How to Find Awesome Free or Cheap Camping

What we learned on the road so far

Last month, we spent $235 camping. That’s a lot. We were new at boondocking, and traveling west through midwestern states with less public land.

This month, we reduced our camping costs quite a bit. Though we still spent more on camping than we hope to. In total, $142 of our hard earned cash went to camping in October.

In this post, I’ll give a quick rundown of the month and share a few things we’ve learned about finding great and affordable camping spots along the way.

Consider fee based campgrounds as a last resort

Don’t assume that all the best spots have pamphlets devoted to them at visitor centers or are marked with the little tent on your atlas. For the most part, we stayed in dispersed camping spots this month. No services, no fee envelopes.

Some of the free spots we found were less than ideal. We stayed in a roadside pull-out on Rabbit Ears Pass outside of Steamboat Springs, Colorado and in a slightly sketchy free county park outside of East Carbon, Utah.

But we also discovered an AMAZING trail beside one of those roadside pullouts. It led up a canyon and to a viewpoint covered in petrified wood, a place we would NEVER have found if we hadn’t pulled in for the night.

And, yes, we stayed in a parking lot (The Steamboat Springs “rodeo grounds”). But it gave us quick access to a fun Saturday night on the town… and flush toilets!

Golden Age Pass and other Discounts

We finally got (and used) our “Senior All Access Lifetime Parks Pass”. This allowed us discounted camping in two national parks, Bryce Canyon and Colorado National Monument, reducing the cost of camping at these spots to $10 a night.

There are other types of passes available, especially for state parks. If you plan to visit a specific state, it may be wise to get the annual pass, even if you haven’t reached “golden age”.

Bad Weather Was Expensive

The most expensive camping we did was out of necessity. We stayed in the “tenting” area of a state park in Hayden, CO (Yampa River Headquarters) because we needed Wifi for Dan’s work and also hoped to take showers and do laundry… and pounding rain was predicted for days.

We stayed TWO nights at a private campground, Wonderland RV Park in Torrey, UT, during a couple of snowy, super chilly days. This park had a “car camping” option which provided only the hookup we needed: a plug to recharge our Jackery power station. While there, we took advantage of WARM bathrooms with showers, warmwater sinks for doing dishes, and warm laundry facilities.

These three nights at “full-service” campgrounds cost $91, well more than half of our camping costs for the month!

Goals for Month Two!

All in all, we are moving on the right direction (no pun intended). Maybe next month, we’ll be able to reduce our camping costs even more.

We have more of an idea how to do that now (four solid tips below). Though we spent a good deal of time reading blogs just like this one, we still had to get out there and try these things.

But in the interest of saving budget-minded campers and van-livers a bit of cash and heartache, here are

A Few Boondock-Camping Tips:

Tip # 1: Give yourself plenty of time

We are spur-of-the-moment folks, not planners. But awesome spots take some forethought. We start thinking about where we’ll stay the morning of our move, often over breakfast.

Because we live in a van, not a trailer, we consider the spot we set down to be part of your adventure, not a “base” for it. We look at the map(s) what activities we want to be able to do right from our spot, (for us, this is almost always hiking and rockhounding) and what scenic spots we might visit on the way.

We don’t plan to drive more than a few hours from were we are… deadlines can be stressful and we absolutely don’t want to start looking for a spot to stay an hour before sunset, or god-forbid, after dark! As the night falls, those expensive parks and campgrounds start looking pretty darn good…

Tip #2: Be Brave!

It has taken us a while to feel okay about staying beside a road or at a trailhead. Veteran campground-ers like us just feel… exposed in places like this. But when we’ve tried spots like this, they have worked out great.

We stayed two nights at the Dominguez Canyon Trailhead when the boondocking sites along the way were taken and we met some wonderful people, found some pictoglyphs nearby, and walked the canyon trails to boot!

A nondescript roadside pull-out led us to an un-listed trail into this lovely canyon

Tip #3: Use the Apps

There are several awesome apps to help in your search for free or cheap campsites. We regularly use iOverlander, Freeroam, Campendium, and The Dyrt. But there are others: freecampsites.net, a web based crowd sourced option, and allstays, an app with a fee to download, come to mind.

When using these spots, read the reviews…. MANY of them. They are often spot-on and will give you a sense of where you are headed. Look at the proposed campsite on your map. Is it next to a refinery? A strip mine? (True stories, so check those maps!)

Make a plan: Choose a few options in the area you are heading to. If the first doesn’t seem right, maybe the second will… or the third!

Tip #4: Take the Roads Less Traveled

We have found some lovely spots down dirt roads. Washboard and sand are starting to feel a little less threatening to our east coast sensibilities. And less touristy towns often have many great places to see. We loved our time at The Wedge Overlook on the San Rafael Swell (free!) and at Three Peaks Recreation Area ($5) especially the view down into Cedar City. At the time we were there, we saw just one other camping couple.

Check out backways and sideroads … slowly and with an eye to the weather. We love our big clunky state atlases! These show all the backroads, BLM and National Forest land and campgrounds. But they aren’t enough. When we can, we check in at the local USFS or BLM Ranger Stations and visitor centers to get details about road conditions, campfire policies and weather. Often, these can provide even more specific maps and great local information. Lastly, Google Maps “satellite view” will help you get some sense of the road ahead.

Remember, you can turn around if you need to– even if it involves a 10 point turn. This happens (…happened to us yesterday). It’s okay.

Well that’s it, so far! I am sure that we will have more useful information as we become boondocking pros. Have a tip you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you!