Discover Your Ultimate Guide to Free RV Camping
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We camped for free every night in October and it was almost too easy!
They say the best things in life are free, and this may be particularly true when it comes to camping. If you’ve been keeping up with our never ending RV traveling sagas, then you have probably heard me rave about some free camping experiences. Let’s face it, campgrounds are not cheap. They can oftentimes cost you the same, if not more than a nightly rate at a hotel! Those expenses can add up lightning fast and can make campground hopping unsustainable for the vast majority of us, especially those who are avid campers. As full time RVers ourselves, we simply can’t afford to stay at campgrounds or resorts every week, and we have had to quickly get creative with where we park our home on wheels.
We’re not going to lie, it can take a considerable amount of time and energy to understand all of the free camping options and how they all work. For a lot of us, we don’t have the luxury of investing hours to find that perfect, free camping resource. Fortunately, I’ve already done the legwork for you, and I’m here now to help bestow that wisdom onto the world. In fact, Drew and I have become so proficient in the art of free camping that we challenged ourselves to camp the entire month of October while paying no camping fees. That’s right, we camped for free for an entire month and visited seven unique locations across three states in the process. Don’t believe me? Keep reading to learn about what kind of free camping I use, what to expect while boondocking, and how to prepare.
Where We Stayed
Harvest Hosts
If you haven’t heard about the wonderful service of Harvests Hosts yet, then allow me to have the absolute pleasure of telling you about them. Imagine being able to choose between over 2,000 wineries, breweries, golf courses, farms, and other unique attractions to spend the night at from across the United States. That is what is in store for you when you purchase a Harvest Host membership, which Drew and I eagerly did when we started RV life in July. After the initial cost of signing up, members have unlimited access to all of the hosts in their database. They are a wonderful option for an overnight stay if you arrived early for a future campground visit or even if you need to split up a long drive into two days. Our favorite Harvest Host locations we have experienced so far were Castel Grisch Winery, where we enjoyed a private session of sunrise yoga overlooking the vineyard, and Cape Cod Beer, where Drew and I sipped beer, listened to live music, and ate the best piece of grilled cornbread either of us had ever tasted from JP’s Twisted Barbeque food truck.
Discovery Tip - It is considered polite to patronize the business which is hosting you, but since most Harvest Hosts offer some sort of food or beverage, and we seem to have endless stomachs, that hasn’t posed a problem as of yet.
This view was pretty hard to beat as we looked out over the vineyard and onto Lake Seneca. The cherry on top was that we had the place to ourselves for the whole night!
Food trucks can be hit or miss, but this one knocked it out of the park! You won’t regret getting dinner here while enjoying one of the many brews at Cape Cod Beer.
Boondockers Welcome
Another diamond in the rough is Boondockers Welcome. Similar to Harvest Hosts, Boondockers Welcome is an annual subscription, but at $50 a year, it almost feels like stealing. After you sign up, you can stay at any of their nearly 3,000 host locations, which are solely comprised of privately owned properties where the land owners graciously open up their property to travelers. Just like Harvest Hosts, you do have to be self contained to use this service, meaning you have to have a bathroom located in your RV and therefore won’t have to bother your hosts by asking to borrow theirs. Depending on the site, you can stay up to five consecutive nights. Some even come with amenities such as electrical hookups, dump stations, and potable water. Staying on somebody else's property may sound a bit strange at first, but let me assure you that the boondocking hosts from this service are a set of truly remarkable human beings. In the short time we have used their service, various hosts have opened up their hot tubs and pools to us, baked us fresh cookies and pumpkin pie, and even offered to change the oil on our Jeep during our stay. It is a wonderful opportunity to not only camp for free, but also make friends. This month, we stayed at two Boondockers Welcome sites.
Discovery Tip - While boondocking hosts never ask for money to stay at their site, they do have a right to request a donation if you use any of their additional amenities. I have never paid more than $10 a night at one of these sights, but it is good to have cash on hand just in case.
One of our Boondockers Welcome sites came with free kittens! I’m not even exaggerating, they had a whole litter of kittens which I happily fed some leftover salmon and then promptly snuggled with.
