How to Search for Campgrounds
🏕️ 🚐 Just a couple of clicks away is a great camping or boondocking stay! Take advantage of my experience and resources. It can be overwhelming to search for and get all of the information to make reservations when making travel plans. Our favorite types of places to camp and stay overnight are below. For reference, we full time in our DIY campervan and live an RV lifestyle in our tiny home on wheels. For your trip, check out the best links to get you there.
State Park, AZ
We love the great outdoors and like to immerse ourselves in nature and adventure, have a good night on the trail and wake up to a beautiful scene and start our day ready for more. Sometimes though, we just need a place to park for the night to sleep in order to get to our next destination. I’ve done so much research over the many years that we have traveled, camped and boondocked.
Our favorite types of places to stay
listed from #1-10
Click the Links Provided Below
for resources I usually use for that type of overnight stay.
- #1 US State Parks – These campgrounds are relatively inexpensive for the amenities they provide and are in beautiful recreation areas. These parks are often inexpensive, however, some states really slam the out-of-staters with heavier costs. Massachusetts has the most restrictions and is the most expensive, followed by the next two second place equals, California and Colorado. You might think that the later two are worth the prices in fees and costs and it may be true depending on the park and one’s perception.
- *Note that there are different entry fees even within the same state for camping and day use. Websites are also all differently organized when you’re looking to find the information to camp for each individual state.
- EveryStatePark.Com – This is a great resource for helpful, inside information based on personal experience that most other websites don’t have on state parks throughout the US. Search by state or check out the reviews and articles for the scoop.
- Reserve America
- AllStays – Filter for State/Provincial.
- Google Maps📍- Search for “state parks” Select Search This Area if it pops up. There are usually helpful reviews to read. ❣️I love that I can save pins for my locations and in custom folders I create to keep track of future stays or when I visited and what my experience was.
- Google Search 🔍- Search “state parks camping” including the state you want to visit. I usually look for the main source of information, which would be the state government website.
- iOverlander – Filter for Established Campgrounds
- #2 US Army Core of Engineers The settings for camping and activities are around water managed by this Federal Agency. Who doesn’t love the extra beauty of a body of water and the wildlife and recreation that it provides? These campgrounds fly under the radar for most folks and are clean, inexpensive and have good amenities.
- *Note the other Agencies: Bureau of Land Management – BLM Presidio Trust Bureau of Reclamation – BORUS Army Corps of Engineers – NARAUS Fish and Wildlife Service – FWS (1)National Park Service – NPS US Forest Service – USFS Naval District Washington – NAVY
- Recreation.Gov
- AllStays – Specific filter for Army Corps
- iOverlander – Filter for Established Campgrounds
- #3 National Parks are managed by a Federal Agency and offer the country’s most stunning landscapes and adventure. Not on our top list here of places to stay simply because of the limited number of locations and campgrounds. There is a crowd factor to deal with as well but if you can get a spot, it’s usually well worth it.
- National Park Service – Find a Campground
- Recreation.Gov
- AllStays – Specific filter for National Park
- iOverlander – Filter for Established Campgrounds
- #4 Harvest Hosts – This is an RV camping membership. Enjoy unlimited stays at unique camping locations. About $100/year plus an expected $30 patron purchase. Being self contained is expected so there are no camping services although some offer electric and water for a fee. It sounds like a lot of money for this option, but we have found that we purchase a meal, product or experience that we enjoy anyway and it supports local farms and businesses. Of course, the more you stay at a membership location, the cheaper the average stay becomes when the subscription cost is averaged.
- #5 Designated Dispersed Camping Area for Boondocking. There are many areas throughout the US that have wild camping on public lands. Some areas allow camping at specific sites, some allow camping in specific areas, some have pit toilets, some have nothing at all for amenities but the wild surroundings. There are too many agencies that manage these types of camping to mention which is why, apps like iOverlander and websites like these are so helpful.
- 🚯 Please no trashing or dumping. We all need to do our part to be self-contained to keep these an option on our cross-country journeys.
- iOverlander – Filter for Wild Camping and Informal Campsite
- Recreation.Gov
- AllStays – Filter for Forest.
