Free overnight camping in small towns

[Mannon89]

Free overnight camping in small towns
I have heard that many small towns offer free overnight camping such as electrical hook up for a small donation. How do I find these small towns?

[Rice]

coolmom42 wrote:
BTW, the Faribault County Fairgrounds in Blue Earth, MN is free,

Not any more. It used to be free for the first night (and maybe two nights and maybe three nights at some point), but starting in 2016, there's no more free camping. Sites are currently $25/night.

[trailertraveler]

coolmom42 wrote:
USCampgrounds.info....Maps free or low cost publicly owned campgrounds with lots of info...

A nice feature of this website is that the locations can be downloaded to a GPS and other mapping programs and devices.

[coolmom42]

USCampgrounds.info.

Maps free or low cost publicly owned campgrounds with lots of info.

BTW, the Faribault County Fairgrounds in Blue Earth, MN is free, with full hookups and a very nice shower house.

[4runnerguy]

Some links to check out. You should use all three as some places are only listed on one of the sites:

iOverlander

USCampground.info

freecampsite.net

[Veebyes]

Free is rare but across the country there are small towns with parks that have a few sites. Easier to find a county fairgrounds or state fairgrounds. Basic & mostly cheap. Often close to unoccupied. FHUs unlikely but good for power at least.

[VE3ESN]

Another useful resource is ioverlander. There are many "free camping" options listed in many areas.

[Edd505]

Behind the Silver Dollar Inn Haugan, MT not visible from the road, E
Ray & Donna West RV Muleshoe TX donation W/E

[Mayor30]

Most of them are found in the midwest.

[MRC54]

Here is an article with descriptions of free campsites in Texas.

https://rvlife.com/free-campgrounds-in-texas/

[trailertraveler]

We have stayed at a number of free and low cost city and county parks and fairgrounds. Most have been in the midwestern states of Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. In Nebraska, for example, there are a number of them along US-20. In addition to parks, some states allow dry camping at State Fishing Lakes and Wildlife Management Areas. The two best sources I have found are Free Campsites and the Ultimate Public Campgrounds Project.

[doxiemom11]

We have found many of those places on freecampsites.net. Have stayed at some and some were parking lot type, others were really nice. Allstays.com also has city parks listed.

[2g_s]

We found many small town city parks to stay. I don't recall that they were free but very reasonable. There are also county parks. Just Google the small towns in the direction you're heading. Sometimes the town Chamber of Commerce is a good place for information and they sometimes have web sites. Some very good ones were in North Dakota. We've also used fairgrounds (when there's nothing going on) and they are quiet and reasonable. Even when visiting daughter in San Francisco we stayed at a fairgrounds which was a fraction of the cost of a RV park.

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Tatum, NM - near Texas border on US-380 - 50/W/S up to 4 days.
Dumas, TX - north of Amarillo - Texhoma Park on US-87 near railroad tracks is 'free' for a donation

I've watched web forums, FB, and talked to other RVers.

These 'free' spots expect a little something in return - buy a meal in the city, some shopping if you need anything.

Just be aware, these places are meant of a night or two only.

[Matt_Colie]

We have found more than a few of places that fit this description. Some are truly free, some have water and limited electric, a very few have dumps. They are all great if you have a small rig. Only a very few could accommodate a 40+. Some have a donation box and some don't. One was son nice I really wanted to leave a donation and I couldn't even slide an envelope into the town hall door - finally found a stamp and mailed it.

Matt