Project / POTA
I-95 corridor from Rhode Island to Singer Island, FL — activating parks along the way and arriving June 26 for Field Day 2026.
1068 parks along the corridor across 10 states. Targets TBD.
Map
Activation goal: RI / CT / NY / NJ / DE / PA / MD / DC / VA / NC / SC / GA / FL
Multi-entity activations count once per unique POTA entity; a 2-fer counts as 2 entities. Evening activations can intentionally count toward the current UTC rove day and reduce the next local day's required load.
Current plan assumes RI is complete before the 17:00 Friday road departure from Hope.
For broad planning, count two hours per non-overnight park stop to cover leaving the highway, setup, activation, teardown, and returning to the route.
Working plan
Overnight rhythm: 2026-06-19 hotel in lower Hudson / southwest CT · 2026-06-20 Foggy Bottom hotel · 2026-06-21 Fredericksburg hotel · 2026-06-22 Florence hotel · 2026-06-23 TBD camp/hotel GA or north FL · 2026-06-24 TBD camp/hotel or Ocala if early · 2026-06-25 Ocala home.
Activate RI before work, then activate CT at Silver Sands, charge, and drive west only until the 21:30 comfort limit.
RI / CTStamford / White Plains is the fatigue-aware fallback; Milford / Fairfield is the safety fallback if CT or charging runs long.
Cover NY, NJ, PA, DE, and MD before the fixed Foggy Bottom hotel.
NY / NJ / PA / DE / MD / DCCurrent route is Tallman, Cheesequake, John Heinz NWR at Tinicum, Fox Point, and Fort McHenry. MD can slide after 20:00 EDT for Sunday UTC credit.
Use the DC / NoVA density for the large rove day, then finish at the booked Fredericksburg hotel.
DC / VAA Saturday post-20:00 DC activation can bank one Sunday UTC entity early. Sunday then prioritizes LBJ Grove, possible friend meetup, and southbound VA add-ons only while they fit Fredericksburg.
Workday southbound push; cover NC and/or SC with low-detour stops while preserving the Florence arrival.
VA / NC / SCThis is likely a hard day with the 13:00-17:00 work block, so exact NC/SC parks need routing before booking anything else.
Use Tuesday to cover any remaining SC and get GA handled or set up for a GA overnight activation.
SC / GAThis is the next overnight to solve after Friday. A POTA campsite could be valuable if it covers GA without a separate daytime stop.
Continue south, finish GA/FL coverage, and optionally reach Ocala early.
GA / FLIf Ocala is reached Wednesday, Thursday becomes flexible. If not, keep the overnight close enough that Thursday is easy.
Stay at mother's house and protect the final arrival day.
FLIf Florida still is not activated, use a nearby low-risk park before settling in.
Destination day and hotel arrival for Field Day weekend.
bufferKeep this as an arrival day, not a required activation day.
The immediate planning risk is Friday night positioning. If Friday stops too far east, Saturday has too much to do before DC; if Friday pushes too far south without NY, Saturday creates a backtrack. Secaucus / Meadowlands is the current balance point.
active positioning plan
In June EDT, the UTC day changes at 20:00 local. Friday evening activations after 20:00 local count toward the next UTC day.
best Friday night target if the post-Silver-Sands charge finishes with enough energy to drive until about 21:30
hotel · NY
Best current balance. Tarrytown/Nyack -> Tallman -> Cheesequake -> John Heinz NWR -> Fox Point -> Fort McHenry -> Foggy Bottom is about 5h35-5h37 mapped driving before activations, charging, food, and buffer.
fatigue-aware fallback if the Friday charge makes Tarrytown/Nyack too late
hotel · CT/US-NY
Still viable. Stamford -> Tallman -> Cheesequake -> John Heinz NWR -> Fox Point -> Fort McHenry -> Foggy Bottom is about 5h56 mapped driving before stops.
short Friday fallback if the CT activation or charging consumes the evening
hotel · 1h 47m from Providence
Use only as a fatigue/safety fallback. It likely forces an earlier Saturday start.
Saturday June 20 covers the remaining pre-DC jurisdictions from a lower-Hudson or southwest-CT hotel: NY, NJ, PA, DE, and MD. MD can be after the 20:00 EDT UTC rollover if needed, which would count it toward the Sunday UTC rove day. The main rove-count push remains Sunday in DC / NoVA.
Google Maps MCP route checks from Hope to Silver Sands, Friday post-activation hotel anchors, and Saturday lower-Hudson-to-DC chains; park hours and exact POTA references still need confirmation. UTC rolls at 20:00 EDT.
best if the post-charge drive still feels good. Hope to Silver Sands is about 1h47. Silver Sands to Milford Supercharger to Tarrytown is about 1h07; to Nyack is about 1h11. This fits a 21:30-ish stop only if the activation and charge stay tight.
best fatigue-aware fallback. Stamford is about 46 minutes from Silver Sands via the Milford charger; White Plains is about 60 minutes. This preserves Saturday feasibility without forcing a too-late Friday.
