You’ve probably heard, but we’ll say it again (and again and again): We LOVE Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome.
Each membership program is an affordable way to avoid crowded campgrounds and stay in absolutely gorgeous settings. Camping in a vineyard? Yes, please! Staying on an organic farm? Absolutely! Sleeping next to baby goats? You betcha!
With Harvest Hosts, you can stay at more than 4,100 locations on wineries, breweries, farms and more. With Boondockers Welcome you can stay on beautiful private property at more than 3,000 locations. See why we love them so much?
Are you a member of Harvest Hosts and/or Boondockers Welcome? If so, tell us your favorite place you’ve stayed in the comments—we love hearing about these places!
If you’re not a member (yet), learn more about Harvest Hosts here and Boondockers Welcome here. We can’t recommend them enough!
I keep seeing harvest host being described a “free camping,” but it is not free to join and it is not free to stay, if you read their guidelines.
Neither and just keep to myself unless invited by another campsite. We all have our lives to lead and being rude to intrude is not what I am into. BTW I have no idea what a harvest host is.
Would not use either service. Not a fan of camping for just a night or two, which is what I’d be getting. Not into beer or wine, which is what half of Harvest is all about. And don’t like feeling obligated to buy stuff I don’t really want which is how I’d feel. Great services praised by thousands, just not right for me.
I am a longer time BW host (and member of both BW and HH). I have had a 99% positive experience as a BW host and have had over 140 members stay at my location in a little over 2 years. Many for a day, many for more. The comment of a host below is correct, please read the rules, but most importantly, be respectful. After all, you are on someone else’s property. Also, communicate with us and actually read the correspondence you get from BW when your reservation is accepted or when we send you additional details. You would be surprised how many guests don’t bother. On a less somber note, being a host has been a FANTASTIC experience for our family. We have met some amazing people and are still friends with many. We even have had “reunions” where guest who have stayed with us tell their friends and their friends stay here too. We all become friends so, on more than one occasion, we arrange for guest to meet up here at the same time. Our kids/guest kids still play on-line games.
I don’t even know what these are?
Hi, Karen. Just click on the links in the article and you’ll find out. Have a great day. 🙂 –Diane
I’m a BW host in summer but just for someone on the way to somewhere–nothing special to do, and I’m off the beaten path in the country. My biggest problem is people not reading the “house rules” so to speak and trying to get around them. It’s important to read the rules and courtesy agreement, if they still have one, before asking to schedule. There were some great guests, but most are not interested in the area. As for using it myself, I’m not self contained, so cannot, and I have not seen any place to stay where I go anyway.
Likewise, I’m only on the “on the way to somewhere”. Have never had a problem with any rules (I guess I don’t have any). I no longer own an RV, but love having the occasional RVer stop for a night. Have met several very interesting people, even a family from Israel taking a sabbatical in the US.
I’d like to offer a place in my yard but it’s not very large or pretty.
Stayed 2 nights at Mercier Farms in Blue Ridge GA. Harvest Host. It was during Apple season and they had apple tasting bar, cider and wine tasting, lovely restaurant for 3 meals daily, bakery, jams, preserves, barbq sauces, vintage toys, bakery, even their own UPS station.
Stayed 1 night with a BW Host in NC. Lovely man who allowed us to run our small generator when our electric hookup didn’t reach his hookup.
When BW and HH got bought out only my HH membership got transferred and the only recourse they offered me was to add the golf package and it would include a fresh membership in BW. I got really frustrated today trying to arrange stays for a July trip and finally spent $50 to add the golf package and now I can’t access either site!
This is Mitzi BTW. Just saying, I’m the one who has to do this or stay a prisoner inside an airconditioned house.
We have stayed at several Harvest Host places, ranging from a car museum to a horse farm. All were sufficiently unusual to be very interesting,and we enjoyed our stays immensely. And they were places where they were convenient to stop! Yay for unusual camping spots!
Wilderness Winery and Brewery on Virginia Rt. 3 – excellent.
DelMonaco Winery and Vineyards in Baxter, TN, even better.
No hookups, but great beverages and sometimes food.
Breweries often in industrial/commercial settings but happy hour helps the view.
Belong to both. Never stayed at HH, but we have a very favorite BW stop in Florida. It’s 300 miles from home base, a very nice convenient distance for a day’s drive. Host is great, and provides water and power. Actually has several sites. I’m not telling who he is or where he is, don’t want to share him. LOL.
We are also under 30′ with 30 amp power needs. This helps with the selection.
Became a multi-year member of both when they were separate memberships which will end this Fall……and doubt I’ll renew either due to lack of current usage. I was a Boondockers Welcome hostess and thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with guests sitting around my fire pit and watching their dog(s) run around & explore my fenced back yard.
Have yet to use HH however we will during our two month trip out West starting next month!
Joined HH when I retired (again) last year, but have yet to use it. Now that I’m working again (got bored) we may not bother renewing for now. I definitely like the concept, but found that WM or Rest Areas are still more convenient for us on the routes we take for trips to see family.
We were members of Harvest Hosts (HH) for two years and rarely found any locations remotely near our travel path. Ultimately spent 3 nights at two different locations before letting our membership lapse. We began hosting a Boondockers Welcome (BW) site in response to campground closures due to the virus, beginning in March 2020. We have not joined BW, but get a membership for hosting a site. We have enjoyed meeting almost all of our guests, which is an unexpected and welcomed benefit. Similarly, have yet to find a BW site remotely near any of our travel routes. It seems that most BW and HH sites are in the western U.S.
We use Harvest Host fairly often and have had many wonderful stays. That said, we have also had experiences with hosts that have no business being in the network. I think some vetting of potential hosts is in order. Finding miles of washboard dirt roads or tight and overgrown access roads that are not mentioned in the host overview can be very frustrating.
Yeah, some pretty rough and narrow roads was our with the two HH places we stayed. State Parks are out of the way but pretty much have adequate signage. Looking for county road HH, a gravel that is not marked with a sign is not easy even with GPS.
I’ve used both. The only problem with Harvest Hosts is at the wineries and farm stores I end up spending more than if I stayed in a campground 🙂
We rarely do 1 night stops in our travels as we rarely have any date driven destinations that require moving that fast. Plus I dislike dry camping. Spoiled, like my long showers. Travel slowly and spend usually a week at each stop.
We have used both for several years. At 36 feet we are a bit limited in selection at BW but have often had wonderful experiences with hosts, one was living on the site in his own 45 footer! On a recent trip we stayed at a BW and Harvest Hosts, two wineries and a distillery (in Tennessee). I admit we spent more than we would have paid for camping, but we are still enjoying the wines and Bourbon we bought.
I’ve been to over 30 Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts. About half of those had electricity. Many offered water, and a few had a dump. I’ve greatly enjoyed meeting the hosts. As a single full timer in a 23 foot RV, the program is great for me.