The mother of all stupid truck camper questions....

[lcseds]

My wife and I are considering a TC for some travelling when retired. Part of the potential fun and cost saving of a TC is boondocking. The pictures we see of some boondocking sites are amazing.

But....where the heck do you boondock? I'm in NC so there isn't any barren desert or anything. All I can think about is someone banging on the door at night saying private property and have to move. I don't think I can just pull off anywhere, so where /how do you discover these spots? How do I know when I turn onto a dirt road or something I won't get stuck? I have not been out west so I assume it's easier out there to find spots. But in general, I'd like some tips.

I have an 2018 F350 diesel dually 4x4 (not FX4) and would get the TC reasonably equipped for a few days of boondocking at a time. We are "wanna-be" adventurers. Newbies if you will.

[free_radical]

lcseds wrote:
Thanks for the advice and the links. I imagine we will get the hang of it after trying a little bit. Just don't want to end up in someones driveway in the dark. I'm probably overthinking it.

I only traveled in Canada from west to east coast and never stayed in any campground ever,plenty o places to stop overnight and sleep.

Best are truck stops,WM or some construction sites.

[Kayteg1]

work2much wrote:
We are also a member of Harvest Host. For a small yearly fee you stay at businesses such as farms, wineries, museums, breweries for free. So far we have really liked HH. I'm sure we will use them heavily whenever we get to the east coast since boondocking is tougher.

Harvets Hosts

Check the map and in Nevada I see only 1 site listed and it is farm near Reno. Mustang Ranch comes to mind. ...

[work2much]

We are also a member of Harvest Host. For a small yearly fee you stay at businesses such as farms, wineries, museums, breweries for free. So far we have really liked HH. I'm sure we will use them heavily whenever we get to the east coast since boondocking is tougher.

Harvets Hosts

[jaycocreek]

work2much wrote:
Boondockers Welcome

I had know idea they had anything like that,especially in Idaho..I checked a couple in area's I know pretty well...Interesting...

This would be perfect for anyone not familiar with, Idaho as an example.

[work2much]

JD5150 wrote:

midnightsadie wrote:
some ones drive way is a good place ,just ask first. I,ve had stop overs here in louisville ohio .I live three miles out of town and have let travlers stay the night.

That's very nice of you. There is a website but I can't remember the name of it. On the website there is some if not most let you stay for one night for free in their driveway or on their land. Some have electric and water and they let you have it for free. They are just trying to help travelers out so they can get to one destination to another

Boondockers Welcome

[JD5150]

midnightsadie wrote:
some ones drive way is a good place ,just ask first. I,ve had stop overs here in louisville ohio .I live three miles out of town and have let travlers stay the night.

That's very nice of you. There is a website but I can't remember the name of it. On the website there is some if not most let you stay for one night for free in their driveway or on their land. Some have electric and water and they let you have it for free. They are just trying to help travelers out so they can get to one destination to another

[Kayteg1]

lcseds wrote:
Thanks for the advice and the links. I imagine we will get the hang of it after trying a little bit. Just don't want to end up in someones driveway in the dark. I'm probably overthinking it.

Maybe you are overthinking, maybe not.
I've got woken up at 5 AM at Walmart parking lot, when tow truck driver was clubbing semi-tractors who park there.
Since I was RV, he let me go, but I had only few minutes.
Most of the time asking is all it takes.
You can always stay overnight at truck stops, but use the car parking and don't block semi spots.
Most walmarts have security, who will tell you the procedure.
I slept at Walmart with "No camping" posted, but the employee informed me that that applies to 3-day stay.
I've been stopping overnight at Home Depot and Costco. Ask cart person and most of the time they had policy not allowing overnight parking, but then "nobody will chase you".
We live next to desert, but having water drainage system, belongs to the County. Not only lot of sign informing no motor vehicles, but concrete barriers with chains between. Chains are broken, vans drive on the desert for days and then we have hundreds of trash bags flying around with next strong winds.
Nobody enforce the rules.

[midnightsadie]

some ones drive way is a good place ,just ask first. I,ve had stop overs here in louisville ohio .I live three miles out of town and have let travlers stay the night.

[PNW_Steve]

Take a look at www.freecampsites.net

It's a handy tool for finding spots to dry camp.

[lcseds]

Thanks for the advice and the links. I imagine we will get the hang of it after trying a little bit. Just don't want to end up in someones driveway in the dark. I'm probably overthinking it.

