RVers have many ways to enjoy free RV camping in America. From questionable parking lot overnighters to remote vacations anywhere on the 109 million acres of American wilderness, the occasional free getaway is always within reach.
Free RV camping spots have rules too.
The Internet’s wealth of information about free RV camping might also create its downfall. Irresponsible RVers who don’t know or care about free RV camping ethics are causing government agencies to restrict the practice all over America. To keep free RV camping free, here are some things you must know before claiming a spot.
1. Urban or “stealth” RV camping could cost more than you think
The rise of the urban “stealth” camper is a growing phenomenon. One search for “stealth camping” videos on YouTube reveals dozens of RVers who teach others how to live without paying for RV campsites.
With more people than ever doing it, authorities are cracking down on stealth urban campers. Many cities like San Diego have outlawed overnight RV parking on city streets and dozens of municipalities like Anchorage, AK are considering it.
Don’t rely on free urban camping as a way to save money. If you do it, remember that one parking ticket costs far more than a night at the local RV park.
2. Free doesn’t mean forever
All public lands have designated areas where free RV camping is allowed. Before claiming your dream boondocking site, check with the regional office of the managing agency. Your goal is to learn the rules for camping outside of developed campgrounds. This practice is called “dispersed camping.” In general, here’s how different public lands agencies set time limits on dispersed camping:
- Bureau of Land Management dispersed camping rules generally only allow camping for 14 days within 28 consecutive days. After that, you must relocate to another spot at least 25 miles away.
- U.S. Forest Service dispersed camping rules generally only allow a 16-day stay limit. The US Forest Services says that “After 16 days, you must move at least five road miles for camping in another dispersed area. Campers may not return to the same campsite within the calendar year.”
3. Free RV camping requires more responsibility
Free RV camping on public lands requires RVers to be even more conscientious about the land on which they camp. For example, did you know:
- Dispersed camping areas don’t have trash collection, fire rings, or toilets. As a result, you are technically responsible for keeping the area clean and pristine.
- You must know where to camp and why. For example, did you know that camping less than 100 feet from a stream or river will damage plants and cause soil disruption? Or that staying to close to a wildlife water trough will put animals lives in jeopardy because they’ll be too afraid to approach?
- Camping in a meadow clearing is disruptive to the environment. When your RV is out in the open, it’s wrecking another camper’s wilderness experience.
RVing offers a ton of freedom that car and tent campers don’t get to enjoy—as any good American patriot will tell you, “Freedom isn’t free.” Campsites that don’t cost money technically do cost you time and effort to learn about free RV camping ethics. Set a good example and you’ll preserve these freedoms for years to come.
Rene Agredano and her husband, Jim Nelson, became full-time RVers in 2007 and have been touring the country ever since. In her blog, Rene chronicles the ins and outs of the full-timing life and brings readers along to meet the fascinating people and amazing places they visit on the road. Her road trip adventures are chronicled in her blog at LiveWorkDream.com.
The writer uses the term “wilderness” too loosely. Wilderness is a very specific, politically-determined classification for public lands where no motorized vehicle is allowed for any purpose. Furthermore, day-limits and distances required from waterways vary from one public land jurisdiction to another. Check with local authorities, such as a Forest Service District Ranger Office, concerning dispersed camping rules.
People who always depend on “free” camping sites for their camping needs are fringe RV enthusiasts at best; they are people who generally shouldn’t be traveling in RVs, since they are creating an atmosphere of fear, suspicion, and resentment among the residents in the areas where they decide to park their RV illegally. If one is traveling, overnight stays are generally welcomed at many national chain truck stops, or at WalMart parking lots. But for nominal fees one can also purchase a camping club membership, such as Camp Club USA or Passport America which have hundreds of camping locations nationally and often overnight charges as low as $10 or $15. What I object to are municipalities who outlaw parking in a WalMart lot, for instance, because they want to divert the RVer to an expensive RV Park nearby, when all you want to do is stop overnight to rest before your next day of driving. State and National parks that have camping facilities often don’t accomodate RVs (other than popups or similar tent-style camping); but those that do may only have limited services and short limits on length of stay.
Anyone else notice that many camping sites under the fed thumb have been reduced in size? Logs, rocks, and other barriers are installed to shorten them. Many were constructed to 20’s and 30’s standards and we’re already tight.
If you’re not in a popup or tent, the federal government believes you aren’t camping and makes RVs unwelcome.
