot the landscape, but still spread out enough to make the area in betweens pretty damn rural.

2. The Ozarks - MO

The Ozarks - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ive been here alot of times, most of the time to actually camp, but ive also shown up a few times to just live in the woods. Most of the area from what ive seen that is around lakes and some of the rivers, have been turned into wilderness resorts, camping resorts etc. But alot of the rest of th eland is just government owned im assuming. The weather is a bit cooler than the flint hills though, and the forests seem to be a bit thicker.

Theres more too, Ks is literally riddled with them, but the flint hills is the most popular. The same goes for MO. OK, and NE, have various forest/wooded areas too, but ive never spent much time in them.

YOu dont wanna head all the ways out the west to get stuck up in some crazy extreme ecological system if u dnt know next to nothing about wilderness survival. Alot of it is common sense, but that being said you have to adjust you common sense to the different situations youll come across in different foresty areas, and trust me, its smarter to start with the basic.

I'd advise against camping illegally in the flint hills. Yeah u might not get caught but most of it is protected grassland. You could find yourself in a world of legal trouble if caught...

As for Ozarks heck yeah that place is awesome.

 

[todd]

so how did your project work out? did you spend anytime camping?
this past winter I was at Land between the Lakes national forest for a week. its nice to recharge your nature batteries but id really like to do it long term also.

 

[Dutch]

Bumping an old thread I know. But..

When I walked the Washington section of the pct for a month it was fuckin rad. Every day was an adventure. Same with mushroom hunting for profit in Idaho/Washington. Every day I was climbing and moving thru a forest. I could live a life moving around the PNW.

But when I walked into the forest expecting to set up a quiet camp and just get back to earth.. Holy shit I was bored. Lasted 6 days and bounced.

 

[severin]

dude, no. Just, no. You find a place to chill in the forrest without immediate consequences you are living a fucking miracle.

I've been....... gradually.. looking..... for that. It is extremely difficult to find.

 

[Packitup]

I would say Canada. You freeze meat throughout the winter. You could be far enough away from civilization so nobody would see your fire. Winter will be rough but two or more people could build a cabin in enough time.

 

[Hide2night]

I’d love to know this as well, preferably mountains, a lake, and some snow, that’s in the continental US. I’ve been scouring Google Earth but kinda hard to tell

 

[Omightydarkone]

When it comes time for me to disappear( beginning of spring i hope) im picking canda. It has a vast amount of untamed wilderness. Once you get so deep in there the chances of you seeing any people are super slim to none. Which is a good thing when it comes to hiding smoke Winters are brutal but bears hibernate during them which is a plus. You would also be able to freeze food instead of having to smoke all of your meat. Plenty of enough woods to build a cabin with. Make sure you have the right gear for winter survival, particularly clothing. Snow shoes would be a plus. Either make them or buy them. Oh and you're gonna want a gun. Aint no way around it. Get good with an axe and brush up on survival skills.

 

[MaybeDoIt]

Just made an account to reply to this thread. I've been searching the internet for this sort of advice and haven't yet found what I'm looking for…maybe it's my search terms that are inadequate, or more likely the people who do find these wild places keep quiet about them (and don't have the Internet). Bumping again in hopes that someone sees me and can reveal even *more* info…

I'm eyeing stretches of wilderness for the sake of primal living—for how long, who knows—and here are the useful posts I've found so far… this reddit post, a city-data.com post (only good responses are on p 3&4), this random infolific.com article, and of course this forum post we're on now, which may be the most helpful. My search has told me:

- The "Pacific Northwest" (of the States) keeps coming up. I'm hearing a lot of Idaho, Montana, and some votes for Washington (in that order). Idaho has the "River of No Return Wilderness" area in it, which is the U.S.'s second-largest wild area without paved roads (! nice). I don't recall specific recs for Montana, but for Washington, people mentioned the Cascades and Olympics.
- Canada got suggestions for most territories. The ones that matter most to me though are northern Alberta and northern Sask, just because I'm in NorCal right now so those are the closest.
- A spattering of random other states, including Utah, Arizona, Colorado…not as much consensus here though. Also Northern Maine (??? not sure about that.)

Aside from these reasonable-seeming suggestions for places in the wild where you might not have to worry in the back of your head about a forest ranger giving you shit, there were also some unreasonable suggestions such as:
- Southeast Alaska. Yes, it's within the realm of possibilities if you're a survival pro…not what I'm looking for though. I'm looking for a place to go full primal starting in the springtime. (Not a place to bring a loaded rifle and tons of warm clothes and other survival gear.)
- The Outback (Australia). Everything kills you (apparently). But from what I gather, the nobody-gives-a-shitness is even stronger than in Alaska's outback. Also, even though you'd have to learn about all the deadly things and their poisons, apparently food (hunting) is super abundant.
- There are obviously various other places that we're leaving out, like anywhere in the Amazon, the jungles of Africa, desert regions like in Mexico, the tundras of Russia…obviously no one's going to find you or bother you in those places, but you need some very specialized survival training to last very long.
- Nobody seems to be talking about New Zealand. Not sure why (other than flight costs, maybe?),

OTHER THINGS I'M THINKING ABOUT:
- I don't want to be in 'bear country' (i.e. Grizzly bears), and avoiding Lyme-carrying ticks would be nice. Mosquitoes, too, but not as worried there. I'm overlaying maps of each to help me think.
- I'm a 'U.S. Citizen' (lol)…so…not sure how that might complicate things. Never had much serious experience with the law, but I'm guessing it might be easier to explain myself to a ranger as a U.S. Citizen in the U.S. than as a 'visitor' in Canada? Or Australia? Etc etc. Especially if I end up throwing away my documentation when I make the move.

I just want to go somewhere where I can rest assured that even if someone finds me, they won't give me a hard time (or care much). I understand that's difficult to find.