Cracker Barrel
There’s just something comforting about that old southern country charm, right? Well, luckily for us, with Cracker Barrel restaurants scattered throughout the country, it’s easy to find a little bit of country comfort no matter where you are. Cracker Barrel restaurants are RV friendly as well! In fact they are so RV friendly, that they allow RVers to stay overnight in their parking lots, free of charge. Most Cracker Barrel’s are located conveniently close to interstate entrances, and have large parking lots to accommodate large amounts of passing travelers. That makes it the perfect spot to hang your hat for the night, and you can feel safe and cozy knowing they have parking lot security. We stayed at one Cracker Barrel during the month, and made sure to stop in for hot coffee the next morning to show our appreciation.
Discovery Tip - If your RV is over 25 feet, call ahead to ensure that the Cracker Barrel you are headed to can accommodate your rig.
Walmart
This one may be in the “less than luxurious” category, but free is free and I’m not here to complain. Walmart camping may not be the most scenic, but it has always been there for us when we needed a place to crash. Because Walmart parking lots are typically very large, you can let out some of that anxiety knowing that they should be able to accommodate a rig of any size. They are actually quite popular overnight stops for many long haul truck drivers. That, coupled with their security cameras and brightly lit parking areas means that we always feel safe while staying at a Walmart. We spent one night at a Walmart during October, and as always, we patronized the business by buying groceries the next morning.
Discovery Tip - Bring an eye mask and some ear plugs for these stays. While the lights may mean extra security, if your curtains are as translucent as ours, they may make it difficult to get shut eye. During our last stay, someone actually started a leaf blower at 3 am! I had half a mind to march out in my jammies, but after I saw the earplugs at my bedside, I figured utilizing them was the easier option.
State or County Parks
National parks get all of the credit for being ideal camping destinations, but the truth is that there is a entirely underutilized system of state parks that oftentimes offer free camping. The availability and amenities offered at such camping spots may differ dramatically between areas as each state has its own method of regulating their own parks. Campendium is a fabulous resource which allows you to search nearby locations for free or very inexpensive camping in state parks. Even after researching a particular park, it may remain unclear if they permit overnight camping guests. Don’t be afraid to call their information desk and ask for permission. This is exactly what we did when we were passing by The State Arboretum of Virginia. While they were a little unsure if we would be able to clear some of their more low hanging branches, they allowed us to sleep on their grounds for six nights with their pre-approved permission. It ended up being a serene few days and I woke up to a view of the sunrise within their massive ginkgo grove on more than one occasion.
Discovery Tip - While you should always know the height and width of your RV, it is particularly important when traversing through the tight roads that often lead into many of these state parks. Make sure you have this information available to tell the park rangers to ensure that your rig can safely access the camping site.
We were able to park our RV alongside the research village at the arboretum. The grounds were pristine, and since nobody was staying in the village, it ended up being the most secluded stay of the month.
With Friends and Family
Some people may say this is cheating, but I say that it’s silly to not use all of the resources available to you! One of my favorite aspects of RV living is how it has brought Drew and I closer to friends and family through the opportunity to make unique memories with them. What better way to do that than to call them up and ask if you can freeload on their front lawn for a few days? If the people in your life are half as generous as the people in mine, then you will actually be overwhelmed by the quantity of offers you’ll get to host you. Don’t limit yourself to your immediate family either. This month, we called in favors to stay a few nights on the side lawn of your best friend’s parents house and then another few days on an owned campsite of Drew’s sister’s coworker. If we’re talking extended family, that’s about as extended as it gets. By doing this, we’ve built bonds with people who we probably wouldn’t have interacted with much otherwise. It’s actually a significant amount of scientific evidence that people feel connected with others as they do them favors, and from the extent that we have felt loved over these stays, I have no doubt that this is true.
Discovery Tip - The first time we bottomed out was when we were pulling into a friend’s driveway. Driveways aren’t built for RVs, they’re built for cars, and even a small depression in the driveway could cause your tail to drag. Ask your host to send you pictures or a video of the land they expect you to drive on before you get there to ensure that you can access the property without damaging your vehicle.
This property was a gorgeous treat to rest on for a few nights. This is where Drew and I discovered the secret to happiness: don’t own pools, just know people who own pools.
Boondocking Tips and Tricks
Know the amenities - As I mentioned before, free camping comes with a lot of variation in the type of amenities that you will be offered at each site. The Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome sites will have this information listed next to each location, but it may be harder to determine at state or county parks before check in. Always call ahead to see if you can get this information, and make sure you have a conversation if staying with friends and family to see what they are comfortable with offering you. When in doubt, prepare to go without any hookups for your stay, and then you have the possibility of being pleasantly surprised.
