Campgrounds or boondocking: Which do you prefer?

[pinetreeporsche]

I was recently at Key West, and went to the campground 20 miles N-- as we were heading forther north in the morning. AThere was no one at the office, so we just found a spot big enough to pull into. When we went in to check out in the morning, we found we had intruded on a $65 plot, although only 15 x 20. Nearly died, and swore to do as I've always done in the past: stealth camp. Let's use with this thread's original wording, 'stealth' rather than 'boondocking'. It might mean being invisible in the city or the boonies.

In the city, I've found I can be invisible in any well-filled stree; just be another parked vehicle among many. Don't pop the top, DON'T put a light on; Get in when no one is walking by, shut all the rear curtains, leave the driver's area highly visible. This means set up or hang a partial curtain behind the front seats, or even just in front of the bed. Use a few hi-tech magnets to make sure the curtains don't allow for an officer's inspection with a good flashlight. Maybe leave the windows open just a crack or/and the roof vent up just a very little. If some coupled hanky-panky is involved, keep it very slow moving- no of the "if this van's rockin" stuff. Ambient streetlights will make it easy to see your pee-bottle;you don't want to be opening the door etc. And be discreet when you dump the pee-bottle contents in the morning, so neighbors don't scout you out the following night.

In the outback: depending on how invisible you want to be, short of the camouflage job in pics farther up in this thread, keep a large plastic tarp, olive green or similar, to pinch between the top of the rear hatch and its frame, hanging down far enough to cover the reflectors in the light assemblies- or better, even to below thee bumper. Or if the front might reflect light toward any likely passer-by, hang it off the roof luggage rack at least down past the headlights, or better, the bumper. Then: turn on any very dim light you might use in the night and walk a wide circle around the van to see if it can be seen. if it can, go dimmer or don't light anything. In a pinch, as to look for a position to fill the pee-bottle, put a flashlight under the covers to (briefly) get just enough of a glow to find things.

And do look at the above posts for the several sites that list free and cheap sites. You can find them yourself, but the hassle and the possibility of having a land-owner thing to roust you in the night make it worth using the lists if possible. --And yes, I'm an easterner, so have to look carefully for a spot. (On the other hand, some years ago, I took a tintop from Boston to Guatemala and back, via the border north of Seattle, only paying to camp once.)

[photogdave]

Going back and reading the first post I believe the title should read Campgrounds or dispersed camping...

I think Aswah was trying to distinguish between developed campgrounds and rough camping in the wilderness, not sleeping on a side street in town.
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[SSWesty]

We've had some great experiences boondocking and find a little more character in primitive campgrounds. State or National Park campgrounds would be next on our list and private campgrounds typically last. We don't like being lined up with a whole bunch of 40 foot RVs. A hate the drone of generators in the wildness so we try to stay away from the regular RV crowd. It seems pretty standard for motorhomes to run their generators for T.V. and a microwave. I wish more folks would learn to cook without a microwave and consider a book or watch and listening to the actual wilderness over T.V. We do like private campgrounds when we need to do laundry, showers, fill with water and dump the porta potty. It's nice to do that all in one place sometimes.

[danfromsyr]

camping both stealth and established are very different in various parts of the country.
so there is not one definition that works for more than a few people.


some like traveling/camping in their van
some like living in a van down by the river.
some like urban stealth, and many can't relax or settle in to a darkened bunker on a urban street.


really this is a to each their own sort of question and there is no 'right' answer. as the moment always changes.
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[MsTaboo]

Got to love boondocking.
Free campsite close to tourist hustle, yet nice and quiet.
Behind Mt.Rushmore.

That's Mt.Rushmore in the background; the heads are on the right far side.

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[djkeev]

Well.......

My younng Bride would go backpacking in the Cascades and Siskiyous, we would set up camp on the edge of an Alpine Lake and sleep under the stars.
Mice would scamper across our sleeping bag, free range Cattle would check us out during the night and .... well...... young kids in Love would do what young kids in love would do in the wilderness completely alone in the 1970's.

After 48 years, we no longer backback into isolated Alpine Lakes nor do we do what young kids in love do at isolated Alpine Lakes.

We are old, still madly in love but boondocking makes her uneasy, worried about getting arrested or murdered.

We tend to visit designated campgrounds.

Dave
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[MsTaboo]

[nemobuscaptain]

[OB Rat]

Free and cozy, Elk River Gorge, OR.

[E1]

We're approaching Day 1,800 on the road and have stayed in lots of places, some good, some less so.

If lonely or wanting amenities, we go to campgrounds. When sick of people or wanting views, we go to the bush.

In the end it barely matters where we are, enjoy or don't bother, a turn of the key and everything's new again.
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[otiswesty]

We prefer the boonies. Free and no one to bother you

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[djkeev]

[markswagen]

Only time I have ever paid to camp, is camping with friends, out on our own, paying to sleep in my vehicle, that's against my religion, or it would be if I had a religion.
In my stingier days I have missed out on camping with friends because they went to camp grounds
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[MsTaboo]

[llilibel03]

I like to park in a developed campground and then go for overnight back pack trips. Best of both worlds.

Developed campgrounds can vary a lot. At Pinnacles NP just before Thanksgiving we were the only campers in our loop. Quiet.

At Joshua Tree, Big Rocks, a beautiful spot but big campground, we had to go and ask neighbors to shut off their generator. I don't really mind a crowded campground as long as there is semi privacy. but I can't stand GENERATORS!

Haven't done much dispersed camping. I hope to. I was discourage from doing it outside Capitol Reef NP by a ranger who showed me how the NFS and BLM land was mixed with private land in a checkerboard fashion.

In the Sierras I was reading you need to store food in bear proof containers per regs. Why are all bear proof containers cylindrical? Most inefficient shape for packing for our little vans.
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