The truth about Boondocking

We don't have alot of dispersed type camping high country areas here on the East side of the US. The Blue Ridge parkway areas are the closest to me. I always get to head for the high country of AL,GA,NC, & TN.

These sites are public access Natl Forest areas and we get to use the Forest raods to gain access all over the designated areas.

These places have no hookups but most often the main entrance area will have primitive type pit restrooms and alot have a water spigot you can use to fill up some 5 GALLON type jerry-cans...

Being off-reoad and no hookup doesn't mean you can't pick up OTA high Def NATL BROADCAST HDTV station. The high country sites will have many stations you can pick up by pointing your OTA BATWING antenna towards the local towns 50-70 miles away from you...

One of our favorite fairly close-by OFF-ROAD sites in the George Washington Natl Forest behind Harrisonburg VA up on the VA/WVA wooded state line. There is a place close by called FLAGPOLE RIDGE which is a real popular site for JEEP guys. I found a real nice spot just off one of the Forest Roads which has a great multi-ridge view across the mountain range. I have to cross a water rock bed drain stream to get to this spot... Being hid from the Forest Road I am pretty much hidden from view from other folks on the trails and have this area all to myself.

I have to bring in my water and will dig a shallow pit to dump my cassette toilet we have in our OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer. Most often i can carry my cassette tank back to the entrance area when we go back for more water and dump it down their primitive pit restroom

If we run out of water I will go back to a couple of more visited no hookup sites that has a more controlled camp site layout and can find water to bring back to my more remote camp site. I guess the longest I have ever stayed there was two weekends...

My OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer is equipment with 255AH battery bank and I have a PD9260C converter/charger unit I can fire up using my 2KW Generator and get my 50% depleted battery bank back up to its 90% charge state in as little as three hours of generator run times. These areas all have generator run time restrictions and most allow 8AM to 8PM to run your generator. Other public places may have a couple of hours in the morning and maybe three hours or so in the late afternoon. No where are you able to run a generator between 8PM to 8AM the next morning in these public access areas...

We love going to this camp site location a lot being it is only around 2-3 hours away from Northern Neck VA.

We run off the batteries and get to do just about anything we would normally do at a public hookup camp site with the exception of running the Air Conditioner or high wattage Microwave units. Every thing else is fair game. Our game plan to do all of these thing and not allow the batteries to get below their 50% charge state before 8AM the next morning. Then we run our 2KW generator to re-charge the batteries back up to their 90% charge state and do all of this all over again.

Being avid tent campers from the early 60s this is main way of camping in public areas.

I always refer to this style of camping as OFF-ROAD or DISPERSED type camping.

Roy Ken

oldtrojan66 has offered some sage advice.

icanon wrote:
I read somewhere about people being attacked by wild animals at night while letting their pet relieve themselves nearby.

I have heard rumor of small dogs being captured by coyote's at Quartzsite years ago when their owners let them out to do their business at night, but I've never met anyone it actually happened to.

This article may help with your quest for information. It talks about where you can camp and how to find boondocking spots, links to US Forest Service online MUVMs (motor vehicle use maps), and the only official dispersed camping rules put out by the USFS I've seen...

http://www.rv-camping.org/boondocking/

icanon wrote:
Thanks for the info everyone.

Just to add a comment I'm not talking about Walmart or any commercial establishments. I like to know more about camping in forest or desert environment.

Well if your definition of boondocking is camping without any hookups then you'd be boondocking in the campgrounds of some National Parks, like Big Bend. There are campsites there in an organized campground as well as campsites that are out and away from everyone else.

On the topic of locking a generator. We have a 20' cable from lowes that I run thru the frame of the camper and around the EU2000 handles. It lets me leave them locked at the full length of the power cord.

Also check the state laws where you plan to camp. You may not be required to have a CC permit to carry concealed. Here in Idaho, for instance, a CC permit is only require in city limits.

Your method of securing the EU2000 may not be a very good idea... A DC CUT-OFF type tool will cut through the steel cables or even thru the plastic EU2000 handles is just a few seconds...

My 2KW Generator sits secured in the back of my covered and locked truck bed. It is totally out if site when not being used. When I need to use I just drop the tailgate. My generator goes where I go and is out of sight for most of the time... The thieves show up with portable cut-off tools and large cable cutters and don't spend much time taking your high value items.