Please, $10-$40 nightly just to park? My tax dollars pay for National and State parks. In addition I have to spend 30_$80 for a “use permit” in those same parks/recreation areas. I don’t have an RV so I can be a different consumer. I RV to see the wild places before they become mines and oil fields, which already begun happening in most wild places. I’ll spend my money on necessities like food and repairs/upgrades as needed. JMHO.
While San Diego has passed a law banning the practice more or less, (specifics here: https://www.sandiego.gov/sites/default/files/legacy/parking/pdf/parkingrulesfactsheet.pdf) as a San Diegan and an RVer, I notice RVs on the street (I don’t mind, so long as you keep it clean), I’d say this law is selectively enforced.
Specifically, I think it’s only enforced in and near the beach areas. I’m aware of a road about a 10-minute drive from here an which you can always find some RVs that seem pretty permanently parked there. It’s out of the way, adjacent to a fenced off open area and some businesses that are not affected by it and not open at night. This location is a 5-minute drive from a major police station, so I assume the police are aware of it. The RVers parked there all seem to keep it clean and not bother anyone.
I’m also aware of at least one person who I’m quite certain is living in an travel trailer right in my neighborhood. I see it all over the place. It moves regularly, and I’ve even seen it going the other way on the road a couple of times. I’ve never met the driver, or even seem him/her. I assume he/she probably goes to work; any time I’ve seen it parked around here, it appears to be unoccupied. Again, the owner keeps it clean and doesn’t bother anyone, always parking in courteous locations. I’m cool with that.
I’d much, much rather see someone living in an RV on the streets than having to live in a car or – even worse – becoming homeless. I’m glad San Diego enforces this law selectively. If the city started vigorously enforcing it (realistically, I think our police department has too many demands on their time to do that), I’d be very supportive of a movement to either narrow the scope of the law or repeal it.
I realize there are places that are far too crowded to park an RV on the street (the beach areas, and pretty much any older section of the city), but there are also places like the one I mentioned, where people can park RVs without bothering anyone. I think they should be legally allowed to do so, but I’m glad the police at least don’t enforce the ordinance there.
My take (nothing official on this from the city) is that if they don’t have one of the red and white signs you can see in my link (above), the ordinance is probably only enforced if someone calls and complains. I’m in a fairly live-and-let-live neighborhood in which at least a few RVs seem to be parked on the street for storage (most have off-street parking, as do I), so a person would have to be doing something kind of egregious to spur a complaint, I think, unless he or she just had the bad luck to park near the house of a busybody (every area has a few).
I have full hookups in my driveway; if I didn’t already have my own motorhome in that space, I could rent it out 😀
Not surprised
An RV PARKS website talking negative about free camping.
If more RV parks had a few accommodations for the over-nighter at reasonable rates, say 1/2 the usual rate, they would make money, especially if these sites didn’t have to furnish water/electric/sewage like Walmarts! Much of the time I’m traveling, I only stop O/N to rest, eat & sleep. I move on in the morning and prefer NOT having to disconnect, etc.
I fully support your statements. Five thumbs up from a fellow RVer with similar needs.
What it all boils down to is use common sense. The old saying :”One bad apple can ruin the whole basket ” Our winter travels took us to Florida City where we were going to stay the night at the Walmart before heading to Stock Island. I approached the security officer and asked if we could spend the night. I was informed that we couldn’t. He apologize and stated that a “RVer” had decided to stay the night but before they left they dumb their black waste water. Please think before you exert your selfishness.
Dumping their black tank in that way is wrong on so many levels! Some people are simply unbelievable with their stupidity and selfishness.
Tel that to the politicians in San Francisco.. They should have to due one day a week with the poop brigade, that would motivate them to move on it quickly. As for free camping, the more RVs being sold, the more percentage of morons get infused into the equation. It’s only downhill from here boys and girls.
I’ve heard that story about dumping credited to various sites in the keys.
The major reason for no overnight rv parking in that Florida City Walmart is the fact that it’s situated just a few blocks from a municipal campground. The first time down the keys we were awakened by sirens and blue lights of 3 cop cars. They acted like we were criminalsI hope you enjoyed key west/stock island, we manage a campground there.
