Looking for a free campsite?

[cyndi]

The freecamppsites.net community provides the best free camping information available. We give you a simple, map based search engine to find free and cheap camping areas. Community reviews and ratings provide you with up to date information and help you select the best camp site for your next camping trip.

Freecampsites.net, owned and operated by Hitekhomeless, here on the forum

 

[DLTooley]

I'd urge people to contribute to this site for places that are appropriate for higher volume usage. Some places are better kept private or word of mouth, but this database is extremely important in making this whole rubber tramp thing work. And remember, always leave it cleaner than you found it!

 

[OutdoorFT]

Since this is in boondocking, may I suggest boondockerswelcome.com? It is $25/year or $60 for 3 years. Seems like it would pay off quickly and meet great people.

 

[MrNoodly]

...and meet great people.

Which is the reclusive introvert's worse nightmare.

"Oh crap, what if I meet these people and I don't like them and they won't stop being friendly???" Pure hell.

 

[JenBa]

I would like to see Wisconsin and Lake superior. Does anybody have any recommendations in free camping or Boondocking in Wisconsin? Any favorites you can suggest? Any information would be helpful. Thank you

JenBa


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[Bobhdus]

Just seen there’s Apps for Boondocking locations. Anyone recommend one?


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[Cammalu]

Freecampsites.net

 

[Van-Tramp]

If you dont mind contributing to the overcrowding of the free sites, share away

Just keep in mind that it only takes one bad apple (and that type is easy to come by) to cause that site to be shut down

Before you do share, talk to some locals in that area and get thier view on it. While we all have the right to be there, it effects those locals the most. I stopped sharing after a couple of these conversations. There are more than enough shared already IMO

 

[Bobhdus]

Thanks for the tip.
Good to know!


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[bullfrog]

No thumbs up button yet, come on, so I second what DLTooley and VanTramp stated. I would think working with those in charge of public lands as DLTooley in Colorado and Bob has done with the BLM for the RTR needs more support and activites like trash pickups, improvement of sites by volenteers like making dog poop bag stands and educational signs(nearest dumpster, water, dump stations and showers) letting people in these areas know how to best take care of the area. I mean if you can have RTR's and Van build outs why not work to improve and take care of publicized free camping sites with permission?

 

[cyndi]

^
Many do. I know of three, personally, just off the top of my head.

 

[wayne49]

"why not work to improve and take care of publicized free camping sites with permission?"

Permission means .gov would be liable if anything happens either to the well meaning volunteers, or as a result of the actions of the well meaning volunteers.

There are .gov volunteer programs. They have a process. They have bureaucrats.

 

[Van-Tramp]

No permission required to pickup and haul out a bag of trash. I wouldn’t recommend doing anything more than that, as you may cause more harm than good.

I recently read a news article of a well trafficked hot spring. It was tested and found to have ecoli in it thanks to the hundreds (literally) of pile of human feces found around the area. Someone tried to “fix” the ecoli by inserting bleach into a natural spring... OMG. No camping permitted anywhere near the spring now. Of course.

Greatest help is to STOP spreading exact coordinates of free camping online and START spreading the proper etiquette of camping on public lands, and carry a few extra trash bags with you

 

[Moxadox]

Which is the reclusive introvert's worse nightmare.

"Oh crap, what if I meet these people and I don't like them and they won't stop being friendly???" Pure hell.

You read my mind [emoji57]

The Dire Wolfess

 

[QinReno]

You read my mind [emoji57]

The Dire Wolfess

Maybe post a sign on the door of your trailer, no one will want to be friends ,
"My Bark is worse than My Bite, but 
my 140-pound wolf dog likes it .... the other way around".

In response to the main topic of this thread, I think freecampsites.net is a good resource. Especially for people trying to find an overnight campsite while on the road. There are so many sites there that I don't think there is a worry about people over-running them. As for the few special places that I've found on my own and that I would go back to, I do "not" plan to advertise them. 

Most youtube RVers like BW and many of the women, as well as VT on his blog, likewise don't give out GPS coordinates to off-grid sites. BW does indicate a few localities, like Ehrenberg, but you'd probably have trouble tracking him down in general. I was down in the Alabama Hills recently and have no good idea where he had actually been camping in the spring. Plus the area along Hwy 395 is so loaded with BLM and Natl Forest land, there's no need to go where he was in any case.

 

[frater secessus]

Maybe post a sign on the door of your trailer, no one will want to be friends ,

"I SELL AMWAY LET mE TELL YOU ALL ABOUT IT!!!"

 

[frater secessus]

If you dont mind contributing to the overcrowding of the free sites, share away
...
While we all have the right to be there, it effects those locals the most.

I've been to a half dozen of the GPS sites on freecampsites.net and I was the only person in visible distance.  This morning I did use binos and finally found a SUV camped over a mile away.  Perhaps this is because I choose sites that are farther out, higher up, etc.

Based on the trash I see, locals are more of a problem than GPS-following campers.  Campers generally don't drive across the state in order to dump queen mattresses, or bags of residential trash containing envelopes showing local addresses, or drive in with lifted 4wd pickups leaving cases of beer cans, boxes of spent shotgun shells and condom wrappers.  

I do agree that a productive response is to carry out trash one finds in a site.

 

[KarlH]

.Some places are better kept private or word of mouth

I know of a beautiful one on the shore of Lake Superior near Duluth that I'd be happy to share by private message.  It's definitely not suitable for high volume and would probably get shut down if too many used it.

 

[LoveCareThinkDo]

I like the FreeRoam app. It has much better search features. And many more individual fields for more granular information. You can search for sites based on how good the cell signal is for a particular carrier... etcetera. It has really good overlay maps for BLM and National Forest land, plus coverage for all the carriers. The author is very responsive to suggestions. Finally, the author actually created a non-profit to control the product. That means he has to be completely transparent about his donors and finances.

 

[DannyB1954]

On cleaning up a site, Laws can be funny in a sad way. If someone dumped a spring mattress in the desert 50 years ago, it is now protected as a historical item. Rusty tin cans, better leave them alone.
The antiquities act was put in place to protect historical artifacts, but the law goes way too far in my opinion. Why is a coin from 1969 a historical artifact? They made millions of them.

There are arguments both for and against publishing less known sites, but I think it mostly comes down to selfishness. I am not a real fan of the just us club. Just those of us that know about it get to use it. In some ways not posting a favorite site contributes to other sites being shut down. If the majority stick with the well know places, those places will get more traffic and trash and be shut down.