What do you think? In any case, I think I'm going to do a 'test run' of all of this soon—with a backup plan, some gear, and my bank account still open, of course…but eventually, the point is to close all of that down, throw it all away, and live *only* with nature. Just me and my body. And the woods.

 

[Eminent]

Just made an account to reply to this thread. I've been searching the internet for this sort of advice and haven't yet found what I'm looking for…maybe it's my search terms that are inadequate, or more likely the people who do find these wild places keep quiet about them (and don't have the Internet). Bumping again in hopes that someone sees me and can reveal even *more* info…

I'm eyeing stretches of wilderness for the sake of primal living—for how long, who knows—and here are the useful posts I've found so far… this reddit post, a city-data.com post (only good responses are on p 3&4), this random infolific.com article, and of course this forum post we're on now, which may be the most helpful. My search has told me:

- The "Pacific Northwest" (of the States) keeps coming up. I'm hearing a lot of Idaho, Montana, and some votes for Washington (in that order). Idaho has the "River of No Return Wilderness" area in it, which is the U.S.'s second-largest wild area without paved roads (! nice). I don't recall specific recs for Montana, but for Washington, people mentioned the Cascades and Olympics.
- Canada got suggestions for most territories. The ones that matter most to me though are northern Alberta and northern Sask, just because I'm in NorCal right now so those are the closest.
- A spattering of random other states, including Utah, Arizona, Colorado…not as much consensus here though. Also Northern Maine (??? not sure about that.)

Aside from these reasonable-seeming suggestions for places in the wild where you might not have to worry in the back of your head about a forest ranger giving you shit, there were also some unreasonable suggestions such as:
- Southeast Alaska. Yes, it's within the realm of possibilities if you're a survival pro…not what I'm looking for though. I'm looking for a place to go full primal starting in the springtime. (Not a place to bring a loaded rifle and tons of warm clothes and other survival gear.)
- The Outback (Australia). Everything kills you (apparently). But from what I gather, the nobody-gives-a-shitness is even stronger than in Alaska's outback. Also, even though you'd have to learn about all the deadly things and their poisons, apparently food (hunting) is super abundant.
- There are obviously various other places that we're leaving out, like anywhere in the Amazon, the jungles of Africa, desert regions like in Mexico, the tundras of Russia…obviously no one's going to find you or bother you in those places, but you need some very specialized survival training to last very long.
- Nobody seems to be talking about New Zealand. Not sure why (other than flight costs, maybe?),

OTHER THINGS I'M THINKING ABOUT:
- I don't want to be in 'bear country' (i.e. Grizzly bears), and avoiding Lyme-carrying ticks would be nice. Mosquitoes, too, but not as worried there. I'm overlaying maps of each to help me think.
- I'm a 'U.S. Citizen' (lol)…so…not sure how that might complicate things. Never had much serious experience with the law, but I'm guessing it might be easier to explain myself to a ranger as a U.S. Citizen in the U.S. than as a 'visitor' in Canada? Or Australia? Etc etc. Especially if I end up throwing away my documentation when I make the move.

I just want to go somewhere where I can rest assured that even if someone finds me, they won't give me a hard time (or care much). I understand that's difficult to find.

What do you think? In any case, I think I'm going to do a 'test run' of all of this soon—with a backup plan, some gear, and my bank account still open, of course…but eventually, the point is to close all of that down, throw it all away, and live *only* with nature. Just me and my body. And the woods.

Did you have any luck?

 

[ResistMuchObeyLittle]

Just my humble opinion after spending 2 months in vast hills of Virginia near the AT---
This almost an impossibility to the "Average" person with very little knowledge in the ways of outdoor wilderness living skills. It'll be fun the first day, that is until you realize just how screwed you are with none of the conveniences of the city/town.

Some are able to do it, most cant hack it. And keep in mind, if you attempts this in a true "Wilderness" setting, Such as the North Cascades, you are on the bottom of the food chain. Mountain lions, bears, wolverines, etc. I saw them frequently in the N Cascades. I saw a lot of Bears in Virginia and Mountain lions were spotted, tracks.
They can and will kill and eat you. And a great possibility no one would ever know, even if a hiker or ranger eventually stumbled across your camp.
Starvation is another thing that could kill you if youre inexperienced.
Hypothermia is real.
Lightning.
The list goes on.
Be careful what you wish for.
I say this with experience.

 

[hiveranno]

Right where I’m at. Paddle in only, off grid, self sustained n a visitor early now n them. Total off grid n went legit n got my own setup. Now nobody can boot me off.. northern minnesota

 

[Ed Meyer]

I'm starting to get sick of being the city and I think I'm almost ready to spend some time surviving the natural way. Let's say me and a couple of friends wanted to go kick it in the forest for a couple of months...what's the best place in North America to go do that? I want to find a spot where I can build a permanent structure to live in and have a fire, etc. without getting fucked with by cops or park rangers. I also want it to be a place with a decent abundance of wild edible/medicinal plants, fresh water, and game to hunt, that kind of thing. Where should I go?

Old post, But if you really want to get away from everything, without leaving the country, consider Voyageurs Natl Park, It is 214,000 acres of practically nowhere. I did 9 months there a few years back.... Saw 2 people in 9 months....

 

[Tony G]

The pnw is the best for getting away theres miles and miles of public land you can disappear up there and as long as your gear is up to snuff you can live of the land indefinitely

 

[rocket potato]

How hard is it to stay on BLM land indefinitely? I know you have to move from campsite to campsite; but what about off the beaten trails on BLM property? Any advise?

its easy! depending on where you are, of course. been doing this for a year now. avoid those fancy camp grounds and you should be good to go, unless youre in a popular area (which is good to avoid, too) where the LEOs lurk.