Tips for TC Boondocking

Francesca Knowles wrote:
Perhaps THE most important bit of boondocking info I ever picked up is the little-know fact that by Federal Law, all National Forest (USDA) lands are managed for multiple uses, and allow folks to overnight for free anywhere they choose UNLESS the local Ranger District has designated specific areas off-limits to such use for one reason or another. (Pay campgrounds, private leases, etc.)
This is very different from National Parks(DOI) Lands, where camping is permitted only in designated campgrounds.

There are of course some general rules in National Forests...one is forbidden to take a vehicle down closed roads etc., but generally speaking one can pull over in any wide spot on a Forest Service road and stay there.

I make it a point to check in with the Ranger Station of any National Forest I intend to camp in just to check up on rule changes etc...also to let them know I'm out there, and generally where I'll be and for how long. That last because as someone that often travels alone, it's a comfort to know that someone else knows who/where I am...just in case.

It's sadly true that some Forests are more limited in such open territory than others...this at least in part due to folks abusing the land etc. I see more and more road closures every year necessitated by such behavior.:M

Having worked for both the National Forest Service (Department of Agriculture) and the National Park Service (Department of the Interior) allows me a certain perspective, but not knowledge of everything. Your statements are well founded, but overstated.

When I would give Ranger Talks’, one of the parts I would talk about was the difference between the Forest Service and the National Park Service. My statement was; “The difference between the Forest Service and the Park Service is the difference between a Super Market and a Museum.” In essence, their missions are very different. One is to preserve for future generations and the other is for managing the lands and forests for what best works for that entity, as a commodity.

Francesca, you are right about the changing attitudes. There are some very serious debates, mission description and town meetings/changes afoot in many National Parks and Forest Lands. There is even debates within those that are responsible for carrying forward those decisions. Such as the prohibition of informing the public, when asked, where certain places or things are located and how to get there. Recent legislation language prohibits Park Rangers or other Agents from providing this information. Being a member of an Alumni for Park Rangers their forum is flooded with this Policy and Use debate. Increasingly there are requests for public access of Bike Paths, non-motorized boats on streams/lakes (Kayaks) and Campgrounds with FHU and the other side does not wish the current policy to change. One of the roles of a Park Service Superintendent is working with the surrounding communities. Which can be a difficult river to ford, especially if the Superintendent is on a Career Track.

Your over statement is when you state; “camping is permitted only in designated campgrounds.” That is not entirely correct. There are many National Parks, that do allow, in the vernacular; “Dispersed Camping.” To name a few; Death Valley, Craters of the Moon, Big Bend and many more. Where your statement is right on target, visit a Backcountry (different than the person at the Visitor Center Desk) Office/Permits and ask where Dispersed Camping might be available. With this thread being brought by the Op, of where one boondocks, it is important to provide helpful information.

As for Legalities for boondocking/stealth camping, knowing what the DOT Traffic Rules and Regulations are, is helpful. When I earlier stated camping in Urban areas, I was not advocating parking in areas of Private Property, or any place deemed illegal. But on the street, thus my statement; “Uninterrupted Curbing.” The typical rule/law/ordinance is; A vehicle properly registered may park within the boundaries of a Highway (defined as; That portion between boundary line to boundary Line. Fence to Fence, including ditches, shoulders, medians) parallel with the curb, not more than 12” from the curb and not within 15’ (some jurisdictions have farther) of a Fixture (Described as a, Fire Hydrant, Traffic Control Device, Intersection, Driveway, Postal Depository, or site Line). A Roadway is described as that portion maintained for the exclusive use of a Motor Vehicle and or transport. (So don’t be dissuaded by the word Highway, as it means all the area, not just the paved road portion and a motor vehicle can be used to describe any vehicle, Horse, Bicycle, and Farm Tractor using a roadway.) So pulling up on the gravel areas alongside a road, at ball fields, curbs of Industrial Areas and Small Airports (Ontario, Oregon, They have a wonderful Airplane Museum there) is fine, as long as you know the rules/regulations, going in. Now, the OP knows some of the secrets I use, to be able fulltime, off the grid. Sometimes one needs to come into a town and get Groceries, trip to Lowes or the Lone Pine Film History Museum, in Lone Pine, California.

Ask people, when you come into a small town if they know a place that they can recommend. Many know places around their town, out in the country that people Fish at and camp. Not known to the general public, or a campground, with parking pads and hook ups, provided by a small Kansas Town, for FREE, across the highway from a Wal-Mart. It was developed by the Town’s Chamber of Commerce, to encourage people to stay over and shop in their small town. It too is by their airport. Or talking to a guy, interested in my Truck and Camper at a gas station. After we talked, he told me about his horse property, on the east side of town, he stated; “You can stay as long as I would like. Nobody there, except for the guy that comes to feed the horses and the bike path that runs along the river and my property.” This was in Bishop California and I still have the Horse Nose smudges on the inside of my TC door, where the horses came begging for Apples.

Be open minded, become knowledgeable of the rules and limits and by all means, explore.

b