Many of us are finding the keys and a lot of the southern Florida campgrounds too expensive, And you are crammed in like sardines….Your awning and slides are within a foot of the RV next to you..Our RV group are now deciding to go else where…Many River’s we talk to are expressing the same concern. We are feeling like since we are snowbirds from the north we are being taken advantage of. Hotels are cheaper then the charges at some of the campgrounds..
I’ve both dispersed camped and paid camp in campgrounds for more than 60 years. Paid camping is ok but is better suited for families with kids. When not camping with others I prefer disperse camping. In the past 60+ years I’ve always packed my own garbage and often pick up garbage left by others, trying to maintain a wilderness. I belong to various groups such as the e.g. Mountaineers, Sierra Club, etc. When I first started camping I use to know quite a few older and younger people some which were from and connected to another era dating back into the 1800’s and earlier. There were unwritten rules of etiquette and how people treated and respected one another while in the wilderness.
Much of how people use to treat on another and survive in the wilderness has disappeared because of how society has change in respect to wilderness and wildlife. It seems more and more people are entering the wilderness (which at one time was treated as sacred) knowing nothing of the past and present cause problems that never before existed.
Many of these problems have created a sort of Wilderness police. State Fish and Wildlife personnel who now carry firearms, have all the same equipment, authority as the state and local cops. Often aren’t really worried about the wilderness very much anymore seem to be more worried about arresting people who have outstanding warrants and other problems originating from human civilization and not the wilderness.
Another problem that’s occurring because of how society treats and respects the wilderness and environment is that many honest people who have never caused any problems what so ever in their lifetime are first being view and treated first as potential criminals by the government because of all these problems with society.
Forest rangers periodically stop people on the roads trying to enjoy camping and wilderness are being questioned about carrying firearms, looking for potential drugs and illegal activity.
Ok I say fine ok get the bad guys and stop and question me if needed, Only do it with respect for me and the wilderness and don’t waste and ruin my time. Most of if not all the rangers now a days know nothing of the unwritten rules of the wilderness. The wilderness is sacred. If the wilderness stops being a sacred place then your going to have more and more societal problems.
Toppinish, best response I have seen! We are new to this (RV) but when young was a backpacker and left no sign of my presence. What I see today that they call “camping” is ridiculous. We stayed in a campground in Shenandoah National Park this week and the generators were running until 10PM, our neighbor had six dogs! YES 6!! This was our worst experience so far, With the noise, air pollution and close proximity this was no different than parking at a truck stop. How on earth is this camping?
Yes, six dogs is alot of dogs to try to keep under control, especially in a camping area with other campers. Some people have problems controlling only one dog. There are people who know how to control single and multiple dogs which has become more of rarity. People often don’t understand pets, sometimes because of a pets appearance and lack of knowledge about domesticated animals.
I’ve luckily never have any problem with my pets.
I use to have a 50 lb. dog that had wolfish appearance. This dog was somewhat shy, never caused any problems, wouldn’t even bark for long periods of time. If I told here to be quiet she normally would stop barking unless there was some sort danger approaching. People that did approach her were often very cautious because of her appearance.. The 15+ years she was with me, the most aggression she ever displayed was to lick a person hand. She loved people and other dogs,
Dogs genetically are almost the same as a wolf which is a pack animal. A small percentage of domesticated dog’s dna is the only difference. What people often don’t realize is there is scientific and archeological evidence dogs have been domesticated for more than 125,000 years. Scientists have found primitive human camps more than a 125,000 years old with evidence that dogs were domesticated as mans best friend, before humans started speaking a common language.
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Yes I sometimes stop at National Forest and Parks camps and sometimes State fee camps. But find most are geared towards groups and families. If not with a group I prefer to disperse camp. You need to follow the disperse camp rules, which are the same or very similar to National Park camping without facilities. There is no garbage bins so you need to carry any garbage out, need to create a latrine so many yards or feet from any sort of water source, river, stream, lake, swamp area, etc. Leave the area the same or better than when arrived. I think most people if there is other’s garbage in a disperse area should take the time to clean it up before they leave. This is an unwritten rule of the forest that has been around a long time.
Modern day camping we normally dispose our own garbage. I think campers need to take another step and clean up after others, especially when disperse camping, trail hiking, etc. Out of respect for ourselves and our wildness & forests.
This is a practice of Native Americans, who ancestors would often seasonally move from one area to another. This allowed an area to recover so it could be used the next season or next year. Each encampment area was given enough time to recover from the human element.