- #6 BLM Land – Bureau of Land Management dispersed camping sites or locations are managed by a Federal Agency. Again, some areas allow camping at specific sites, some allow camping in specific areas, some have pit toilets, some have nothing at all for amenities but the wild surroundings.
- *Note the other Agencies: US Army Core of Engineers – BLM Presidio Trust Bureau of Reclamation – BORUS Army Corps of Engineers – NARAUS Fish and Wildlife Service – FWS (1)National Park Service – NPS US Forest Service – USFS Naval District Washington – NAVY
- 🚯 Please no trashing or dumping. We all need to do our part to be self-contained to keep these open as an option on our cross-country journeys.
- iOverlander – Filter for Wild Camping and Informal Campsite
- Recreation.Gov
- AllStays – Filter for Public Lands
- #7 US State Rest Areas and Visitor Centers – Many US states allow for overnight parking (not camping) in their rest areas or stations. Each state and even each type of station within the state has individual hourly limitations to get the rest you need to safely continue on your cross-country journey. Often the different rules are reflective of the agency running the rest area such as a toll road on an Interstate.
- 🚯 Please no “camping”, no partying, no trashing, no dumping. We all need to do our part to be self-contained to keep these an option on our cross-country journeys.
- I often use the top three resources listed below in a combined research effort to get the whole picture as information can change or be mis-represented. As usual, if there are multiple travelers in RVs staying overnight, and not just trying to live there, we feel safe in numbers.
- iOverlander – Filter for Informal Campsite
- Google Maps 📍- Search “Rest Areas” or “Rest Stations” Select Search This Area if it pops up. ☑️ Always check to make sure what the rules are. There are often reviews to read to know more details. ❣️I love that I can save pins for my locations and create custom folders to organize my future stays that look promising or detail when I visited and what my experience was.
- State Lines App for your phone. This is a great information app that lists important rules of the road and other specific laws that apply when traveling through a US state. I always double check these details with reviews on Google Maps📍or do a Google search 🔍. I don’t want a knock on our door in the middle of the night. So, often, I look up the Division of Transportation for that state and find their overnight parking rules as they are updated. ☑️ Always check to make sure what the rules are.
- AllStays – Specific filter for Rest Areas
- #8 Cracker Barrel Stores that allow overnight parking (not camping) with permission can be a regular quick place to stay. It’s nice to patronize this cool country store and restaurant for homestyle eats and unique treats. There are usually signs showing where their designated section is in their parking lot where they want RVs to park out of the way. They often have extra long spots for the larger RVs and conveniently provide multiple trash cans throughout. If there are other cross-country RVers staying overnight, we generally feel safe in the cities they are located in.
- 📞Always make sure to ask for permission to park overnight.
- 🚯 Please no “camping”, no partying, no trashing, no dumping. We all need to do our part to be self-contained to keep these options to stay overnight in a pinch on our cross-country travels.
- Google Maps 📍- Search for the words “Cracker Barrel” Select Search This Area if it pops up. 📞Always make sure to ask for permission to park overnight. ❣️
- AllStays – Specific filter for Store-Cracker Barrel
- iOverlander – Filter for Informal Campsite
- #9 Travel Stops – Truck stops/Gas stations that consider themselves travel stops often allow overnight parking for RVs in addition to the truckers. Paid showers, sometimes laundry facilities and now even an occasional RV “hookups” parking spot for a significant fee are many of the reasons to overnight in addition to quick food and some groceries and bathrooms.
- 📞Always make sure to ask for permission to park overnight.
- 🚯 Please no “camping”, no partying, no trashing, no dumping. We all need to do our part to be self-contained to keep these an option on our cross-country journeys.
- Love’s – “With 644 Love’s locations in 42 states Love’s provides professional truck drivers and motorists with 24-hour access to clean and safe places to purchase gasoline, diesel fuel, fresh coffee, restaurant offerings and more.” 📞Always make sure to ask for permission to park overnight.
- Flyin’ J – “Starting with one location in 1958 to becoming the largest travel center network in North America, we’ve never lost sight of what’s important – taking care of our guests!” 📞Always make sure to ask for permission to park overnight.