One witnessed thief was two of us were camped out at ELKMONT CAMP in the Smoky Mtn Natl Park in TN. We were the only two campers on one of their back loop roads. Both of us left to go to town to get supplies around the same time one day and when I got back I noticed I could get to my camp site for a downed tree which I thought was strange because we didn't have any bad weather. I went on down to end of the site road and came back up on the other side to get to my camp site. Sure enough some one cut down a tree where the other camper had log chained his 3KW Honda generator to it. We both were gone about two hours in the early afternoon. The other camper showed up just a few minutes after I got there and there we both stood looking at the cut down tree... geesch...

Like I say - My generator goes where I go... I am a firm believer that out of sight is best defense for the generators.

Roy Ken

Hi,

Here is a link that suggests where to find places:

https://freecampsites.net/how-to-find-more-sites/

For my part, portable reliable power is a joy from solar, but not so much from a generator. When I was part time I would run out of fresh water before I ran out of power. Now I wish the solar "farm" were five times what I have.

I hope this link may prove fruitful, too:

https://freecampsites.net/boondocking-how-to/

As an avid and experienced boondocker, I agree with almost everything AH64ID said. The only difference is that we do not put gray water on the ground -- it is against the rules in most of the national forests we visit. If it is not against the rules, then we would, I guess.

Boondocking is more work than other kinds of camping -- you have to haul water, you have to find a site, etc.

To me, it is more fun than other kinds of camping -- silent, private, utterly peaceful.

We have never felt threatened while boondocking. I have felt uncomfortable in an ordinary campground when other campers get drunk and party loudly. Not often, but it happens.

I have both a generator and a solar panel -- we try never to use our generator. The point of boondocking is to get away from engine noise.

My only regret is that we did not start camping till we were in our 50s, and we did not start boondocking until our mid-50s.

I'll try to come up with some cons as I ramble on. Remember, you asked for all this. :) I had many of the same concerns as you and with only 3 years experience I'm still learning. As Donno128 said it can mean different things to different people. I cant imagine you ever getting shot as you dont just roll up and park anywhere you like. You will mainly use the resources available that guide you to where others have already been. You can explore and find new places and add them to the websites that list boondocking places.

Places like BLM will often have signs pertaining to open or closed areas and time limits. 14 days is common and I would NEVER cheat. Some BLM areas will also have sections of LTVA long term visitor area. I believe it's about $180 for a season pass with some areas having no services and some having dump station, trash water on site. Same areas are sometimes $40.00 for 2 weeks which still isn't bad if the area is closer to town or whatever else you need.

Each state may be different in how it all works. If you look at freecampsites.net for Michigan you will see that it mainly shows a few casinos yet there are hundreds of thousands of acres to camp on. The DNR website explains dispersed camping and has a permit that can be printed. You are basically allowed to camp anywhere on state land as long as you go by their guidelines. Although the issue is accessibility. You will find many dirt roads or what we call fire trails through the woods but you dont know which ones you can venture down and be able to turn around in. In places like that I have used my bicycle to scout the area before pulling in. Same thing in some of the Florida remote areas. The road or trail looks fine but you dont know what happens a 1/2 mile in where the campsite is supposed to be.

Out in the desert areas it's much easier because it's so open. You can see other rigs and easily figure out how they got into their spots. It's also nice because there are often no trees to worry about and so much room to turn around. It surprised me that so much of the desert surface is so hard packed. Some areas are rather course stone on the surface yet others are finer texture. I have ridden my bicycle for miles with the only real obstacles being washes.

I basically try to camp for free while realizing that's not going to happen 100% of the time. There are times when I have stayed at rv parks to dump, fill, laundry etc. There are numerous sources for boondocking such as Dept of Agriculture, National forests, BLM, COE, county and city parks etc. One of the main resources that I have had great luck with is freecampsites.net. Before I leave I try to plan out a course with that website and try to have a couple backup plans. If I get to an area that I dont like because it just doesn't feel right or it's tacky looking or the space is too tight or whatever I can leave and have some idea of where else to go. The backup plan may even be a Walmart or truck stop but having multiple choices let's me operate without having a crisis on my hands when it's getting dark out. It's bad when something doesn't pan out and it's late and even a Walmart is 60 miles away. I think I have been to one or two from that site in three years that had bad directions or I couldn't find them but I have also found many fantastic places.

I also use google maps with street view and earth to try to check an area out. It often times wont let me see exactly the area I want to camp but it gives me an idea what the area is like. I can look at gas stations to see how easy they are to get into etc.

