Boondocking at North Rim Grand Canyon?

Thanks for all the tips.

Currently in Kanab, UT doing my laundry, etc. and will spend the night in an RV park (which only happens about once a year). Will head to the North Rim area tomorrow. Been on and off rainy here in UT for several days and someone mentioned to me about flash flood warnings for S Utah. Hope my North Rim visit isn't a disaster. I might want to stick to the paved roads. :)

FYI, In the Kanab Visitor Center I saw a notice about US89 being closed in the Page, AZ area now due to a washout. Not sure when it happened.

I think I'll try to book 2 nights in the Zion campground next week, before I take "The Loneliest Road in America" (aka US50) across northern NV to return to CA.

Ramblin' on,

Ramblin' Ralph
RamblinRalph.com

1stgenfarmboy wrote:
I have a question for you guys, I am a corn belt flatlander from So. ILL, I don't get to boondock much as there are really no place around here to do it, I am not asking for your personal spots or nothing, but some day we are going to be doing more traveling out in the western parts of the country, how do you find and or know where you can camp on BLM or SF/NF lands.

I see all these pics of guys parked at remote lakes high in the mountains and I really want to find these places, and realize it can take some miles of rough roads to do so.

thanks Dar & Barb

Dar and Barb,

Try looking up this website. FreeCampgrounds.com

Yes I have put in some favorite camping sites, and you can look up Jacob Lake, and see a post that I made a few years back, as well as some camping areas run by the BLM in Arizona, California, and other states.

Finding free camping is really easy once you get used to finding them. I would rather be in a free camping area than a campsite. Much larger areas, and no neighbors in many cases.

Fred.

profdant139 wrote:
Lots of Stuff, did you experience a howling wind coming up and over the lip of the canyon? We had to park the trailer back a few feet from the edge due to the wind -- it was screaming in the trees overhead most of the time, and yet we were completely sheltered by the rim. This went on for four days!

Not at all. Just a light breeze.
We hiked around some then camped for the night and departed the next day.
The wind was just right the whole wonderful time.

Loved the north rim, hated the south rim. They do have a store on the north rim where you can buy some food but be prepared with most of what you need,

To get some good trip ideas, check the trip reports in the Truck Camper section. Many trips, all categorized ready to read. From extreme boondocking to mild and all levels in between.

Finding good boondocking: to us, it takes a lot of work. We're always on the lookout for personal comments, we read maps that show BLM or forest service areas clearly - Benchmark individual state atlases for the western states are good; if we're in a particular area we will stop in at the local forest service or BLM office and just ask for ideas and local maps; and you can always Google 'dispersed camping' or 'boondocking' in a certain area. To add to that we have a 40' motorhome so we can't always get to the really good spots; when in an area we'll drive with the Jeep to search out new sites. However, we do manage to find some gorgeous areas that suits us. Good luck!

Here's a good site to get you started:

Free Campsites

My favorite way to find new boondocking sites before I head to the area is Google Earth. I can find likely areas by looking at a variety of maps. Then I use Google Earth to zoom into promising looking areas. I look for openings in the vegetation, and tracks or small roads into the area I'm thinking about setting up camp. It really helps if I'm looking at an area and see other RVs dispersed in the woods.

Some areas allow dispersed camping in the forest and some don't. It's actually quite easy to go to the website for the particular national forest you're interested in and check out the policies. You can find out about camping, fires, wildlife, fishing, etc.

This question -- how to find good boondocking -- comes up really often, and it is a really good question. Dear Moderator, might it warrant a Sticky?? Otherwise, we have to repeat the discussion every so often.

If not, then maybe we should just start a thread. We await your guidance!

Dar and Barb - we too like to boondock but only know mainly of spots in our local area because we're able to go on weekend scouting trips. For out of state like the North Rim, you ask on sites like this. Also "google" it and you'll find information including information from personal RV blogs. It's out there. I follow quite a few but one of my favorites is RV Dreams with Howard and LInda, and Ramblin Ralph - they have emails you can contact them, which I've done and they'll respond with what information you are looking for. Just start googling and bookmarking the blogs and information that you like.

I have a question for you guys, I am a corn belt flatlander from So. ILL, I don't get to boondock much as there are really no place around here to do it, I am not asking for your personal spots or nothing, but some day we are going to be doing more traveling out in the western parts of the country, how do you find and or know where you can camp on BLM or SF/NF lands.

I see all these pics of guys parked at remote lakes high in the mountains and I really want to find these places, and realize it can take some miles of rough roads to do so.

thanks Dar & Barb