How many times have you “boondocked” on public lands for more than a week outside a designated campground? We’re not talking about staying in an official campground — say, one in a National Forest or on BLM lands — but actually just driving off the beaten path to find a place in “the boonies” to call your own for awhile, living without utility hookups.
So what’s your experience? Inquiring minds really do want to know.
We’ve never stayed *anywhere* for a week or more.
Life changes things but as a newbie RVer I boondock most of the time, staying the full extent I’m allowed to stay at a given site, so 2 weeks average. It really saves on gas. Driving a 10+ yr old truck camper pretty much nixes me staying in campsites with age restrictions but campsites are my least fave/last resort option anyway.
some times while traveling from point A to point B.Have stayed at Road Side parks,and places like Walmart etc. over night.I am getting older,and pulling over to sleep .is better than trying to find a RV park late at night.or trying to drive all night.a lot safer to do so.I have a class B RV.easy to park etc.I never had any problems.all so we take our dog,and he loves to travel.
I did journey out to Quartszite in 2014. Glad to do it, lots of good folks but too far away for an old fellow such as me.
I call it hunting season, two to three times a year.
I guess the biggest reason for not having boondocked is I am from the east coast and there is not very much of it there.
Stayed probably a week at several different public lands but never a week at one place
It wouldn’t be for a full week, but when it cools off a bit, we’d like to do it in the desert in Southern California.
Been rving for six years and have never boondocked or stayed at a Walmart. However with the current situation of full rv parks it appears the time is coming. With over one million more rvers on the road than two years ago it is almost impossible to get a 1-2 week stay without making reservations 6 months in advance. They are developing new parks however the demand is outpacing the supply. This demand plus the need for existing parks to upgrade (wifi and other amenities) their parks have driven a nights stay up 30-50%. The days
of $30-40 per night is a thing in the past. What is an rv’er to do?
At 7%, there’s still room for us boondockers.
For some reason, we can’t drive past the area around Quartzsite, AZ without staying at least a few days. It might not be a week at a time, but it probably adds up to over 2 or 3 weeks in the 4 months we’re out West each year.
The reason you can’t drive by Quartzsite and not stay is – it’s a fun place to park and enjoy the solitude, and not have to pay for it. We LOVE that area!
I have seldom stayed in one place for a week while boondocking. However I took a 90 day trip around the US, Canada and Alaska and only stayed in paid campgrounds for 14 days..
I would love to hear more about that trip. That should be our first bigger trip and would love some recommendations.
Luckily we live out west (northern NV) and heading off the road to a piece of desert is fairly normal for us. “Find a view. Park the house”. That’s pretty much our motto. Many times when we head off from the house, we’re not sure where we’ll be that night.