long but coherent no-work Saturday; ends near Foggy Bottom / DC hotel
US-2149 Tallman Mountain State Park · US-1611 Cheesequake State Park · John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum - POTA reference to verify · US-1738 Fox Point State Park · US-9878 Northern Delaware Greenway National Recreation Trail · US-0928 Fort McHenry National Monument · US-4581 Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail · US-4567 / US-4582 trail overlaps to verify at Fort McHenry
viable if Friday needs to end earlier; ends near Foggy Bottom / DC hotel
US-2149 Tallman Mountain State Park · US-1611 Cheesequake State Park · John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum - POTA reference to verify · US-1738 Fox Point State Park · US-9878 Northern Delaware Greenway National Recreation Trail · US-0928 Fort McHenry National Monument · US-4581 Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail · US-4567 / US-4582 trail overlaps to verify at Fort McHenry
possible 2-entity stop
NYC/Staten Island traffic and access risk; only include after activator vibe checkNJ harbor candidate
Urban access and timing risk; useful only if it does not disrupt southbound progresssouthern NJ add-on or Sunday handoff candidate
May fit better Sunday depending on overnight targetSaturday should arrive at the Foggy Bottom hotel with enough margin that Sunday can be the large DC rove day. Do not chase extra Saturday entities if it risks a late, exhausted DC arrival.
high-value branch to verify
Use Sunday June 21 for the true dense rove from the Foggy Bottom hotel. Start with the LBJ Memorial Grove overlap in DC, then add nearby or southbound NoVA entities only if they fit the fixed Fredericksburg hotel night.
Google Maps route checks plus imported n-fer evidence and the February 2026 CWops article about a DC POTA 7-fer. Starts from Foggy Bottom hotel.
very strong if the LBJ Grove 7-fer is verified; ends near Fredericksburg hotel
The CWops article says the parking-lot/picnic-table option at LBJ Grove is a 4-fer and the exact walk-out spot is a 7-fer. Treat this as the top outreach/verification item because it could make Sunday dramatically easier. Sunday must still end at the booked Fredericksburg hotel.
US-0784 Lyndon Baines Johnson Memorial Grove on the Potomac · US-9901 · US-4581 Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail · US-4567 Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail · US-4564 Potomac Heritage Trail National Scenic Trail · US-9898 Mount Vernon National Historic Trail · US-0670 George Washington Memorial Parkway · US-1308 Mason Neck State Park · US-0563 Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge · US-0691 Prince William Forest Park
Evidence
Candidate n-fer locations inferred from submissions by top activators. 853 records imported. Useful for finding proven multi-reference positions, but treat it as evidence to verify rather than proof that an activation will work from any exact parking spot.
The data does not validate the assumed Gateway/Fort Wadsworth 2-fer.
The current Saturday stretch should not rely on this pair until activator outreach or another source confirms it.
Gateway National Recreation Area plus New Jersey Coastal State Trail appears as a data-backed 2-fer.
Google Maps routing from Palisades to Sandy Hook Gateway to Cheesequake is about 2h total drive time, so this may be too expensive for the Saturday UTC target unless it replaces the Staten Island idea and the day is running early.
The February 2026 CWops Solid Copy article describes an exact LBJ Memorial Grove position in DC that counts as a 7-fer.
Foggy Bottom to LBJ Grove should be a short local hop; the nearby parking-lot/picnic-table option is described as a 4-fer if the exact 7-fer walk-out spot is not practical.
Seen from W8WZ .
Fox Point State Park plus Northern Delaware Greenway National Recreation Trail is a Delaware 2-fer candidate near I-95.
Seen from N3DRK on 2025-04-18.
Fort McHenry has repeated n-fer evidence with Star-Spangled Banner and Captain John Smith Chesapeake trails.
Central NJ to Fox Point to Fort McHenry to Rock Creek to Mason Neck is about 4h31m of driving before activation time.
Seen from KB3WAV, KC3RW .
Mason Neck State Park plus Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck NWR is a Virginia 2-fer candidate for the Sunday camp concept.
Rock Creek Park to Mason Neck State Park is roughly 55-63 minutes depending on the exact route.
Seen from KC3RW on 2025-03-14.
initial scan
Minimum-stay rules are not uniform. Car camping in the Tesla helps with setup time and site-size needs, but most public parks still require an actual campsite reservation or explicit overnight permission.
Less-developed areas are not a workaround in Connecticut unless they are designated for overnight use. CT backpack campsites are one-night options, but they are for true backpackers, dispersed camping is not permitted, and they do not solve vehicle-adjacent sleeping. Highway service plazas/rest areas may be viable rest/sleep stops in the vehicle, but they are not POTA park camping and should be treated as safety rest rather than a campsite.
CT state park campsites generally require two-night advance reservations, with one-night campsite reservations only inside the 1-3 day arrival window if available. Day-use parks generally close at sunset.
At least the relevant Harriman/Beaver Pond camping brochure says campsite reservations are minimum two nights; day-of arrivals may register subject to availability.
Maryland requires two-night weekend-linked stays from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, with three-night holiday-weekend rules.
North Carolina has a two-night minimum between Friday and Sunday on holiday weekends from Memorial Day through Labor Day, but the rule is waived for bookings within 7 days of arrival; some walk-up/onsite options exist.
Florida reservation information lists maximum stay rules and cabin two-night minimums, but not a general campsite minimum in the checked source. Late arrivals after sunset require calling the park before 5 p.m. for gate access.
Need park-specific reservation checks before relying on one-night stays. Do not assume the CT rule applies everywhere, but also do not assume one-night stays are available on summer weekends.