[JD5150]

ajriding wrote:
Stealth camping is not illegal!

The reason to be stealthy is to be left alone, to not draw attention to yourself, to not cause concern for other citizens and in general to just fly under the radar.

I was in a town that had nowhere for RV's or trailers to even park. I asked the loacl police and they suggested parking on the street. Really? Yes, he said, there is no law against it. So I did, but I kept it stealthy anyway. Why? Because I wanted to be left alone and not bothered. I was parked on a neighborhood street for 4 days/ 3 nights. This was such a small town that I was close enough no matter where I parked to go do the things I wanted to do. I only was there for breakfast, supper and sleeping. I spent the day away from camp. My day was the point to see and experience, my time at the camper was for getting ready to do it all again the next day…

The neighbors all assumed I was visiting the other neighbor and no one ever asked. I left in the morning and returned after dark. I saved this spot on my GPS for the next visit.

Finally someone who knows what stealth is :C

Town I live in it's legal to park over night on the street a car, van, truck with cap or truck camper. No motorhomes, fifth wheels or travel trailers allowed on the street.

If you were caught sleeping in a car, van, truck with cap or truck camper the police may stop to check you out but there is really nothing they can do about it. They may ask you to move on after sometime. If you were staying on the street in front of your family members homes they would allow it probably for months.

Truck and truck camper or truck cap is considered a pickup truck. No registration, tags or taxes on a truck camper so it's legal.

Smaller town five miles away from me it's legal to drive to the grocery store, gas station, post office, anywhere in town an ATV, UTV, golf cart on the street. No tags, registration required but I do think you need to have a permit or drivers license to do so.

[HadEnough]

As someone who is talking about the very legal aspects of what I guess is called stealth camping, I would just like to add that I am very excited to do some dispersed camping this winter out west. We don’t have a lot of it here in the Northeast USA. It’s too crowded.

Money isn’t even an object for me. When it comes to using my RV. I just don’t like being stuck with a bunch of people at a campground. It’s annoying. Dogs barking, children screaming, it’s too crowded. It’s more crowded than New York City. Because in New York City, people don’t even look at you. You park the RV, and everybody goes about their business. In a campground, it’s a claustrophobic feeling. I can hear what everyone is talking about around me. It’s just awkward in a campground. That’s my personal opinion.

However, if you have an entire acre to yourself or something, that changes everything. Very excited to go looking for places like this out west. I don’t prefer City or rural. I prefer to do both. That’s why I have an RV. I would not want to get stuck into one or the other.

[ppine]

I left the East Coast 50 years because of the problem you describe. Find some good maps that show ownership. Get in the habit of stopping and talking with Forest Service Ranger District offices. Boondocking in the West is totally simple.

[kohldad]

Can't believe I'm the first east coaster to comment on this. Most of my camping is usually in NC, TN, KY, VA, and WV. Not only is there lots of places to legally camp, there are a lot of cheap small forest campground to stay at. A lot of these campground are under $10/night, 1/2 that if you have a discount pass. I've stayed in a number of forest service campgrounds with my discount at $2.50/night. Spent more money in fuel getting to the site than I saved but the isolation is worth it.

For the forest service campground and other government operated along with allowed disperse camping, check out ultimatecampgrounds.com. After I looked a lot on line confirming the small places I knew, I paid the %5 to download the poi list so I can use it in my offline mapping program and load it into my GPS so I can find a nearby place to crash when I'm ready to stop for the night.

In our area, there is dispersed camping off the blue ridge parkway just north or Mt Mitchel, a few more spots down near Brevard. Over in KY near Cumberland Gap is the Wilderness ORV area with some amazing views if you have 4wd and a smaller TC (see pic). Down in GA dispersed camping is allowed in Cherokee NF. VA gives you the George Washington NF and Monongahela NF.



Then there are the stores which don't mind you staying overnight if you ask first. Some of the more common ones are Walmart and Cracker Barrel. Just remember at this you aren't camping but are just spending the night so no awning, breaking out the grill, or relaxing in your chairs.

Regardless of where you spend the night, try to always leave it cleaner than you found it. This will help ensure it stays available for the next generation. I will usually stay a couple nights boondocking and then find a government facility with showers so I can get cleaned up, dump my tanks, refill my water if necessary and get rid of the trash I've made or picked up along the way.