- Google Maps 📍- Search “travel truck stops” Select Search This Area if it pops up. 📞Always make sure to ask for permission to park overnight. There’s usually multiple reviews to read to know the details. ❣️I love that I can save pins for my locations in custom folders I create to keep track of future locations and for when I stayed and what my experience was.
- AllStays – Specific filter for Truck-Loves Country Store and/or the many other filter choices they offer.
- iOverlander – Filter for Informal Campsite
- #10 Walmart Stores that allow overnight parking with permission can be helpful places to stay for the night. These stores are good enough for when we need a place last minute, however, they are also convenient to get useful camping supplies, repair items in addition to groceries. There is usually a designated section in their parking lot they want RVs to park out of the way. Check with the Customer Service to find out where they want you. Some locations do not allow overnight parking if there is a county or town ordinance prohibiting it.
- 📞Always make sure to ask for permission to park overnight. If there are multiple other travelers RVing overnight, we generally feel safe in numbers to stay. They have camera’s throughout the parking lot and are well lit.
- 🚯 Please no “camping”, no partying, no trashing, no dumping. We all need to do our part to be self-contained to keep these an option on our cross-country journeys. Many Walmarts are already changing their policy and rules for overnight parking.
- Google Maps 📍- Search for “Walmart” Check usual reviews to read details and 📞Always make sure to ask for permission to park overnight. ❣️Don’t forget the cool feature to save pins for any locations in custom folders you a create to keep track of them all.
- AllStays – Filter for Walmart. *Note, some Walmarts are in counties that do not allow for overnighting in their parking lot so check the details and …📞Always make sure to ask for permission to park overnight.
- iOverlander – Filter for Informal Campsite
My Top Campgroud
Search Resources
My favorite way to search for what I’m looking for. Type your search-bar specifics such as “Cracker Barrel Stores” or more loosely with “campgrounds”. Select Search in this Area if that pops. Click on a prospective place to look at. Find helpful reviews to read and learn more details from people who have been recently and their personal experiences can give lots of helpful information.
❣️I love that I can save pins for my locations and put them in folders that I can custom create. This allows me to organize and keep track of future places to stay and for those locations I have already visited adding notes with the pertinent, personal details I want to remember for using again.
Because I’m often looking at my phone map for where we are going, it’s so cool to see everything I’ve saved and visited and anything I want to see that we missed last time we passed through. Look at all of those pins I’ve saved over the years in our travels all across the country. Even though I have an iPhone, I use Google Maps mostly because of this helpful resource it offers.
Photo screenshot from their website and my location pins saved.
“Over 37,000 Campgrounds: Independent, KOA, National/State Forest, State Parks, Public Lands, Army Corps, National Park, Military, County and City Parks, casinos and more. ”
They have a wide coverage of listings for camping sites and more with so many filter abilities. It is a great resource and it is tempting to use just this one research avenue but I still utilize Google Maps, iOverlander and web searches to cross reference and narrow down what I’m looking for to get all of the current information and details. *Note that not any one app has every campground, campsite or stayovers and amenities listed so we use a multitude of resources.
Photo screenshot from their website.
I love that they have so many more resources for boondocking in addition to the more formal sites to filter your search for. They have very current information and on places to find potable water, propane, dump stations and other needed specifics that long trips and Boondockers are looking for.
I wish they had a location search also as I find it hard sometimes to identify the location I’m going to on the map. “iOverlander is a tool, by and for overlanders, which enables its users to submit, amend and find information and opinions, primarily about places that are essential for the act of overlanding…”
Photo screenshot from their website.
This is a great resource for helpful, inside information based on personal experience that most other websites don’t have. I love the beautiful, original photographs and the easy-to-identify amenities checklist. Because every state has a much different format, it is hard to navigate each website and reservation process. It’s great to see, at a quick glance, if a park is a good fit based on its day use and camping fees, recreation and amenity information that EveryStatePark.Com has available.
Best of all, EveryStatePark.Com provides unique location information or specific park circumstances you might really want to know. Most of the other resources on the web are regurgitated information, and monetarily motivated. Get the scoop here. I’m looking forward to more state park reviews here!
Photo screenshots from their website.
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Have a good night on the trail, wherever you are on your journey.
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