Spontaneous tourism practices remain a blank spot in modern recreation research. At the same time, uburban forests are a point of attraction and a recreational magnet for residents of large cities. This work is directed at studying the formation of the value of place in its be avioral aspect as the basis for the emergence of a sense of place among the inhabitants of tourist camps. The mechanism for transforming a unified forest landscape into a unique (valuable) place is described through the construction and reproduction of practices for using tourist camps and property rights to them. The information base was compiled from materials from an ethnographic case study conducted during the summer field seasons of 2021 and 2022 in the Karakansky pine wood in the Novosibirsk region. During the expedition, 30 km of the coastline of the Ob Reservoir were selectively investigated, and a continuous survey was carried out on 12 km of the entire coastline. Tourist communities were identified, the “coastal experience” of which is 30-40 years, including, among other things, the third generation of vacationers. A typology of tourists is proposed based on the degree of their rootedness, or “growing” into the landscape, i.e. the duration and regularity of their stay, as well as the degree of transformation of the landscape. The practices of choosing and developing a place are considered, which determine how a place becomes “one’s own,” how it is held, and then passed on to the next users. Despite the informal nature of property relations and the need for their constant confirmation, the main components of property rights (the right to change the form and substance and the right to transfer the asset to other people) are exercised by the vast majority of users. Despite the variability of place practices, environmental practices are an undeniable basis for the appropriation of a tourist camp. The absence of garbage is a visible and socially supported indicator of the implementation of place improvement practices, i.e. investment in a place and its recreational potential.