I recently visited a Washington State Park and was greeted with a sign in the window of the closed attendant’s booth that said: “There Are No Utility Sites Available.”
Now, through the years, I have traveled miles to a campground hoping to find a campsite only to be discouraged when I encountered the “Campground Full” sign posted at the entrance. But would an RVer drive miles to reach a first-come, first-serve campground just to turn around and head elsewhere because there are no utility sites available?
For me, I am happy to find a spot, any spot, available when I pull into a campground these days. After talking with others, and reading online posts and surveys, I learned that I’m in the minority when it comes to utilities not being a necessity, especially electricity, as some surveys reveal nearly 75% of RVers feel they must have an electrical hookup.
Yes, even I, a dyed in the wool boondocker, would prefer an electric site, especially in cold or very hot weather, but I would never head down the road if one were not available.
That is why I am writing this blog entry to encourage you to become a better dry camper and avoid the disappointment you must experience when arriving at a campground and discovering there are no utility sites available. Trust me, most any RV will operate a night or two without hookups in moderate weather conditions.
Be prepared to dry camp anywhere, any time. All photos by author (Dave Helgeson)
By becoming a better dry camper, you have much more flexibility on where you can camp. With flexibility comes freedom, allowing you to pretty much go where you want when you want. Isn’t that what RVing was meant to be? Surveys show that thousands of designated (non-utility) campsites remain vacant every night, even in the busiest season, due to RVers perceived need of utilities.
On top of the thousands of non-utility campsites that remain vacant, tens of thousands of other potential sites (dispersed camping locations, boat launches, city parks, points of interest, fairgrounds, and other legal places to camp) remain underutilized due to the fact they require RVers to dry camp.
I have shared with you the “why” part of becoming a better dry camper, but for the “how” part, you can search online, especially through my older blog posts where I have shared how to determine your power needs, conserve water, how to recharge your batteries, find potable water, and other useful dry camping skills.
How about you? Will you accept a a non-hookup campsite when you arrive without reservations at a campground or RV park, or will you try your luck elsewhere in the hopes of finding a campsite with utilities? Please share why (or why not) in the comment section below.
See also: Boondocking Checklist: 10 Essential Items Needed For Off-Grid Camping
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I only need utilities if it is hot and I need the a/c. Otherwise I’m fine without hookups. I can go usually ten days on 40 gallons of fresh water.
I became a full timer in December after sell my home. I never thought about boon-docking. after spending some time with experienced RVers I’m hooked. I stated with running my generator to charge my electronics.
I went out and purchased 2 lithium batteries and charge then with an 80W solar suitcase. It allows me to charge and run my CPAP.
I’m on BLM land and love it. The people I’ve met are great and not as ckicky as what I’ve found in RV Parks.
I’ll still stay in parks when necessary but will keep boondocking as much as I can. At least till it gets hot and humid later on.
We prefer dry camping most of the time. Haven’t had much luck with BLM sites, though, mainly due to wet weather and muddy roads with a good chance of getting stuck. However, when on a 2 week adventure, it’s nice to at least have a level gravel site with hook-ups every few days. But would we pass up a site just because of no hook-ups? Absolutely not!!!
If I have a choice I take the boondocking camping over the campground… why..
1.st…. if you figure that it cost you 40 bux a night you will spend at least $300 a week camping. Now while you do get elect, water etc… we find that even though we do get into a campground with services we still navy shower and behave the same in resources as if we were boondocking
2nd. W have found that boondocking is much quieter …most of the time… and more frendly campers… not to mention the money you save… for that I can open the window to let the fresh air blow through (ocean air is so great… but then again the smell of pine trees is also) … As to cold weather… well we have propane tanks, heater, blankets and warm cloths… which then allow you to sit around the campfire sipping on coffee etc… and getting outdoors… where as the campground.. what ya got .. a pool and TV… yikes…
3rd…. the views… no where else can you wake up in the morning and feel mother nature smile’n at you… and of course the wild life coming to see who is in their domain… grin…
Etc..etc..etc… So many more reasons other than disappointment reserve camping… where most arrive… set up the RV.. take a look around the thing and then promptly head inside to watch the tv or computer…only to be seen when they are leaving…
Nope I like the outdoors.. that is why we camp…and staying in a glamping campground is not what I like to do…unless its for work…etc…
We prefer boon docking so lack of elec. is not a problem. The only thing I need power for are the micro and AC which my generator can take care of. TV and everything else is 12 volt.
If the sites were free it would depend on the weather and how long I intended to stay. Two to four days would be doable without any major problems. There are so many variables to consider but it would not scare me away if there was no other immediate option.
We boondock a lot more than we used to. Auto-Gen made it a lot easier!
As a confirmed “Last Minute” site guy, whether it’s Wally Docking in the Class A or a No Hookups home for the baby TT, I am always ready to boondock it.
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We ordered our 4 season camper with boondocking in mind – bigger tanks, additional house battery, generator, solar charger, and propane appliances – so not having utilities is of no concern. Just requires a little pre-planning such as filling up the fresh water before setting up.
Hi Dave, I interned under Pastor Ken Helgeson at Grace Lutheran on hilltop in Sioux Falls SD., 1972. Are you by chance related?? BTW, I am an avid RV’er, and love boondocking when I get a chance.
I like both. If we’re driving to a specific place and we get tired we stay over at a rest stop, pilot, or Walmart. We stayed at a pilot for 3 nights and loved it. Just crank up the gen when we need 120 volt.
Our TVs are 120. Is there a way to convert them to 12. Anybody have any suggestions?
Brad, not that I am aware of. Interesting side note is that my grandfather was a pastor in Minneapolis.
