RowanFae said:
I came across a website (
https://www.campendium.com/free-camping ) It had links to the NF campgrounds that are free and many even come equipped with fire ring, picnic table and have vault toiets available.
A lot of them aren't listed. Last year I went to Tellico Plains, TN for a dry run a month before the Great Eclipse in Aug. They had maps of the Distributed Camping. These were not on the Forest Service website. They were free. I drove up the Cherohoula Parkway [SP?] about 30 min away and took the road on that letter-sized map. Drove around for about 4 hours trying to find a place to camp. Finally, I saw parked cars. This part of the Forest was designated spots only. The one I pulled into was right beside a river and very pretty! Unfortunately, I did what you are NEVER supposed to do. I was parking at 12:30 am on a Monday morning. Naturally, I didn't leave my SUV! But, it was very pleasant. I did walk around after the sun came up. It was quiet, but very littered with all sorts of trash!
When I walked around, I found the signs. I was just there overnight so it wasn't like real camping, in that I didn't get out my chair or heat a meal. I didn't need most of what I brought; my frozen Meals on Wheels were useless on a cloudy day. My cellphone didn't work until I went back down the mountain to Tellico Plains [SafeLink free mobile phone, I think it's T-Mobile]. I left quickly because my daughter would be worried about me. I could make local calls but couldn't call her or text her. If not for that I would've stayed longer. The camping pad I brought was totally painful because my Ford Explorer has the fold-down seats. I didn't sleep well. I was warm enough with no mods to my car. It was very hot and I couldn't get my solar system to work my fan. It's a USB fan. I made a thermoelectric cooler but didn't finish it in time, so I just had lots of ice packs from my Meals On Wheels from my deep freeze. They only lasted 2 and a half days of our 5 day trip in Aug. I had three Styrofoam coolers from meals my daughter had ordered for herself. The last day we were there, a man was camped next to us. I asked him to look at my solar.
"Ma'am, I don't know anything about solar."
"You know how to hook up a car battery, right?"
He had it connected right within 5 mins. It worked! So we enjoyed the USB fan, which moved air over ice packs [mostly melted] in a Styrofoam cooler with holes across the front under the lid. They were mostly water [or what passes for water in those] but for a sliver. It was good, though. On the long stay we used an inflatable air mattress. We got mixed up on what kind of batteries. My daughter walked a long way to a store because we already had stuff out of the SUV and she was too tired to pack it just to drive. She came back with the wrong kind. So the last night, we enjoyed the air mattress, but couldn't get it inflated all the way. Give me a foam mattress any day!
My one night dry run taught me
1. I don't need a lot of stuff I brought 'just in case'.
2. My cheap battery radio and light did last but didn't have a good radio on it. The light was pretty useless outside the SUV.
3. I wasn't happy with the Wal-Mart air mattress. Once we got the right batteries, it worked well but batteries [RayOVac Energizer] didn't last long. Enough to add air twice. It looked and felt fine until both of us laid down. Flat. We added air. Very hard for me to move while we pumped more air in. No leaks, just very hard to gauge how much air to put in.
4. We REALLY needed a fan. We had those fans on a bottle, and they were lifesavers! But in the hot and humid Tennessee and Georgia climate, it is too humid for them to help much. We kept the windows down about an inch. Moisture kept the inside of my car wet. Not enough ventilation. So a way to run a fan 24/7 is a necessity. Didn't help that it rained 3 of 5 days, and it rained the night of my test run.
5. I had those black covers for all the windows to deflect the heat. Black? Really? I needed silver. I read a study by U of FL that said silver on one side and white on the other, with the silver towards the INSIDE of the car works better than double sided foil. This is from an article in Popular Science that referenced the study. I will add that they didn't have all the data they wanted. Study was from the 70's when most reflectors were white cardboard. They added foil for the study. Aluminum foil. I think the black ones are good for cold days, but wish I'd brought my silver ones! The black ones came with enough covers for all windows in my SUV.
6. The site came with a fire ring. There were a fair amount of bushes between the pull-in area [which was plenty of room for my SUV to get turned around] and the river. If I had wanted to get to the riverbank for fishing, I would need a machete'.
7. Being a disabled lady, just walking around the van holding onto it winded me. I had no energy to pull out a chair or find my insect repellant. I did have a hat with mosquito netting. I will definitely use that again, and did for the long campout! I would not have been able to spread out the air mattress and fiddle. I needed my daughter to pull out the coolers and chairs. So, if I am to camp by myself I will have to be super organized and have things where I can pull them out easily. I've had a year to read up! So many things I will do differently. And I thought I had watched and read and researched plenty before that trip! Not quite. I also took WAY too much stuff with me. It made it impossible to find things and dig them out. Next time, ONE cooler.
Popular Sci Article
https://www.popsci.com/keep-car-cool
Hope the info is helpful! Good luck with your Dispersed Camping adventure! I want to do it again in my 1996 Chevy Astro Cargo van!
Hopefully the Ranger can explain the MVU map - because I still haven't quite made head or tails of the online ones I've come across.
