Paying for campsites

[Kiwi49]

I was wondering how often most of you pay to camp. I know there are a lot of boondocking sites all over the US but how often do you say screw it and pay to stay somewhere.

 

[IGBT]

When we were in North Dakota we found a city camp park that had power, water, and hot showers for $8 a night.

At that rate it becomes debatable if boondocking is worth it, so we camped there.

 

[MrNoodly]

I pay for campsites something like 20 to 30 days a year, depending on what parts of the country I'm in. There are some places — like the Pacific Coast — I'm willing to pay to stay. Sometimes it's the only option. I use public campgrounds — federal, state, county, city. I've used a private campground only once, because a friend was staying there. Otherwise I avoid them.

 

[Ballenxj]

When we were in North Dakota we found a city camp park that had power, water, and hot showers for $8 a night.

At that rate it becomes debatable if boondocking is worth it, so we camped there.

I would think a camp spot like that would be handy once or twice a week to top off your water, charge batteries, etc. It would definitely be in the mix for me.

 

[Almost There]

During the winter in AZ, CA etc. I never use pay campsites...there's too many free places to stay on BLM and NF lands and usually enough sun that I don't have to break out the gennies to charge the battery bank. Oh and cheap showers in town when I tire of the solar shower.

While I'm on the road I generally check in to a paid campground about once a week so I can enjoy endless hot running water...lol. Whether I take a FHU site or a primitive one depends on how much driving I've done that day - do my batteries need to be put on the battery charger or am I good to go. If I'm staying more than a day so I can do some sightseeing or just to take a day of rest then I'll usually take a FHU site if it's not too expensive, otherwise I'll run the generators.

I try really hard not to have to use the portable generators in the middle of a WalMart parking lot but if I'm staying in a Casino lot, that's different. I've been in a Casino lot the last two nights and I don't think I've seen a TT *without* a gennie set up, there's 3 within eyballing distance running right now...


I use freecampsites.net, allstays.com and casinocamper.com to source out the free spots to stay.

Here in Canada it's a little bit more difficult to find absolutely free campsites but I've found that a lot of the small towns have either town campgrounds or the Lions Club owns a campground...usually quite inexpensive.

I also pay for a campsite when it's someplace that's on my 'to do' list. I cringed when I had to pay $36.00 for the night in Dinosaur Provincial Park but it was ever so worth it. Same with Waterton NP. I'm headed for Banff and Jasper NPs and will have to pay for campsites along the way because there is no other choice.

 

[caretaker]

AT it amazes me that in a place as big as canada you can't find a place to be out of sight. i lived in northern lower MI. and never had a prob. finding an out of sight out of mind place. why is it tougher to do there? your a resourceful person but you seem hesitant to do it. the reason i ask is because when i hit the road I'm gonna do canada and was thinking of doing the same thing i did in MI. what are the pit falls?