Camping Units Design at US Forest Service Facilities
Information reproduced from the USDA Accessibility Guidebook for Outdoor Recreation and Trails.
Camping Unit Components
A camping unit at a US Forest Service facility commonly includes the camp living area, a parking spur, and a space to pitch a tent. The graphic on the right is representative. The Forest Service Outdoor Recreation Accessibility Guidelines (FSORAG) does not require a specific number or type of camping units or constructed features, but all camping units and the site furnishings and constructed features in them must meet the applicable FSORAG requirements.
The slope of the ground surface in camp living areas should not exceed 1:48 (2 percent) in any direction, except when the surface is unpaved or is not built with boards. In those cases, the slope may be up to 1:33 (3 percent) for necessary drainage. An example of a camping unit setup is shown in the photo below.
Camping Unit Setup
An accessible route must connect all the features within each camping unit. An outdoor recreation access route (ORAR) should be used for this purpose unless the overlapping or adjacent clear spaces of the constructed features provides the accessible route.
There must also be an ORAR connecting each camping unit with the common use features that are provided at the campground, such as toilets, showers, water hydrants, garbage receptacles, parking spaces, and beach access. Ensure this ORAR does not overlap the clear spaces of the camp living area so that people using the constructed features in the camp living area will not obstruct travel along the ORAR.
In campgrounds where the roadway is the primary route from the campsites to the restrooms and so forth, a separate ORAR to the same facilities is not required.
When a camping unit is located near a trail (rather than in a campground accessed by vehicles), the connection between that unit and the trail and the connections between the constructed features within that camping unit must comply with FSTAG requirements for trails, not the ORAR requirements in FSORAG.
SUMMARY: All US Forest Service camping units and the site furnishings and constructed features in them must meet the applicable FSORAG requirements. There must also be an ORAR connecting each camping unit with the common use features that are provided at the campground, such as toilets, showers, water hydrants, garbage receptacles, parking spaces, and beach access.
FSORAG does not require that any particular constructed feature be provided in a picnic area or campground. However, if a feature is provided, FSORAG must be met.
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