Check the local dump stations - The single hardest challenge throughout this month has been figuring out where in the blue blazes to dump our holding tanks! This is something that is easy to take for granted when you spend most of your time at campgrounds, where dump stations are aplenty. In the free camping world, the illusive dump station is definitely the rarest amenity to see offered, so we were constantly on the lookout for them along our drive. We discovered that Cabela’s, along with being another free overnight camping location, also has free-to-use dump stations for its customers. We also found this gem of a map which has dump station locations across the country and is categorized by price. It has been a lifesaver over these 31 days!
Be Water Conscious - Without being hooked up to sewage, the biggest limiting factor that will determine how long you can stay at a location will be your water usage. Not only do you have to worry about running out of fresh water, but you also have to consider how long it will take you to fill your grey and black holding tanks, because doing so will force you to break camp and go in search of a dump station. To minimize water usage, Drew and I turn off the faucets when we are not actually rinsing something off in the shower or sink. We also utilize public restrooms and showers whenever they are available.
One day, while staying at a Harvest Host, we went swimming at a nearby waterfall and then returned to the RV only to remember that our grey tank was full. Our solution? Use the outdoor shower!
Know your RV Dimensions - Drew and I are professionals when it comes to driving our RV down questionably size-appropriate roads at this point, and that’s because a lot of free camping is located behind the barrier of a bit of rugged terrain. This is why it is crucial to know the exact height, width and length of your RV so that you can verify if your rig will be able to access a site ahead of time.
Boondocking Equipment
Extra Hoses and Extension Cords - The last boondocking site we stayed at was nice enough to allow us to fill up our fresh water from their well. The only problem? The spigot was in their backyard and there was no way we could drive our 32 foot motorhome closer then we were already stationed in their front driveway. It is fortunate that we have four hoses in our storage bins, and we were able to string them all together to access the water. It was a lifesaver and proved that there’s no such thing as too many hoses when you live in an RV. The same concept applies to extension cords, which is why we carry two, 100 foot extension cords which have come in handy more than once.
Water Filter - This tip really applies to RV life in general, but it is crucial to have a water filter whenever you are going to fill your fresh water tank while boondocking. We met a couple on the road who told us that they used the water at a boondocking site which started flowing out of their faucets with a red tint and a metallic scent. It didn’t take them long to figure out that the water had iron in it, but it was already too late not to contaminate their pipes and stain their toilet. No thank you ma’am. Water filters are too cheap not to invest in. This is the one that we use.
Electrical adapters - Even when the free camping site you are utilizing offers you electricity, the type of connection they give you is rarely going to be the standard 30 or 50 amp which are provided at campgrounds. Most of the time, properties can only give you power through a regular 15 amp outlet, and if you don’t have an adapter that can be used to connect your RV to the power supply, you may be out of luck. This is why Drew and I have all kinds of power adapters, so that if they offer us 15, 20, 30 or 50 amps, we have confidence that we’ll be able to run power to the rig.
Auxiliary power sources - Unless you want to selectively look for free camping sites that provide electricity, which would be quite a challenge, you should have some sort of auxiliary power source ready to use when you arrive at a site with no electric hookups. Our RV is equipped with a generator, which can charge up our batteries and handle the use of the high power appliances within the RV such as the blow dryer and toaster oven. After we charge up the battery for the day, our inverter converts the energy stored in the coach battery to usable energy that can be utilized by all of our wall outlets. This system works for us, but we have been dreaming, and know people who love having solar panels to power their rig. It is also always an option to go without power for a few days, which is perfectly acceptable as long as you are comfortable with it.
Charlie is a big boondocking fan because many of these locations have off leash areas for pets. This is quite different most campgrounds which usually have strict leash regulations.
Discover Free Camping for Yourself
Camping for free is definitely a skill, but like all skills, it is one you will master as you do it more often. The first few times Drew and I tried boondocking, we were constantly blowing fuses as we adjusted to different amperages from the power supply, and woke up with a dead battery on a few fateful Saturdays. Even after that, I am so grateful that we pushed through these painful moments, because having the confidence to camp for free has provided us with a greater sense of freedom as we travel this wondrous and wide country of ours. It also makes the traveling lifestyle accessible to a broader range of people, and with the amount of joy that life on the road has given my little family and I, I see this as an incredible blessing.
There are loads of free camping options that I didn’t mention in this article. If you know of any, or have any nuggets of free camping wisdom that you want to share, let us know by dropping us a comment. And don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss new RV travel insights.
Thank you for joining us at Discovery Detour, where the destination is always unknown.