We can basically stay out for two weeks and then have to dump the black tank. I do have 15 gallon blue tote. It's about as big of a tank as I can slide up a 2x10 board to get it up in my truck bed. It can be emptied from free to about $10.00 usually with a wide range of places to take it. I never dump black on the ground and dont urinate outside. If we stay at places that have outhouses I will sometimes use it so we can stay out longer. Sometimes even somewhat remote camps may have water but I have bought it at Wmart and gotten it free at gas stations and rest areas. When we were near Yuma they had water stations everywhere for .75 to $1.00 for 5 gallons. I carry four 5 gallon jugs and our rv holds 60. Some places allow gray water to be dispersed on the ground, depends on the area. Certainly not in more populated and crowded areas. It's more of a remote area thing.

The other big issue is coming up with your energy management plan. Generator, updated converter, updated wiring to get the converters power to the battery, solar, inverting, house furnace vs cat heating etc. It's not difficult but can seem overwhelming at first. If you end up being forced to a park every few days to charge it gets pricey.

As far as leaving the rig, it all depends on what the area is like. I prefer to have others in the area but not right next to each other. I recently met someone online who was coming to our area and wanted to be near someone they knew when they left their rig to go to Mexico for the day. They knew the general area but were unsure about being out there so they started asking online. The area was actually very safe and many of the people parked there came every year and knew each other. As the new guy I was surprised when meeting people that they often knew who many of the other people are. I believe some people are scared to death to be anywhere but a commercial campground so they will pull up and park 15 feet away when the area is 100 acres.

I have never had any theft problems but I keep things pretty tight. Don't leave the gps on the dashboard or expensive lawn chairs out, Put the generator away all the time when you are done with it and don't depend on a cable. Don't leave the generator in plain view all the time. At some places I will lock the bicycles on the carrier every night, some places they sit out all the time. Some places that you camp are out of the mix of things and some have locals moving through or past the area. The guy camped near you is unlikely to steal your generator and more likely it would be the local boys. When you go to a crowded areas like Quartzite you have more riff raff and there have been posts about generators stolen.

You can do well by getting to know people and learn from them. They know where the dump and water are and good restaurants and stores. Many of them have been going to the same areas year after year. This will vary with the areas that you travel in. Just like rv parks, there are sort of pass through boondocking places and there are destination type BD places. Some places are seasonal and fill up with locals in the summer yet are empty during the winter. Some stuff in the South west empties out in the summer and even close.

I cant imagine where you will have wild animals attacking you. I'm from Michigan where the most dangerous animal would be a black bear. The only place I have seen one closely was at a landfill in the upper peninsula 50 years ago. They are around but it's not like they are out to eat you. If you stumbled on one when it has cubs with it that would be the most dangerous time. I'm sure places like Alaska are different and more caution is needed.

We have seen coyote and they wont attack you but I'm sure they would go after a dog. I have heard they will get a dog to chase them and then a group will kill the dog. I dont have experience in the worst bear areas but my understanding is that in general you need to make noise. They generally are not out to hunt you and most encounters center around startling them or running into them with cubs. Raccoon and possum will get into coolers but wont attack you. I have seen a porcupine chew through the floor of an long unattended TT and tear all the cupboards up and chewed on everything in there.

I guess only real negative would be dealing with the dump and water. On the other hand every time I go to the dump station or water I end up meeting and talking to others that share their camping spots and other resources.

It's always interesting to talk to people who are all doing the same basic thing yet all doing it in vastly different ways. One guy is using 800 watts of solar and the next guy gets by on 20 watts. One person drives 50 miles a day and one drives 400.

Often times when people are new to this they will do a lot of moving around and slow down as they find the places that they like to stay. We dont like moving a lot, yet we dont want to be right next to anyone so boondocking works well for us. As we travel we also find out where we might end up parking longer term and possibly even move to.

Since leaving home on September 5 my per night cost is about $1.60. That doesn't include water or dump fees.

One more thought -- start slow. A night or two at a time, until you have the hang of it. We have never boondocked for more than a week at a time -- gotta get groceries and do laundry and dump the tanks. There are extreme boondockers who can go for a very long time without going to a town, but not me.

And if you are wondering how to go a week without dumping the gray water, we often use a bucket to transfer some gray water into the black water tank by dumping it into the toilet. We generate about 5 to 6 gallons of gray water a day (showering and dishes), which will fill the gray tank in 5 days, but we always have lots of extra capacity in our black tank.