Camping for Free (and Longer): Fresh Water

Boondocking, camping without hookups, requires you to use your RV differently. Rather than simply just plugging in and hooking up, you have to think about your habits and change them to live comfortably for a longer period of time in your self contained RV.

We prefer camping in nice quite places. Just us and nature. Yet we still take showers, run our furnace, connect our laptop to the internet, watch tv, drink hot coffee and ice cold beverages. We have solar panels on the roof of our RV and an expanded bank of AGM batteries so our power feels like it's unlimited. (More on this in other articles.)

The biggest challenge to staying out on your own is water and your grey water tank. Here are some of our latest water tips to help stay out longer.

• Carry extra water jugs. We carry a couple of expandable 5 gallon jugs. You can carry these in storage or in your shower as you drive. We have a filtered water jug that we fill up with this water. We then use that water for coffee, drinking, ice cube trays. We also put a water container with a on/off spout on the edge of the sink for quick rinsing of silverware or cups. This allows us to save the water in the tank for showers. It is easy to fill up the five gallon jugs almost anywhere. And if these are too heavy, use milk jugs or whatever is good for you. Hose hookups are more difficult to find.
• Platyplus Hydration makes the best bottles we've found. We use them every day as refillable water bottles. They collapse and are light weight, perfect for hiking, backpacks or in your RV where space is important. We freeze them at home and on the road and take them out and about. You'll have cold water for hours as they melt. They make them in sizes from a half liter to 6 liters and you can get them at many sporting goods, outdoor type stores and websites. Get your own water filter or pitcher at home, re-use these bottles and save money (and the land-fills) from buying expensive store water. 25% or more of which is just tap water in disguise anyway.
• Waiting for hot water is the biggest waste. Catch this water in your jugs or a pot and use it for other purposes.
• You can purchase mild anti-bacterial wipes to clean things and use less water. Clean with these wipes and then do a real quick rinse. Unless you use all plastic and paper dishes and utensils. (That creates a waste issue of another kind.)
• Note the size of your black and grey water tanks. Grey water tanks usually fill up much faster. Empty larger water containers (pots, dishwater) down the toilet once in a while. You don't need to use the water pump as you flush and you are shifting the balance of your waste.

Using some of these tips will help you stay out longer and save money. We love campgrounds but they are expensive to stay in every single night. Every night you boondock or just park somewhere overnight saves you $20 or more, depending on where you usually hook up.

Defined: What is boondocking? (Free Camping)

RV Parks are expensive if you are out on the road for any extended period of time. And if you are full time? Well, you know how expensive they are. RVers have long looked for free places to park and do so in greater numbers today. They may call it dry camping, Wal-Mart parking (parking in a parking lot overnight) or boondocking. All of these are just camping without hookups. People used to refer to living out in the boondocks, so boondocking came from that. Camping out in the country far away from utilities and crowds. Dry camping, referring to no water/sewer hookups, can be done in many RV parks, state parks, forest parks or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land.

A more recent reference to this term is parking in rest areas, casinos, Walmart (and others) store parking lots and truck stops. The noise is getting louder and these are all thrown in together. At AllStays, we have guides for store parking lots, truck stops and then we have campground listings. We don't mix them at this time. We do have more remote and primitive camping listings than anyone else but they are listed together with pay locations. So you have all the options.

We have also found some small towns that allow free overnight parking right in their town parks. These are few and far between but we are working on a guide to find them.

Boondocking now encompasses all of these methods but we prefer to still think of it as being out in the remote wilderness with only the sounds of birds and scurrying animals, not truck engines.

California Campgrounds and RV Park Map

We finished expanding the west. We added a page that shows all of our Campgrounds and RV Parks in California. This is a huge new page using Google Maps and will need some time to load depending on your connection. This is so you can look at a state map and get an idea of where camps are as you travel. This also gives you an idea of where the more remote areas are and where campgrounds are few and far between. This new California page is for both those in RVs and tent campers as it shows campgrounds down to their most primitive levels, even a walk-in spot along a river. This map includes private, BLM, Forest Service and State Park campgrounds, many of which you won't be able to access with a larger size RV.

This is for general planning and should not be used to find the campgrounds as you drive. These GPS coordinates are just not accurate enough to rely on. It is more about the general vicinity. Use any directions we have on the site or on the official links to find the campgrounds. Check these links first for updates, closures and more detailed descriptions of features and amenities.

Primitive Camping

What is primitive camping? It is where you'll find campsites, usually further out in nature and away from towns, that are not developed. You'll usually have toilets (but not always) and not much else. No hookups, no running water, no showers, no fancy buildings or amenities. The site may be totally free or a minimal charge that you pay on the honor system. It is usually the Forest Service or BLM that controls these lands. The sites will always accommodate tents and maybe small RVs. It is more difficult to go to these kind of places with big RVs. They may be on remote forest roads or on top of mountains. You may even have to hike or boat in to a site.

Primitive camping is common out west where there is more land. Generally, in the eastern half of the United States, you won't find as many primitive options.

We love primitive camping and are expanding our listings to include every place we can find, no matter how small or remote. We added some large map pages that help show all places to camp in a state, including primitive campgrounds. We plan on adding more features related to primitive and tent camping in the near future. We realize not everyone has a big rig or wants to stay in crowded RV parks.

