Tips for TC Boondocking

I have been "stealth reading" this topic, until now.

My boondocking experiences have been great. Alaska has a lot of ideal spots for that. I remember many Canadian spots, including provincial parks and campgrounds, where there were only a handful of campers and highly dispersed. And with piles of used berries right in the middle of the road. That's a good sign in my book. Scares away those who think nothing of leaving TP on the bushes.

My less than ideal camping experiences have always been in popular places such as Jackson Hole (we got in very late and had to park between two Class A skyscrapers and next to the all-night drive-up liquor store) and in Rocky Mtn National Zoo, er, Park.

The farther away from people, the better, in my experience.

The voice of reason, Jefe!

Good on ya. Thanks.

It is highly unlikely that I shall ever be called that.

Still, while I have much to learn, I have also learned much in my 10 years in the camper.

I shall continue to ask questions and share experiences/opinions, as long as I enjoy doing so, and am allowed.

Joe.

Stick-Joe,
You make a good point about 'who cares' about the area you have picked to go-to-ground. A good example is night camping in marina parking lots. Many of the folks in broken down old RV's in a marina lot are there night-timing in their RV and day-timing fishing in their 12 ft. dingy, so it's easy to 'hide' there amongst them. However, different marinas have differing rules about over-nighting.
In our little town of Nevada City (pop: 2500) there are 'regular' night-timers in broken down RV's (mostly TC's) who know the city codes of 72 hr. max parking on the street. Every 3 days in a rolling change they are in a new spot, round-robbining the hood. You drive by at night and there are no lights on, shades down, no steps down, no signs of human habitation at all. It just looks like they are parked. Many of them have been around for years in a group I call the 'mobile-homeless'. I see them at our church's soup kitchen feeding the hungry.
in addition, i still like the, "hide in plain sight" approach. You must make a judgement as to whether this will work for each and every prospective night-camp site.
After reading Tioga George's Blog, I see from whence Sleepy got a lot of his ideas.
regards, as always, jefe
Pax in aeternum

Regarding your first paragraph, nothing could be further from the truth, Redsky.

When in residential/rural areas, everyone knows whether a vehicle "belongs" or not.

In commercial/industrial areas, noone feels a sense of ownership.

Get in late, get out early. It works even in big cities.

I suspect your opinion comes from theory.

Mine comes from experience. I know how to hide.

Joe

Tried to edit. Edited post follows.

Joe

The more rural or residential an area the less chance there will be for anyone to notice you are there and it will be quieter during the night. The last place I would stay is in an industrial area or in a public parking lot where delivery trucks are likely to arrive in the middle of the night.

A big advantage for us as been the compact size of our rig as we can park it almost anywhere and be out of the way and out of sight.

In many towns there are places you would not think of where it is OK to stay overnight including town parks or water treatment plants and it is worth phoning the local police department and asking. They know where it is going to be safe or not safe.

We always have a planned destination for the night and a backup or two should we decide to shorten the day's drive or make a detour. Google Maps and search nearby works great to find places and using the satellite view we can determine ahead what the surrounding area is going to be like long before we arrive.

I'm not a truck camper, but I have enjoyed reading EVERY word of this forum thread. I do suppose it's easier to 'stealth' camp, 'urban' camp, 'camouflage' camp or whatever it's called with a TC than with a TT or 5er. Living in Central Indiana, I don't know of anywhere around here where you can open "boondock" unless you get permission from the owner of the property. Unfortunately, in Central Indiana, any green space bigger than a postage stamp now has a shopping mall. There's just no place around ... unless you know one of the local farmers and get away from the big cities. I'm fortunate to live in the country. I feel I'm camping 24x7 right at home. My house interior reminds you of a ski-lodge, complete with one wall that is filled with a real stone fireplace. So need to "get away" is not so urgent in my world. I guess I'm one of those that's still dependent upon electricity. But it is sad there are fewer and fewer places where we do have the freedom to just get out and "go!"

For what it's worth, talking about all this 'stealth' camping in city and neighborhood environments, shopping centers, malls, you name it ... I came across this and just thought I'd have to post it. I think this may be an ultimate "stealth" camper!

This is a great thread. I really enjoyed it!

http://assets.dornob.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/mobile-shopping-cart-home.jpg

The only tip that I can add to all of the previous comments is to make friends with the national forest ranger staff in the district where you want to camp. Go into the office. Buy some paper maps -- the forest road maps are great (and huge) and often list roads that are not on the computer topos. Talk to the ranger -- find out which areas are off-limits for boondocking (such as near campgrounds). If you are lucky, the ranger will give you some great suggestions. It depends on who is on duty that day, how busy they are, and so forth. Kind of time consuming, but it's part of the fun of hunting for good sites!

We have a couple in our city that have a white panel van (no windows other than the back door and they are covered by Reflex material), a roof rack (that is either mostly empty or has some small gas cans on it) and they have been camping / boondocking for 3 years now. I will see them in a city park during the day, or Walmart parking lot at night, or on a side street.

I have pointed them out a number of times to my wife as she always misses them, even when parked a few spaces away.

Some days a lady will be sitting in the front seat reading a book but most times it is just another empty vehicle.

Honestly I think most common people/ people of authority will just leave a vehicle like this alone.

I have seen a couple truck campers around my house and a class a that just pulled into the ice rink parking lot and camped / boondocked in the corner. Most people would not even notice them, even walking by a few feet away. Plus unless you were in charge of a place like that you have no idea if they are suppose to be there or not.

Only issue I see is in a resort area. I have been told by a few people that they could not even park on a road during the day in some resorts without getting harassed and told to go to a campsite and I understand this.

Ooohhhmmm...

Perhaps you are the next Dalai Lama, Skipbee!

Reckon?

I need more regular, everyday guy repeatable techniques, although I am secure in the salvation of my Lord and Savior.

I'm probably just not highly enough spiritually developed to use the "Zen" technique.

Whatever works! :)

Joe