Camping banned in popular area of Appalachian Trail in NC due to flood of visitors
.png "A map shows the Max Patch area in North Carolina where officials on Thursday implemented new restrictions in response to increased visitors.")
Camping and fires are banned for two years in a popular destination along the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina.
The bans are part of a series of new restrictions in the Max Patch area. The Pisgah National Forest implemented the change Thursday in an effort to reduce negative impacts on natural resources and to “protect public health and safety” as the location has become increasingly popular among visitors.
Starting Thursday, the area will close to visitors an hour after sundown and reopen an hour before sunrise.
Groups are limited to 10 people, and all pets must be kept on a leash no more than 6 feet long or kept in a crate, the U.S. Forest Service says. Horses and other animals may not be “ridden, hitched, tethered or hobbled” in the area.
Visitors are advised to stay on designated trails, and bikes must remain on roads.
Fireworks and drones are also banned, and “aircraft may not land nor drop off or pick up anything in this area.”
The new restrictions will be in place for at least two years, during which officials will monitor visitor impacts.
Appalachian District Ranger Jen Barnhart said in a news release that the increased “level of use” in the area has been “causing a public safety hazard as well as serious damage to wildlife habitat.”
McClatchy News reported in September that tents and garbage were littering the area, which has no trashcans or bathrooms, with hikers finding discarded drink containers, cigarette butts and even bedding.
“Past efforts of visitor education and engineering controls such as barriers and fencing have not been sufficient to address the challenges,” the Forest Service says. “A visitor use monitoring group consisting of local partners, the USFS, and local community members has helped to develop solutions and will also help to educate visitors on the new restrictions.”
Max Patch, a 4,629-foot mountain top, sits near the Tennessee border in Western North Carolina. The Appalachian Trail, which stretches more than 2,180 between Georgia and Maine, crosses the Max Patch trailhead.
The grassy peak “offers 360-degree vistas of Mount Mitchell to the east and Great Smoky Mountains to the southwest” and is a popular picnic spot, according to the Forest Service.
