Boondocking, in a nutshell, is camping for free without any utility hookups or amenities. Boondocking can be done in remote places deep within a forest far from civilization or it can occur in a parking lot, although many call this dry camping. Dispersed camping is another term used and is often the official term used by public land agencies (think U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management).
Marais des Cygne Wildlife Area camping spot.
Boondocking is becoming increasingly popular, in part, perhaps, because commercial RV parks and campgrounds are getting crowded. It’s not just commercial parks like KOA but state and national parks are becoming more crowded, too. In some cases, people are making campsite reservations a year in advance.
Montrose Lake near Clinton, Missouri
Boondocking Resources
Boondocking Database
This website has been around a while. You can search for boondocking locations based on your current position or download the entire database for use in a GPS device. More than 1,100 locations are included in the database. Link to website.
Free Campsites Website
Use this website to find free camping areas nationwide. Link to website.
RV Camping Website
There is a nice article on this website that describes what boondocking is, how to do it, and where to camp and other helpful information. Link to website.
There are a lot of camp stoves and griddles to choose from but I’m only going to describe three that I have owned and used. The first camp stove is the classic Coleman two-burner propane stove. Each burner is rated at 10,000 BTUs and uses the small one-pound disposable propane bottles. This camp stove can be picked up at Walmart for around $45.
This is a decent camp stove. It gets the job done but the burners seem to have one setting — high. It can be a challenge to maintain a low flame on this stove. It’s nice that it uses the one-pound propane bottles but I purchased an adapter for connecting to a larger 20-pound tank. I actually have a 4-pound (1 gallon) propane tank, which takes up less space when packing in the car. It also has a flat base and doesn’t tip over but you can buy bases for the larger 20-pound tanks, too.
Another camp stove I have owned is the Camp Chef Yukon. It can be purchased at Walmart for around $130. I really like this one but it’s big. It is 14 inches deep by 32 inches wide and will consume a good deal of cargo space in your vehicle. Each burner pumps out 30,000 BTUs. It’s easy to adjust the flame from low to high unlike the Coleman stove. There are detachable legs so packing a camp table isn’t necessary. Several accessories are available like a BBQ grill box, artisan oven, and a griddle. I have the griddle that covers both burners; it’s a heavy thing. I haven’t packed the griddle along for any camping trips and doubt I will but I can see using it at home.
I have used both the Coleman and Camp Chef stoves while camping in Padre Island National Seashore, where the wind seems to be constantly blowing at or above 30 mph. When using the Coleman camp stove, I had to build a “wall” of storage totes and coolers around the stove to keep the burners from going out. I didn’t have to do that with the Camp Chef but I still tried to keep it out of the wind.
Considering how large and heavy the Camp Chef griddle accessory is, my wife and I decided to look for a smaller dedicated griddle. We found the 17-inch Blackstone Adventure Ready griddle at Walmart for less than $90. It uses the one-pound propane tanks but with my adapter hose, it can be connected to my four-pound or twenty-pound tanks easily. It is a table top model so a folding camp table or picnic table is needed to set it on. I really like using this griddle; it’s a good size for fixing breakfast (I haven’t used it for anything else yet) and doesn’t take up a lot of cargo room in my vehicle.
I’ve played around with the idea of getting a camp stove that falls in between the Coleman and Camp Chef stoves. Is it possible to have too much camping equipment? Maybe that’s a story for another time. Anyway, Camp Chef makes a smaller two-burner stove called the Ranger II, which is 12.5 inches by 19.5 inches. Each burner is rated at 17,000 BTUs and has the same “appliance-style” temperature control knobs as the larger Yukon. It is made of cast iron and weighs in at 17 pounds. I still toss this idea around in my head but wonder if I really need yet another camp stove.
Over the past several years, I have owned a variety of tents and, actually, still do. My quest for the perfect tent began after a week-long camping trip to Padre Island National Seashore. If you’ve ever been there, you know the wind is blowing nearly constantly and can be rather gusty, too.
