A while back, we decided we wanted to experience Las Vegas, Nevada as a family. In our research, we found there were not a lot of good opportunities to boondock around the city. However, when we discovered our “Every Kid Outdoors” pass got us into not just national parks, but also into national recreation areas. This really opened up doors for us. The door that we were most excited about
Typically we try to avoid staying in parking lots when there is a nation of public lands to explore, but sometimes we don’t have much choice when we’re trying to keep our travel times manageable. The Morongo Casino was the 2nd or 3rd casino we’ve stayed at, depending on how you define them. Of the three, it was probably our best casino parking experience. Camping Accommodations at Morongo Casino While
When you’re living on the road, you occasionally need to pull off of the road to rest, eat, tend to acts of nature, etc. While exciting, and full of novel experiences, life on the road doesn’t tend to be a very lucrative lifestyle so free camping is one of the best ways to find success. Before you get too involved in looking for free camping sites, you’ll want to do
Apple Canyon Campground was our first experience with “Yellow Post” camping in California. Yellow post camping differs from traditional dispersed camping in that camping is restricted to designated sites, and the sites have minimal improvements in the form of fire rings and benches. The standard rules of dispersed camping still hold true. Stays are limited to 14 days and Leave No Trace is the expectation. Getting to (and leaving) the
It’s no secret that we love to visit national parks. It’s also no surprise that we love to camp for free. Lucky for us, so far we’ve been able to find dispersed camping on public land pretty close to every national park we’ve visited, and Joshua Tree National Park isn’t an exception. Just as Joshua Tree National Park can be split roughly into two areas, so can its dispersed camping
If you’ve spent any time in an RV or in RV circles, you’ve probably heard of Quartzsite, Arizona. This tiny town in the middle of the Sonoran desert swells in population every winter from around 2,000 residents in the summer to over 1.5 million. How does “The Q” handle such fluctuations? Bureau of Land Management (BLM) camping! In addition to the innumerable RV parks inside the city limits of Quartzsite,
Looking for a place to stay within spitting distance of White Sands National Park, we found the Baylor Pass Trailhead off of Baylor Canyon Road in Las Cruces, NM. This was just a quick stop for us as we were rushing to get to Quartzsite in time for The Boy’s birthday. But it wasn’t too bad of a campground and we wish we could have spent more time there. Camping
We were looking for boondocking camping opportunities while traveling west toward our winter base in Quartzsite, Arizona. While we were originally planning on camping further north, we noticed that those campgrounds were predominantly forest roads and possibly impassable by our bus. We wanted to stay in “day trip” range of Carlsbad Caverns National Park and started looking further south. What we discovered was perfect: Chosa Campground! Chosa Campground is a
Free camping isn’t too hard to find. But free camping with hookups is a rare treat. Our first ever time hooking up was at such a place, but that only had electricity. Rodeo Campground in Lamesa, Texas has electricity and water! This is another example of us spending a little less time behind the camera, and we got no pictures of this location. Google did, though. About Rodeo Campground Calling
Texas doesn’t have any of the public lands we’ve come to love in the Southwest. However, it does have a fun assortment of free camping opportunities! One such opportunity is SeaBee Park in Abilene, Texas. About SeaBee Park Just outside of Abilene, Texas, and adjacent to a spur of Lake Fort Phantom Hill, SeaBee Park has a surprising amount to offer. One can go birding on the lake shore, launch