Dave, thank you for the great article. We are going to spend the summer in the western part of the US and would like to boondock at least part of that time. My challenge is finding boondocking spots that won’t damage my rig and/or truck. Can you help?
Don
Don – You can use Google earth satellite view and street view to get a good idea of what the road into the boondocks looks like and if it is something you are comfortable with. I seldom pull down a road more than a few hundred yards off the asphalt. Do a online search using my name, “RV”, “Boondocking” and “Google Earth” and you should find multiple blogs and videos where I explain how to determine these things.
Don, check out my recent blog and the two that will follow it. https://rvlife.com/back-roads-google-earth/
Dave, thank you so much for the reply. I’ll check out your information. Thanks again.
Yes I will dry camp if needed. As long as I have a tank of gas in my MH my generator will power my Class A rig and with my switch in batteries I have more than doubled my time to run on batteries alone. So long as I have water in my tanks, the digs. Cat znd I are fine.
Last fall in Hershey, PA, we stayed at the dry camp set up as part of the Largest RV Show in America rather than drive 30 miles further to a campground that had hook-ups (or stay at a nearby cg that charged more than twice what we paid.) It was only one nite, and we got to set up earlier in the day and relax. Were even able to visit the nearby Troeg Brewery and enjoy a good meal and cold brew for dinner.
Dry camping is what I do 95% of the time. I learned how to conserve what usage.
My electrical needs are minimal and have a total of 156 AH via 2 x LiFePO4 batteries. I run most items direct from 12 VDC eliminating the inefficiency of using a large inverter. I have a small 300W inverter used to charge my ebike and a couple of items that need to use AC voltage.
I rarely use my built-in RV generator and use 300W of solar panels. 200W are portable and can be positioned as the sun moves across the sky. In addition to the generator and solar, these Lithium batteries can be recharged quickly by idling my RV’s engine.
There are various apps that help me find potable water and dump stations, many of which are free.
My Class B RV gets me into camp spots in very scenic locations. As an example, I’m now at the KOFA National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona … beautiful place.
For entertainment, I use my phone and laptop to access YouTube. I also have many movies saved on my laptop to viewing during inclement weather days.
I have no requirement to stay at a formal campground to be placed in sardine canned sites, noisy neighbours, noisy kids, barking dogs, etc.
I will accept most any site that is open. We boon dock every chance we get. We have solar and lots of tank capacity and don’t travel with full waste tanks. We do make sure we always have a few days water & propane on board.
The quietness of a dry camp is the best part of any trip. The days slow down and the nights are brighter.
The only time I NEED hookups is to run AC if it’s above 75 degrees for my dogs.
I like boondocking if it’s not hot or below freezing out. I have a restored ’91 Hitchhiker Snowbird fifth wheel. We camp out while riding ATV trails. I’d much rather boondock than be in a crowded camp ground. My camper has an 80 gallon fresh water tank which is plenty for three or four people to take a shower everyday for three for four days. I charge the two RV batteries up daily with my camper plugged into my generator and keep power use in the camper down to a minimum. I can also use my ram diesel truck idling to charge the batteries with everything off in the truck. The truck can easily charge 30-40 amps an hour and the RV inverter/charger should do 30-40 amps an hour hooked up to a generator. I run a cpap all night and carry a spare deep cycle battery for that i case I need it. All of the camper lighting inside has been changed to LED lamps. After 3 or 4 days we go into a camp ground, fill the water tank and drain the waste tanks and stay for one night. Then back out to the boonies.
We are working on getting solar power installed so we can boondock. I need full time oxygen to sleep and if I’m walking so we have to have electric most of the time. We love the privacy of camping at the Army Corp of Engineers Campgrounds, State Parks and National Parks vs the side by side parking lots of the RV Resorts. Also since I am disabled I get the federal half price discounts at those parks. We have gone camping at some non electric campgrounds but for short trips and I have to bring lots of the very large oxygen bottles to hold me for overnight when I sleep. Right now most of our camping is from Georgia to the Ozarks in Arkansas where we are getting our property ready to build our retirement home on and we have electric on the property now so I only have to bring enough large bottles for 1 Walmart overnight on the way there and the way back home. We will be camping full time there while we build our house. Then it’s off on trips for 2 to 3 months at a time with our 4 dogs. We rarely stay in resorts because needing oxygen to swim I simply cannot do it so no need for a resort with a pool. Once we get the solar set up we will boondock often so we can go on really long trips without a lot of expense. When on long trips right now we usually bring 7 large oxygen bottles and my oxygen concentrator that I can use overnight when we have electric and with it I can refill the smaller bottles that I can use for long walks. I put them in a backback and although I can only walk slowly and have to rest a lot we can still go on trails. Luckily my boyfriend does not mind that I have to walk slowly. He’s just happy I’m alive and can walk.
Solar has made it so much easier to dry camp or boondock whatever you want to call it. If I lived west of the Mississippi I would invest in a good solar setup but living in the SE not a whole lot of options for that so, but do agree if don;t need ac would be able to figure it out for several days I’m sure.
All my camping is done in the forest, that’s what I bought my RV for, and always dry camping and hopefully no other RVers within eye shot.
Call me antisocial if you must, but I extremely enjoy my peace and quiet and relaxation.
Can one dry camp at public boat launches??? Does it require a permit? I love boondock, as long as it is cool enough to sleep. No one launches a boat in the dark, but I am afraid to be asleep and then have the authorities banging on my wall because I’m not allowed to park there.
We prefer the state camp grounds and most do not have have utility hookups but many have generator hours. I agree, when it’s hot and humid I prefer and electric site for the AC but with the generator and solar we can survive without hookups.