Non RV-park type overnight listings

[Teja]

Hi all,
We have a Pleasure Way Plateau TS (22') and like to camp in non-commercial or RV-park (KOA) type places. We understand this means non-hookup dry camping in many areas, but we always prefer pulling into a woodsy spot with lots of trees & space between vehicles, as opposed to the numbered-space, all-in-a-line, RV parks.
We're wondering if someone has compiled or found a fairly comprehensive list of such places, particularly throughout the Western states (CA, OR, WA, AZ, NM, CO, etc.) This could include secret, just-off-the-road pullovers, as long as no one will mind, ticket us, or tell us to move in the middle of the night.
If this question/info has already been posted, please re-direct us to that link, thx.

[BBQ]

.

Do you have a smartphone?

[Teja]

Sure. What's up?

[B Eventually]

We've found The Ultimate Public Campgrounds iOS app (link) to be very useful. It's been more useful out West since there's more government land out here. The app is useful for finding places you can camp for free to minimal cost but it lists everything, so sometimes you drive a ways only to discover it's not worth stopping.

[mkguitar]

there are a number of features within various apps, also:

https://freecampsites.net/



mike

[SiennaGuy]

I've used AllStays to find places to boondock. They have a good website: Allstays | Campgrounds | RV Parks

The Alstays site also offers a paid membership, Alstays Pro. I've never joined, so I don't know if it's worth it or not.

They have several great apps for iOS and Android, too. The Camp & RV app allows you to filter the search results to that you can see or hide things like the following:

Army Corp of Engineering
Elks Club places
National Forest
Overnight Parking
Military Campgrounds
Moose Club places
Walmarts that allow overnights
Walmarts that don't allow overnights
etc.

At last report, the Camp & RV app was about $10. It seems like the other apps that the company offers are just subsets of the main app. The subset apps are cheaper than the main app, however. If you only need info on Walmarts, for example, you can get that info by itself in their Walmarts app.

[SteveJ]

You can enjoy dispersed camping at virtually all national forests and BLM lands. Free.

You can stop at US Forest district offices and visitor centers for info.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by SteveJ

You can enjoy dispersed camping at virtually all national forests and BLM lands. Free.

You can stop at US Forest district offices and visitor centers for info.

BLM dispersed camping is the best!

Unfortunately, in many National Forests, the undeveloped campsites are poorly and inconsistently documented. You really need to dig in (or find someone in with the in-crowd) in order to find the good ones. The visitor centers sometimes work, if the right person happens to be there. But it is often a very long drive just to get to one.

Oh well, I guess if the information were more accessible, the sites would become overrun, so I shouldn't complain.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Transit

We've found The Ultimate Public Campgrounds iOS app (link) to be very useful. It's been more useful out West since there's more government land out here. The app is useful for finding places you can camp for free to minimal cost but it lists everything, so sometimes you drive a ways only to discover it's not worth stopping.

This is what we use most of the time since only public sites are listed. You can filter it if you want to narrow down the type of places you are looking for. If a site is questionable looking at the map such as can you really drive to it or park there in an RV I then cross check to see if it might be listed on Allstays. Between the two apps you can get enough information. None of the other apps I have used have been as complete.