WHERE do you find places to dry camp?

[ScouterMom]

I live near the IL / WI state line and was born and raised in SE Wisconsin.  I've been an avid camper all my life, fromcanadian wilderness treks with canoes and sleeping under the stars, to 'car camping' with tents, and in more recent years, with an older (1973) pop-up.  I really like many of the wonderful state parks - especially those in Wisconsin, and we still do some canoe camping on the Wisconsin river, which I love. (just pick your own island sandbar paradise for the night! no one else in sight or earshot than your own companions - it's magical!)   But I can't think of anywhere where we could go in this fairly 'over- civilized' part of the country where we could just park the camper and dry camp. (other than the non-hook-up, tenting sites in the state parks, and if I'm going there anyway, I prefer to have electricity!)

I think I'd like to try dry camping - something about just being out in the middle of nowhere appeals to me - all by ourselves without the radios, car light in your campsite at night, tons of early-morning kids, late night partiers and crowds of the private campgrounds & parks.


So where do you find places that let you just drive in and camp? Do you have to have a vehicle and trailer that can take "off roading"?  ( my old Starmaster is too low and stiff to take any deeply rutted roads - but a nice field would be OK)

Laura

[dthurk]

Stop in the downtown area of where you want to be, find a local barbershop or hairdressers shop and ask if there might be a local farmer that might let you stay on their land for a night or two, or for however long you might want to be.  Might be a good time for a haircut, too.  Make sure you ask permission of the farmer, maybe offer something.

[Tim5055]

Check any nearby National Forests.  Their name for it is "dispersed camping"

['tiredTeacher]

Check any nearby National Forests.  Their name for it is "dispersed camping"

Good advice. You can camp anywhere in a National Forest as long as you get 100 feet from the road, fire road or trail.

[cokoliso]

I thought I would add to this old thread for those who are wondering where they can dry camp.

There are state parks, national parks, national forests, US Army Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sites in most states, I imagine.

Try searching here:
http://www.recreation.gov/recFacilitySearchResult.do?topTabIndex=RecreationArea

[ScouterMom]

just bumping this up - anyone know of any good spots in WI or IL?

LAura

[flyfisherman]

In Michigan, for sure, they also have state forest lands where you can dry camp. I should think Wisconsin would have something simular.



Fly

[Funrover]

Get a hold of the Forest Sevice or BLM in the area you are wanting to go to, they willl answer all your questions, 90% of my camping is Dry(boondocking)! Currently I am planning a trip from CO to CA with free camping the entire way. the above is what I did!

[SilverRaven]

I've had good luck with Don Wright's Guide to Free and Inexpensive Campgrounds.

Sebastian

[striker]

It's true that there are many camping opportunities for free there, but there can be challenges finding a place. Unless you find a really knowledgeable person in the local district office, they may not be much help. To camp with a pop-up, you need a reasonably level place which is big enough to get the camper and vehicle in and out of easily. There are many nice campsites that would be great with a tent, but not so good for a camper. I've had the best luck looking along well traveled forest roads along creeks. Will need a Forest Service map to spot these places. (If needed, your Eagle Scouts can help you with map reading.)

One place to avoid is where a FS road dead ends. Sometimes, these places have barely room enough to turn around a truck, much less a vehicle plus camper. I ended up in one of these dead ends last year and had to back out for 1/4 mile before I could find a place to turn around. Was getting dark to add to the challenge.  

Lots of great places out there, but they are sometimes hard to find.