How do I get started with boondocking?

**TheLexx** · 11-18-2020, 03:00 PM

I've camped at both commercial/private campgrounds and state/federal campgrounds. The problem with the state and federal campgrounds is not only are they exceedingly difficult to book (at least they are here on the west coast), most were built at a time when campers were half the size they are now. So our 34 ft rig just won't fit. I'm looking at boondocking as a possible way to avoid the crowded private, and the difficult to book state and federal park campgrounds.

Originally Posted by Timmer

I am curious if you have been camping in commercial/privately owned campgrounds or state and federal campgrounds? We have a hobby farm in the country so we are used to having our private space. When traveling for kid's sports we are willing to stay at the commercial campgrounds for convenience purposes, but never do so for recreation. For recreation we strictly go to state and federal campgrounds. I'm not sure how it compares to out west, but here in the upper Midwest the federal and state campgrounds have reasonably secluded sites, and most are on or near lakes and rivers. They don't have sewer hookups, but many sites have power.

**TheLexx** · 11-18-2020, 03:01 PM

Thanks for the tips! I'll check out the website.

Originally Posted by Big Blue

https://davidodonnel.com/rv-park-locator/ A good place to start researching Campgrounds... I find the National Parks campgrounds a bit tight,with lots of rules, the National forest less so.... When exploring a new area we always checkout nearby campgrounds for future trips.... Army Corp of Engineers campgrounds that we have visited were spread out nicely.... On the road Community Campgrounds are a good overnight option, Although there are lots of dispersed camping options out, west we like having a campground host to keep an eye on things.. Most are quite pleasant to deal with... and if necessary can contact a Ranger in an emergency.....

**Wandering5thwheelers** · 11-21-2020, 07:36 PM

My late husband and I have been boon docking for years now. One of our special places is in the Sonara Monument Desert BLM area. We love it there. Quiet, you'll be lucky if you see one or two others for weeks. We have an extra 50 gallon water container that is great because it breaks down and rolls ups for travel. We use a generator, but we do try and only use in am and pm, but others around us use generators as well. When we boondocks we are usually at least a 100 yards from the nearest person, so not a big issue. The grey water we have a filter on our drain, so we dig a hole and drain it in there...like a lot of others do. We haven't gotten to the point that we have bought the grinder, pump and blueboy to remove that yet, but I may do so if/when I can get back to the states again. IF we watch how we use the toilet (put the toilet paper in the garbage like in Mexico), showers and kitchen stuff, we can go 10 days without having to pack up and dump and refill again.
Good luck!

**TheLexx** · 11-21-2020, 08:10 PM

Carrying extra water is an excellent idea. I've found a number of containers for water that can carry 75 gallons or more on Amazon. And they fit under the bed cover so it would be discrete. I'm not sure about how kosher it is to dump your gray water but I suppose if you use biodegradable soap, it's not going to hurt anything. We haven't tried the deserts yet. I'm leaning towards forested areas so we can just take off and take the kids fishing and hiking. We don't need to boondock for weeks. If we could just last for 4 days that would be fine. We can always go dump everything and refill the water and then move on to our next destination.

Originally Posted by Wandering5thwheelers

My late husband and I have been boon docking for years now. One of our special places is in the Sonara Monument Desert BLM area. We love it there. Quiet, you'll be lucky if you see one or two others for weeks. We have an extra 50 gallon water container that is great because it breaks down and rolls ups for travel. We use a generator, but we do try and only use in am and pm, but others around us use generators as well. When we boondocks we are usually at least a 100 yards from the nearest person, so not a big issue. The grey water we have a filter on our drain, so we dig a hole and drain it in there...like a lot of others do. We haven't gotten to the point that we have bought the grinder, pump and blueboy to remove that yet, but I may do so if/when I can get back to the states again. IF we watch how we use the toilet (put the toilet paper in the garbage like in Mexico), showers and kitchen stuff, we can go 10 days without having to pack up and dump and refill again.
Good luck!

**Wandering5thwheelers** · 11-21-2020, 08:30 PM

Personally, if you're only going to be boon docking for 4 days, than you're onboard water should be enough as long as you don't use it like you're at home. A great way to figure out how much you're using each day is to not hook up at a full time site, then use as normal. If you're tank is full at day one, then sorry to say, your family are water hogs. Even without really really watching our water intake, we can go at least 4 days without dumping. And yes, we do use biodegradable everything in our 5th wheel. The pros of being allergic to everything.

**TheLexx** · 11-21-2020, 11:18 PM

LOL yes, we are waterhogs. The kids love to stand in the shower for ages. That's gonna have to change! I don't mind carrying extra water. My truck is more than capable of carrying an extra 100 gal of water in the bed so I might as well do that. Better than running out. I'm thinking with a generator, and maybe a couple of deep cycle or lithium batteries, I should have more than enough power. I'd like to do solar in the future if the wife and kids enjoy boondocking.

The big thing will be to find where I can go camping without having to go down really rough roads. The truck is not really an off-road type vehicle, and these campers most certainly are not.