The first tent to be tested on Padre Island was a Coleman Cimmaron 8 person modified dome tent. While setting up the tent, a seam ripped; irritating for sure. My wife and I used the tent for the week without any additional problems and it held up fairly well in the high winds. The tent was large enough that we were able to fit a queen sized air mattress and portable toilet inside but the poor quality was a concern. It was returned to the store once we arrived home.
Coleman Cimmaron Tent
The next tent to be tested was a cabin-style instant tent purchased at Walmart. This tent’s footprint was basically the same as the Cimmaron, 9 x 13, but it offered more stand up room. The other apparent plus was that it would be quick and easy to set up, even by one person. It didn’t take long to discover this tent also cannot withstand high winds; it collapsed on our second night. We ended up sleeping inside the full-size van driven on this trip for the rest of the week.
Ozark Trail Cabin Instant Tent
Overall this is a decent tent but for use only in good weather conditions (no wind and no rain). It’s easy for one person to set up and it does provide good stand up room. It doesn’t do well in high wind situations and it doesn’t keep rainwater out (I discovered that on another camping trip).
The third tent to be tested on Padre Island National Seashore was another Coleman tent. This time it was a Coleman Sundome 6 person dome tent. Coleman boasts that their tents can withstand winds up to 35 mph. This one was a 10 x 10 tent with 6-foot center height. The size of it allowed for a queen air mattress and portable toilet.
Coleman Sundome 6 Person Dome Tent
Have you ever tried sleeping in a tent with the sidewall flapping in your face? It doesn’t make for a peaceful night. I’ll give Coleman some credit because the tent poles didn’t break but it really irritated me having the tent sidewall cave in from the wind gusts. Upon taking down the tent, I discovered the tent’s material couldn’t withstand the constant wind. The sleeves that the fiberglass poles slip through were torn and in bad shape. Another Coleman tent returned to the store. I think Coleman should do some real-world testing on Padre Island with their products.
While staying in a hotel room on the return trip home from our week long adventure on Padre Island, my wife convinced me to buy a Kodiak Canvas 10 x 10 cabin tent. I had seen these tents in my research but they were costly. On this last trip to Padre Island, there was a guy that actually had a Kodiak Canvas tent set up; his was still standing while many other conventional tents had collapsed. I spoke with him about his tent; he was real happy with it and the room it provided. I could see that it looked like a good quality tent.
Kodiak 10×10 Canvas Tent
This tent has become my favorite. It is sturdy and provides excellent stand up room. It doesn’t collapse when pressured with high winds. Its size allows for a queen size air mattress and portable toilet. All of the windows can be zipped up and closed when temperatures drop (unlike most tents now that use screen mesh as part of the tent and no way to zip ’em closed). I purchased the model with triangular windows on each end for maximum ventilation when camping in hot weather. The downside to this tent is its weight; it’s bulky and can take time setting up. My wife and I spent two weeks in this tent on Padre Island in January of this year. The best price I have found for this tent was through the Competitive Edge Products website. I believe these tents are also available from Cabela’s/Bass Pro, Amazon, and other online sellers.
The Ultimate Public Campground Project was conceived in 2008 to provide a consolidated and comprehensive source for public campgrounds of all types. It all began with a simple POI (Point of Interest) list of GPS coordinates and names, nothing more, totaling perhaps 5,000 locations. As the list grew in size and information provided, a website was designed to display the data on a map. Next came mobile apps, first iOS and Mac apps and more recently Android versions. Now this information is available in various paperback books. Work continues on the Project with information updated regularly.
The Ultimate Public Campground Project was conceived in 2008 to provide a consolidated and comprehensive source for public campgrounds of all types. It all began with a simple POI (Point of Interest) list of GPS coordinates and names, nothing more, totaling perhaps 5,000 locations. As the list grew in size and information provided, a website was designed to display the data on a map. Next came mobile apps, first iOS and Mac apps and more recently Android versions. Now this information is available in 17 paperback books and includes over 38,000 locations across the United States. Work continues on the Project with information updated regularly.
The project consists of 17 paperback volumes as listed below. Selecting a link will take you to Amazon’s website to learn more, look inside the book, and purchase a copy.
