Camping On The James

[smallmouthjoe]

I was wanting to maybe camp along the James sometime in the near future and I was wondering if anyone knew if it was illegal for me to camp along it's bank, due to fact that all of it is private property. I've always done day trips on The James, but I kind of want to take a week off from work this summer and see if I can float from 125 to Galena. It's around sixty miles and i think I can make Ten miles a day if I only fish the good water. Last year while floating from Shelvin to Hooten a drunk guy in an inter tube told me that it was o.k. for anyone to camp on a gravel bar because it's considered state property. You will of course understand me wanting to get a second opinion on this matter. Any info would be great, thanks.

[zander]

Well there are cynics and then there are cynics. To think that we can no longer take legal advice from a drunk guy in an innertube in good faith what is this world coming to? that is funny, I got a good visual on that. I think he is right though. And I'm pretty sure even if a landowner DID check on you, if you had some Glad trash bags and picked up your trash and maybe some of the other trash nearby, they'd probably be appreciative for that.

[RSBreth]

Below "the normal spring high water mark" is public property. I don't think anyone along the James would argue with that. So on the gravel bars is O.K.

[smallmouthjoe]

Thanks for the info guys. I took off a week in the middle of June today, I hope the river isn't a raging torrent during that week.

[ozark trout fisher]

I was wanting to maybe camp along the James sometime in the near future and I was wondering if anyone knew if it was illegal for me to camp along it's bank, due to fact that all of it is private property. I've always done day trips on The James, but I kind of want to take a week off from work this summer and see if I can float from 125 to Galena. It's around sixty miles and i think I can make Ten miles a day if I only fish the good water. Last year while floating from Shelvin to Hooten a drunk guy in an inter tube told me that it was o.k. for anyone to camp on a gravel bar because it's considered state property. You will of course understand me wanting to get a second opinion on this matter. Any info would be great, thanks.

If you are below the high water mark, you are legal

But that isn't much help if the landowner is really mad and has a gun......... brings back experiences from when I lived in Colorado.

[jdavis]

I camped on the river last Friday night for the first time. We were below Cox Ford. We didn't have any problems, but we avoided any sign of a landowners recreational area and access point. There was another camp set up on the gravel bar a half mile below us as well.