Originally Posted by Wandering5thwheelers

Personally, if you're only going to be boon docking for 4 days, than you're onboard water should be enough as long as you don't use it like you're at home. A great way to figure out how much you're using each day is to not hook up at a full time site, then use as normal. If you're tank is full at day one, then sorry to say, your family are water hogs. Even without really really watching our water intake, we can go at least 4 days without dumping. And yes, we do use biodegradable everything in our 5th wheel. The pros of being allergic to everything.

**Xlsmle** · 11-22-2020, 08:40 AM

Real boondocking is out where u have no vault toilets, water, plugins, picnic tables, nothing but land. Normally this is on forest service or out west, BLM managed land where u are not charged to stay and u get legally about 14 days of camping before u r supposed to move. Biggest issues are keeping your batteries charged, grey and black tank capacity, and water capacity. Im my case, its me and my wife. We use a honda 2200i generator and 200 watts of solar panels For power needs. If you dont need the furnace or microwave then you can go for weeks in decent weather with the solar panels. The newer Renogy panels are very efficient and easily keep my two interstate batteries charged if we are judicious on power usage. The generator for us is to use microwave and wifes hair blower and curing iron, and tv although we use a small 300 watt solar generator for the tv mostly. Our biggest issues are water and grey tank. Showers need to be kept to a minimum, if we need more water we look for a spigot and fill our 6 gallon containers (3). The grey tank if it gets full we let drain slowly overnight to not puddle where ever we r. The grey tank has only sink water or bath water in it and is no different then the water from your dishes when u tent camp. You just toss in the woods. No big deal and not polluting anything and by am it has all soaked in the ground. The black tank has to be emptied at a rv dump site so that is a problem. In our case, i pee outside and our tank lasts about 7 days.

If you use a forest service or BLM campground and have a vault toilet and access to water, then u can last at least 14 days using the vault toilet maily except late at night. IMO, the black water tank and your fresh water tank are the most limiting factors on how long you can boondock. Solve those issues and the rest is easy.

**TheLexx** · 11-22-2020, 05:28 PM

That's kind of what I expected so thank you for confirming this. What about getting to and from the BLM and National Forest lands? Our fifth wheels are not capable of anything but the bare minimum off roading - more like a very flat gravel road is the max. My F450 isn't meant to go very far off road either. I now you can use BLM maps and things like that. I guess I'd have to park the fiver somewhere and use my 450 as a scout vehicle?

Originally Posted by Xlsmle

Real boondocking is out where u have no vault toilets, water, plugins, picnic tables, nothing but land. Normally this is on forest service or out west, BLM managed land where u are not charged to stay and u get legally about 14 days of camping before u r supposed to move. Biggest issues are keeping your batteries charged, grey and black tank capacity, and water capacity. Im my case, its me and my wife. We use a honda 2200i generator and 200 watts of solar panels For power needs. If you dont need the furnace or microwave then you can go for weeks in decent weather with the solar panels. The newer Renogy panels are very efficient and easily keep my two interstate batteries charged if we are judicious on power usage. The generator for us is to use microwave and wifes hair blower and curing iron, and tv although we use a small 300 watt solar generator for the tv mostly. Our biggest issues are water and grey tank. Showers need to be kept to a minimum, if we need more water we look for a spigot and fill our 6 gallon containers (3). The grey tank if it gets full we let drain slowly overnight to not puddle where ever we r. The grey tank has only sink water or bath water in it and is no different then the water from your dishes when u tent camp. You just toss in the woods. No big deal and not polluting anything and by am it has all soaked in the ground. The black tank has to be emptied at a rv dump site so that is a problem. In our case, i pee outside and our tank lasts about 7 days.

If you use a forest service or BLM campground and have a vault toilet and access to water, then u can last at least 14 days using the vault toilet maily except late at night. IMO, the black water tank and your fresh water tank are the most limiting factors on how long you can boondock. Solve those issues and the rest is easy.

**Xlsmle** · 11-22-2020, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by TheLexx

That's kind of what I expected so thank you for confirming this. What about getting to and from the BLM and National Forest lands? Our fifth wheels are not capable of anything but the bare minimum off roading - more like a very flat gravel road is the max. My F450 isn't meant to go very far off road either. I now you can use BLM maps and things like that. I guess I'd have to park the fiver somewhere and use my 450 as a scout vehicle?

The roads are about as varied as there are kinds of rvs. Some r two tracks rougher than hell and some r gravel roads fairly level with everything inbetween. In either case scouting on some is advisable before hauling a large rv into there. Even the rough ones are doable with lots of rvs if you take it real slow. Ground clearance and overhead and side clearance r critical for using rvs on these roads. So scout the tougher areas and check out websites and forums on camping in the sticks.

**TheLexx** · 11-22-2020, 08:06 PM

I notice some folks post GPS coordinates. That sounds like a safer bet.

Originally Posted by Xlsmle

The roads are about as varied as there are kinds of rvs. Some r two tracks rougher than hell and some r gravel roads fairly level with everything inbetween. In either case scouting on some is advisable before hauling a large rv into there. Even the rough ones are doable with lots of rvs if you take it real slow. Ground clearance and overhead and side clearance r critical for using rvs on these roads. So scout the tougher areas and check out websites and forums on camping in the sticks.