We often talk about places or types of places to go to when the SHTF, but we almost never talk about the places to avoid. I've made my own small list just off the top of my head.

1) Cities. Hungry rioters & street thugs = a bad day.
2) Areas with prisons near by. If caught, it is VERY convenient for your captors to imprison you in a secure facility. Also, if the prisoners there were either released or broke out, they may become a problem for you if they cross paths with you.
3) Indian reservations. When most people think about living without their typical amenities, they often think about doing things "the way the Indians used to do." Therefore, I suspect that upon realizing that they themselves have no clue how to do things the "Indian way", they'll be trying to get onto their nearest reservation, expecting that just by telling the Indians that they have a Cherokee grandmother, that they'llbe greeted with open arms, be taught by some wise old Indian about the Great Spirit, & make corn meal with a "squaw." They couldn't be more mistaken. The Indians are much smarter than that & will set up road blocks & man them with their own tribal militia. They barely grow enough food to keep themselves fed as it is. If they find you on their land, good luck. Do yourself a favor & stay clear of Indian reservations.
5) Washington D.C. metro area. If you live up in northern VA, go either south or west. If you live in central MD, go to southern or western MD, just stay away from the many military installations.
4) Southern CA. Most of it is city anyway. Also, many of the Aztlan types will be thinking its a good time for an "Aztlan Revolution." Do yourself a favor & go east to the mountains.
5) Hospitals. There will be way too many agents of hostile forces there. Unless something is seriously life-threatening, avoid hosptals at all costs. If you need medical care, see a vet or make an un-annouced visit at the doctor's house at night.
6) Bridges & tunnels. Especially the ones with toll booths. These can very easily be turned into check points. Before crossing a bridge, do some recon. Talk with some locals if you have to & find out if there's a checkpoint. If it even looks like there's a slight chance of it, you better find yourself some sort of water transportation. You probably will want to go a ways up or downstream & wait until dark to avoid being seen by JBTs on the bridge.
7) Schools. These can easily be turned into prisons. They may be referred to as "evacuation centers", but the "evacuees" won't have the freedom to leave.
8) Places below sea-level. If you live in a place where you look UP & see ships going by above you, you need to get to higher ground.

I'm sure you guys have some more places to avoid in mind. Shoot.

SGTBloodLoss,

Guess that means I need to leave the area of the Norfolk Naval Station, Naval Air Station Oceana, Gunnery School Dam Neck Va Beach, Ft Story, Ft Monroe, Langley Air Force Base, Ft Eustis, Coast Guard Station Portsmouth? Not to mention Naval Auxilliary Air Field Fentress and a couple of other facillities I may have forgotten about.

I would suggest avoiding anywhere easily accesible that popped into your head as a "Bugout" Location. If you thought of it now, chances are that other people have as well. Try to find limited-access places, far off the beaten path, with very few signs (if any) of personell. The more remote and the least set-up for living, the better. THIS will be a place that you prepare ahead of time to be a suitable area for living.

Personally, I am partial to making plans with my many farming relatives to help out at their farms, and to show up at random times, this being one of those times. A friendly area is always the best place to go to, as opposed to concentrating on unfriendly areas to avoid.

YC there's a large area southwest of you, quite southwest of you, it's absolutely the best security because NO ONE is going to want to go there! It's not good land, after all. That's where I'll be headed, somewhere in there anyway. I suggest people find the same kinds of areas. Remote, no one would go to it, impossible to scout out unless you know it "that" well. PERFECT!

Yep, that means stay away from the state & local parks, as well as popular vacation places (golf courses, ski slopes, kid's summer camps, church retreats, fishing lakes, anywhere there are time shares).

Don't plan on just squatting on some ranchers land either.
They will probably take a very dim view of it and in all likelihood your body will never be found.

FoolsRush,

are you talking N. Dakota, or Southwestern Manitoba? If yes for the latter, I would agree with you there. Another really remote place, barren of many inhabitants is the Sandilands area of South Eastern Manitoba. It runs all the way to the Minnesota border. There is nothing in there except lots of forest and swamp. A few backroad logging paths. The governments of both Countries ignore it, and hence a lot of smuggling goes through there. Nobody can police it because its such a large area, and heck, nobody even cares. To everyone but a couple hunters from the last generation, its practically the edge of the world.

I was speaking of the badlands in S.W. North Dakota stretching east. But the Sandilands sounds perhaps better and possibly a good rallying point. The badlands is nothing but spotty forest and very steep hills and deep valleys, hard to get through unless you really have your heart set on it (off the beaten path that is) lots of caves (mountain lion and cat caves mostly) but with the ammo we're carrying they wouldn't be too much of a problem.

Although I am originally from the Appalachians, I have been living at the southern end of the Rocky mountains.

The nice thing about that is... If I can get into the mountains, I can stay in them from New Mexico to Canada.

There are people who have been living in there for years without being found.... Makes a good place to hide and rally up to plan. You just should avoid all cities and most small towns while your there.

If your in the Appalachians your in good shape too... Look how long they were looking for that Rudolph guy. He only was found after he came out.

if you head north from the rockies, perhaps we'll meet up at some point, I've been considering that route

The Appalachian Trail is awesome because if I can make the 4 hour drive to it, I can travel by foot all the way between Georgia & Maine without ever leaving the mountains. But I wouldn't go directly to the AT Trail when bugging out, because I'm sure plenty of others will be doing that. Instead I'd be looking for a hard to reach area several miles from the AT.


Also, keep in mind small river travel. Two men in a canoe can travel at a pretty impressive speed on a flowing river. Make sure you know your route & what the river will be like though. The only thing about river travel is that it only goes one way. So bugging out INTO the mountains MUST be done on land (unless you can somehow get a lift from a helo). So when you 'head for them thar' hills', ensure that you have your canoe or kayak strapped onto the top of your bugout vehicle.

STAY AWAY from you and your families comfort zone, it is more than likly your neighborhood and that makes it exposed.

Do NOT stay in open areas like fields or barren landscapes, once again, it is an EXPOSED area.

Farmer Johns property aint the best place to be either - He catches you when TSHTF and he doesnt know you and didnt say to come there. He'll probably use whats left of you for fertilizer.

Trails for hiking arent a good place either. They will be used by those who HAVENT planned to take the "path less traveled".

Highways,major roads,bridges etc. arent smart either. A bridge may eventually be a necessity to cross, but other than that STAY AWAY.

Just a few places that are NOT good places to be IMO.

- Copperhead -