How To Go Camping Without Paying For a Campsite
One of the many barriers to outdoors access is cost. And one of those costs that adds up real quick is paying to stay at a maintained campground. At Yosemite National Park it costs $26 per night for a campsite, on top of the $35 entrance fee. A tent site at, for example, a KOA in Visalia, CA near Sequoia National Park costs $25 for one night. In other words, staying at a campground is not cheap.
That’s why I’d like to share with you this beautiful thing called dispersed camping. Dispersed camping is camping that isn’t in an established campground. This means that while there are established spots that you have to park and pitch your tent on, it isn’t maintained by campground hosts or any kind of park management so it’s free. Backpacking in the wilderness and bivying at the base of a climb are also ways to disperse camp, but this article will specifically cover car camping.
Before diving into the logistics of it all, and because those logistics can seem overwhelming, I want to tell you why I love dispersed camping!
First and foremost, you can camp in beautiful places for free. On our budget, life on the road would not be possible for us if it weren’t for dispersed camping. There also tends to be less crowds. When staying at a campground you often have a small plot of land and neighbors on at least two sides. Dispersed camping gives you the option to camp as close or far from people as you like. There’s always plenty of sites to choose from so I always choose ones with the best views.
Know Before You Go
First Come First Serve:
Sites are first come first serve so while you will almost always be able to find a spot to camp, you might have to drive around for a bit to find one. However, on a holiday weekend and in certain areas during the summer, finding a spot can be tricky so make sure to know of a back up spot if you’re rolling up Friday night of Labor Day Weekend, for example.
Accessibility:
Unlike someplace like a National Park where you reserve campsites online, it’s hard to say before going if sites are wheelchair accessible as sites are most often not listed online.
Amenities:
Typically, there aren’t any. This includes garbage cans, picnic tables, barbecue pits, bathrooms, water spigots. Sometimes there are pit toilets but that’s rare. Always do a location specific search on dumping trash, where to fill up water, and Leave No Trace rules. To mitigate the hassle, I always fill up enough water before I leave for a weekend trip and pack out all my trash and dump it at home.
Leave No Trace:
Leave No Trace rules are pretty straightforward: leave a place better than when you got there. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the seven main principles. Here is a great list of the Leave No Trace Seven Principles. The rules are pretty standard wherever you go but rules for human waste disposal will vary from location to location. Sometimes you can’t just dig a 6 in. hole so be sure to look that up beforehand. Some sites will have already built fire rings with foraged rocks but please don’t build one if it’s not already there. Also, check for fire restrictions because they vary in different locations and are typically not at all allowed during the summer.
It seems like a lot to know and plan for, but once you’re out there you’ll find it’s well worth it!
Where To Camp
First things first, you can camp almost anywhere on National Forest Land and BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land unless it is posted otherwise. As long as it’s already an established spot, you can park and camp there. This all may seem really intimidating so I’m going to break it down a bit more.
Finding National Forest Land:
A great resource for finding National Forest Land is the Interactive Visitor Map. It gives you a pretty good idea of where the National Forests are and their borders. Also, when passing the border into a National Forest, there will always be a nice wooden sign telling you which forest you are entering.
Finding BLM Land:
BLM land is not as straightforward and their website is not super helpful in terms of finding free camping. For me, I choose where I want to go first and then look on Google to see if there’s BLM land close by. A quick Google search with your desired location and “BLM” is an easy way to get started. BLM lands also have “primitive” campgrounds for free, so that’s also another option to check out.
Once You're There
Once you’re in the National Forest or BLM land, any dirt road with a pullout big enough is fair game for camping. There will be obvious signs if camping is not allowed. If I’m not familiar with an area or am looking for a new spot, I like to use Google maps in satellite view to find service roads and pull outs.
For example, here is a photo from Google Maps in satellite view. Wrights Lake Road is a paved road off of Highway 50 in El Dorado National Forest in California. I’ve spent a lot of time dispersed camping there. The roads starting with “FS” are forest service roads and, unless otherwise marked, you can camp in any dirt pullout off of those roads as. Sometimes roads are not shown on Google Maps so keep an eye out for dirt roads while you’re driving.
An Established Spot
Driving down a forest service road or dirt road on BLM land, it will be obvious where people have camped before. Sometimes it’s a small dirt pullout with enough space for a car and a tent and sometimes it’s a bigger area enough for several RVs. It is against the rules to create a new spot, so never park on top of vegetation.
Here is a picture of a dispersed camping spot in Payahüünadü (Lone Pine in so-called Owens Valley, CA). You can clearly tell that this spot is an established spot because of the tire marks and we’re not trampling any vegetation.
A Few Other Tips
- You don’t need a 4 wheel drive car or any special SUV to go dispersed camping. I’ve taken my Toyota Corolla and gotten by just fine!
- Find a flat spot to pitch your tent! So many times I’ve seen people pitch their tents on slanted ground and it just doesn’t look comfortable.
- If there aren’t any bear boxes, store your food inside your car at night. Even if you aren’t in bear territory, rodents love to chew through bags!
- Remember to look at the stars. It tends to be darker in places where you’re dispersed camping which makes for much better star-gazing.
- Relax and enjoy!
I didn’t cover every single facet to car camping and dispersed camping so if you have any questions please leave them in the comment section below!
*Main photo is Indian Creek, Utah. It is stolen Ute land.
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