When it comes to natural resources, wilderness and forested areas. I try to follow Native American beliefs in that we as humans, part of the natural world need to give back to nature what we take so a balance can be created. The problem is man (humans) often creates an imbalance with nature, that leads to other problems. This is partially due to most humans have left nature, Yes, six dogs is alot of dogs to try to keep under control, especially in a camping are with other campers. Some people have problems controlling only one dog. There are people who know how to control single and multiple dogs which has become more of rarity. People often don’t understand others pets, sometimes because of a pets appearance and lack of knowledge about domesticated animals.
I’ve luckily never have any problem with my pets.
I use to have a 50 lb. dog that had wolfish appearance. This dog was somewhat shy, never caused any problems, wouldn’t even bark for long periods of time. If I told here to be quiet she normally would stop barking unless there was some sort danger approaching. People that did approach her were often very cautious because of her appearance.. The 15+ years she was with me, the most aggression she ever displayed was to lick a person hand. She loved people and other dogs,
Dogs genetically are almost the same as a wolf. A small percentage of domesticated dog’s dna is the only difference. What people often don’t realize is there is scientific and archeological evidence dogs have been domesticated for more than 125,000 years. Scientists have found primitive human camps more than a 125,000 years old with evidence that dogs were domesticated as mans best friend, before humans started speaking a common language.
Yes I sometimes stop at National Forest and Parks camps and sometimes State fee camps. But find most are geared towards groups and families. If not with a group I prefer to disperse camp. You need to follow the disperse camp rules, which are the same or very similar to National Park camping without facilities. There is no garbage bins so you need to carry any garbage out, need to create a latrine so many yards or feet from any sort of water source, river, stream, lake, swamp area, etc. Leave the area the same or better than when arrived. I think most people if there is other’s garbage in a disperse area should take the time to clean it up before they leave. This is an unwritten rule of the forest that has been around a long time.
Modern day camping is similar where we dispose of any garbage. I think campers need to take another step and clean up after others, especially when disperse camping, trail hiking, etc. Out of respect for ourselves and our wildness & forests.
This is a practice of Native Americans, who ancestors would often seasonally move from one area to another. This allowed an area to recover so it could be used the next season or next year. Each encampment area was given enough time to recover from the human element.
When it comes to natural resources, wilderness and forested areas. I try to follow Native American beliefs in that we as humans, part of the natural world need to give back to nature what we take so a balance can be created. The problem is man (humans) often creates an imbalance with nature, that leads to other problems. This is partially due to most humans have left nature now live in a man made reality based on manufacturing where everything is processed mostly by machines. Most people who use a toilet never give much thought after the toilet is flushed. As thinking animals I think we’re programmed to not think much about certain things including while out in the wilderness and nature, which often people don’t realize there still apart of.
Sorry, ___ I was interrupted during my last reply post, where parts of the message were duplicated. I’m unable to find any method to edit or delete the post.
While parked at a casino lot, I noticed one CTrailer had a loose cap on the sewage drain which dripped all the time they stayed. No doubt these campers were quietly draining sewage on to the parking lot on purpose!
How could he hope to hide the smell?
Probably dripping Grey Water. Still a SLOB though.
I agree with a lot of the statements made here about today’s campers not respecting the rules of dry camping, or Boondocking as I like to call it. We just returned from 2 weeks of dry camping at Quartzsite AZ and saw a lot of bad practices being made. We clean up our site when we get there, and again right before we leave, we dig no holes that we don’t fill, never under and circumstances dump the black, and trickle the grey into a small hole which is later filled. We always use bio-degradable soaps in doing the dishes or bathing, separate paper trash to be burned, and haul out the rest. A little common sense goes a long way but it seems in today’s society that is in short supply.
Our coach has large tanks and we can make the black capacity and fresh water last a long time by re-purposing used dish water to flush to commode, taking ‘Navy’ showers, drinking bottled water, and heating washing water on the stove thereby not running the water waiting for it to get hot. We have stayed 3 weeks and not had the black fill up by doing this. I have a fresh water bladder and a transfer pump to make water runs if needed in the toad. We love to Boondock in out of the way places, and would hate to see this perk banned because of a few ‘bad actors’
We only stay in RV parks rarely due to many factors, barking dogs, loud people, generators, way to close together, expense, and rude people. We prefer the wide open spaces and peace and quiet, the stillness of a sunrise with my wife is the best.