How to find on-the-road boondocking campsites

Here’s a question from a reader of RVtravel.com about boondocking. 

Dear Bob,
I keep reading about the shortage of campsites and the need to make reservations. But I don’t want to be held to an agenda and have to make reservations. Can I find enough places to boondock across the country when I can’t find a campsite? —Don

Answer: Yes, Don, there are multiple locations where you can find boondocking campsites. There are also many places to spend a night while in transit that, though dry-camping, are not technically boondocking (camping away from all amenities) such as at Walmarts, truck stops, highway rest areas, Cabella’s, Camping World, and others.

But for real boondocking campsites, where you might want to spend a little time rather than just sleep for the night before moving on, the best places to look is on public lands like National Forests and the Bureau of Land Management. While most of these public lands are in the West, there are still several national and state forests in the rest of the country. Forest Camping is a National Forest campground guide that lists all the FS campgrounds (most with no hookups but with access to drinking water) and is also a good clue to where you can find dispersed campsites as well, since they are often in the same general area. Tip: If you often travel the same routes, spend some time finding dispersed camping areas along the route and keep a record or use placemarks on Google Earth so you can find them easily the next time through. 

Read more about boondocking at my blog.
Check out my Kindle e-books about boondocking at Amazon.

Do you have a question for Bob? Email him at bob.rvtravel (at) gmail.com .