State of Nevada campground example

Wal-mart Managers

This is just a note to clarify something about stores that have "No Parking" signs, as well as those noted as such on our site. If you are at the store or stopping in anyway, go ahead and ask the manager. It may be a local ordinance and they have no choice but to send you away. In many cases, we've heard from travelers where they were welcomed anyway. The signs may be posted as part of a screening process or to discourage trucks and vagrants. Or even to eliminate those who don't bother to ask. They may be happy to have you stay the night if you are a nice respectable RV. Be nice, courteous and brief.

Check our Wal-Mart store guide for help, locations and maps.

Oregon Campgrounds and RV Parks Map

Another state expanded. We added a page that shows all of our Campgrounds and RV Parks in Oregon. This is another large new page using Google Maps and will need some time to load depending on your connection. This is so you can look at a state map and get an idea of where camps are as you travel. This also gives you an idea of where the more remote areas are and where campgrounds are few and far between. You can spend less time scouring your state atlas. This new Oregon page is for both those in RVs and tent campers as it shows campgrounds down to their most primitive levels. This map includes private, BLM, Forest Service and State Park campgrounds, many of which you won't be able to access with a larger size RV.

This is for general planning and should not be used to find the campgrounds as you drive. These GPS coordinates are just not accurate enough to rely on. It is more about the general vicinity. Use any directions we have on the site or on the official links to find the campgrounds. Check these links first for updates, closures and more detailed descriptions of features and amenities.

Next to come: California

Idaho Campgrounds and RV Parks Map

Continuing our expansion, we added a page that shows all of our Campgrounds and RV Parks in Idaho. This is another large new page using Google Maps and may need some time to load. We like to be able to look at a state map and get an idea of where camps are as we travel. This also gives you an idea of where the more remote areas are and where campgrounds are few and far between. You can spend less time scouring your state atlas. This new Idaho page is for both RVers and tent campers as it shows campgrounds down to their most primitive levels. This includes private, BLM, Forest Service and State Park campgrounds, many of which you won't be able to access with a large RV.

Please keep in mind that this is for general planning and should not be used to find the campgrounds as you drive. These GPS coordinates are just not accurate enough to rely on. It is more about the general vicinity. Use any directions we have on the site or on the official links to find the campgrounds. Check these links first for updates, closures and more detailed descriptions of features and amenities.

We have already added these previous large format state pages to most of the western US.

Soon to come: California and Oregon.

Montana Campgrounds RV Park Map

We just added a new large page that shows all of our Campgrounds and RV Parks in Montana. This new page using Google Maps is large and may need some time to load depending on your internet connection. We like to be able to look at a state map and get an idea of where camps are as we travel. This also gives you an idea of where the more remote areas are and where campgrounds are few and far between. You can spend less time scouring your state atlas. (Benchmark Maps is our favorite.) This new Montana page is for both RVers and tent campers as it shows campgrounds down to their most primitive levels. We include private, BLM, Forest Service, State and National Park campgrounds, many of which you most likely won't be able to access with a large RV.

Please keep in mind that this is for general planning and should not be used to find the campgrounds as you drive. These GPS coordinates are just not accurate enough to rely on. It is more about the general vicinity than precise locations for these. Use any directions we have on the site or on the official links to find the campgrounds. Check these links first for updates, closures and more detailed descriptions of features and amenities.

We have already added these previous large format state pages: Arizona Campgrounds by Map, California Campgrounds by Map, Nevada Campgrounds by Map, New Mexico Campgrounds by Map, Utah Campgrounds by Map,
Colorado Campgrounds by Map, Washington Campgrounds by Map, Idaho Campgrounds by Map, Oregon Campgrounds by Map, and Wyoming Campgrounds by Map.

Over time, we will add different icons to distinguish the types of parks on the map. Primitive versus RV sites, etc.

Free City Campgrounds

We pass by many small towns all over the country. We see them fading away with time. Businesses close, people move away, young people relocate to big cities and the population goes down. The only thing expanding is the cemetery.

We head to RV Parks in and outside of cities. We pass by rest areas on interstates. We head to State Parks in the country. We pass by Wal-marts and other large stores that let you park for free. They want to treat their customers well and get them in the store to spend money.

So why can't small towns do the same?

We recently were driving across North Dakota and found a small town of Towner. No pun intended. There are some open businesses and even more closed businesses. One of the showcases of Towner was the Winger Cheese Factory. They have closed due to a lack of small dairy farmers.

The town had a nice city park with a couple of hookups, a playground and restrooms. They welcomed RVs to stay there for free. We stopped with enthusiasm. We are happy to stop at the gas station, the local market or convenience store, the coffee shop, whatever a town has left to offer. In this case, the Winger Cheese Factory still had a store open a couple days a week. We bought some cheese.

When a town welcomes you to stop and stay, you stop and spend. It is a win for local businesses and the traveler. The loser could be a local campground if there is one. But in most of these towns, there isn't a local campground. These are towns that you bypass on the way to the next spot in Good Sam, Woodalls or whatever guide you are using.

Many of us will drive a little less if we can stay and enjoy your warm small town hospitality. So if you are on a local chamber or board, think about this. Do you have a park? Do you have an old parking lot? An old drive-in? An old motel? Maybe some old land that could be turned into something useful to welcome travelers to stay a bit and spend money in your town?