While running up the Pacific Coast Highway, we found a distinct lack of public lands to stay at. While we’re no strangers to paying for a stay, we try to avoid it, unless it opens up opportunities for us. South Beach State Park, while a little expensive, allowed us to empty our tanks, top up the water, and even visit an amazing aquarium! Amenities at South Beach State Park South
Sturdivent Park in Coquil, Oregon, of all the places we’ve stayed, was kinda weird. We’re no strangers to staying at state parks and campgrounds. This, however, was probably the first time we stayed at a park that was primarily a day-use facility, but allowed cheap dry camping. Facilities Sturdivent Park is primarily a day-use park and fishing staging area. The area has several porta-potties, play fields, and trash cans throughout.
Skull Creek Campground was one of those rare treats: a free 14-day BLM campground with facilities! The campground is pretty easy to get to, but taller rigs should be careful, as both entrance roads have low branches overhanging the road. Our bus, at just under 12’ tall, barely passed under the branches. Amenities at Skull Creek Campground I don’t mean to oversell it. By facilities, all I mean is a
By now, we’ve stayed at our fair share of campgrounds, boondocking spots, and even casinos. We think we have a pretty good idea about what makes a good one and what makes a bad one. Wolf Creek Park in Wolf Creek, Oregon, definitely fits in the latter category. One thing we learned as we traveled up the west coast was that with the lack of public lands came a lack
We don’t stay in a lot of RV parks when we travel. This is both to keep costs down and to keep scenery high. But when traveling up the west coast of the United States, public lands are few and far between. Schroeder Park in Grants Pass was one stop between public lands. Better for Smaller Rigs While the web page stated that the park could handle rigs of all
While roving up the 101 in the spring of 2025, we found a dearth of public land. As such, we spent more than a couple of nights in casino parking lots and a few brief stays in RV parks. Cher’ere Campground in Klamath, California, was probably our favorite park to date. What to Expect at Cher’ere Campground Cher’ere Campground is a campground in flux. While it’s clearly been in the
We love to boondock, but sometimes our route brings us to areas without a lot of boondocking opportunities. While traveling up the west coast of California, we couldn’t skip one of the most infamous national parks, Alcatraz Island. However, due to it being the 4th-most-populous city in the United States, there was no public land. We chose to stay at Tradewinds RV Park in Vallejo. What to Expect at Tradewinds
We’re no strangers to pivots, and Hanning Flat Dispersed Area is probably our favorite pivot to date. In the spring of 2025, we were planning to travel north up the east side of California before crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains around Redwoods National Park, but wildfires made those plans change. We found the Hanning Flat Dispersed Area, just outside of Isabella Lake, California. What to Expect at Hanning Flat Dispersed
While we by far prefer to boondock, we’ve stayed in a couple of RV parks and resorts on our travels. Rivers Edge RV Resort in Winterhaven, California, is one of the latter. We stayed here for about a week during the Fulltime Families West Coast Family Reunion in the spring of ’25. What to Expect at River’s Edge RV Resort River’s Edge RV Resort is unique (to us) for an
We’ve been lucky to make several contacts and friends along the road. Some of them host events and gatherings of like-minded people. One of these events was a New Year’s Eve event for traveling families held at Good Vibes Ranch in Jamul, California. This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you click on it and make a purchase I’ll receive a small commission at no cost to you. As