Campsite condition data for the San Rafael Wilderness

Campsites within the central portion of the San Rafael Wilderness of California were assessed over a 9 day period in April 1999. All but one of 22 semi-developed camping areas were visited. These camping areas consist of one or several long-established campsites, with stoves, and are located on maps of the area. In addition, informal user-created campsites were located and assessed in other places that appeared amenable to camping. A total of 91 campsites were located and briefly assessed, 30 of which were within the 21 camping areas that were visited. The other 61 sites were informal campsites. This probably represents at least 75% of all campsites in the San Rafael Wilderness. This data publication contains data for the 50 campsites that showed permanent damage, such as vegetation loss. These sites underwent a rapid assessment which included the following basic campsite measurements: condition class, vegetation type, soils, dominant species, landform, distance to trail, distance to water, number of fire rings, tree damage, number of fire scars, number of nearby trails, and other standard campsite data. Within 19 of the 21 semi-developed camping areas that were visited, a single campsite was chosen for a detailed assessment which included collecting the following data: tree scars, exposed roots, vegetation and soil coverage, and soil penetration. Similar data were collected for comparable control sites.
These data were collected for the purposes of assessing campsite conditions at the time and for future studies. Prior to 1999, no baseline data on campsite conditions was available for the almost 200,000 acre San Rafael Wilderness.
These data were originally made available on the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute site. Original metadata date was 03/21/2014. Minor metadata updates on 12/12/2016.