Guides

Plain answers to the questions people ask before a free camping trip.

Free camping near McCall, Idaho

The state park books up months ahead. Nine free camping areas by lakes and creeks, and which ones are good in which month.

No road crosses the canyon, so pick your side first. Free campsites from Joseph, Halfway and Riggins, and what to know before you go.

The park’s one open campground fills in summer. Six free forest campgrounds nearby, and what to know before you go.

You can camp for free where the herds live. Six things to know first, and why you never set up camp beside their water.

On most public land in the West, yes. Six ways to tell where it stops and private land begins.

The park’s campgrounds are booked up most of the year. Where to sleep for free nearby, and the new rules you need to know.

Often, yes. Six checks before you go: who owns the water, where you may sleep, how you reach it, and how hot it really is.

Six checks before you drive a dirt road to a free campsite. What high clearance means, and why a little rain can stop a four-wheel drive.

Usually. Here is how to spot the times it is not, and why you keep twenty dollars in the glovebox.

Twelve miles from town on the map can be a day of driving. How to plan fuel and water around the real drive.

434 places to camp on public land across Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Arizona and Montana.