ss from saint louis on 3/5/2008 3:34:03 PM:
I believe you can sign up for 1 or 2 days, and pay a reduced fee. The one problem I see with your plan is that they do give everyone a rider tag that you need to display on your bike(or person), so you come into their camp without that, and try to set up to camp, you might be questioned about that by someone with DNR and they may ask you to leave. They often camp at schools or other non designated camp sites, and I presume they(DNR) pays for this, so just camping with the tour group w/o paying is not a good plan. However, I don't see anything wrong with simply riding the trail and camping or lodging elsewhere on a schedule that coincides with the tour to get a feel for what it is like.