Recommended Sites
We are passionate about sharing our knowledge, travel experience and the useful planning and executing tips we are learning on the road.
And so we'll be sharing two kinds of sites with you: the websites that have helped us plan this cross-country overlanding adventure, and the campsites we love the most for truck and tent camping.
Websites
Hipcamp is the place to discover and book tent sites, cabins, treehouses, glamping sites, and some RV parks. Read about our favorite hipcamp not far from our home in Portland. While the site links to and reviews public campgrounds and national parks, their real strength is in the private land offered for off-grid camping available through their site - we use it mostly to find private farms and land to camp on, sites which are usually far less busy than typical campgrounds. We have stayed in some remote places and met some wonderful people this way!
Campendium is a great review resource for tent campers (and RV people). Covering national and state parks, as well as National Forest Service locations and BLM land for dispersed camping, Campendium provides outdoor lovers with all the information they need to make smart camping decisions. We rely heavily on the reviews we find on this site. BONUS: their reviews list actual sites within campgrounds. EXTRA BONUS: Users are encouraged to report cellular connectivity by carrier, which we have found to be pretty spot on.
With over a million campgrounds, tips and reviews from campers, the dyrt is a go to for us when planning a trip. We use this site mostly for reviews. With the paid subscription, there is a trip planner - we have not found the campground finder to be very effective, but the map overlays which find the best national parks, BLM (Bureau of Land Management) areas and FS (forest service) areas along your route - very helpful in planning a big trip, and in trying to find interesting stays along the way.
It's not even about the free. Sometimes we just crave dispersed camping, or camping without a campground, to get away from crowded sites (especially during the 2020 pandemic). Free Campsites makes it easy to find dispersed camping, where you choose your own site, dig your own fire pit, and don't have to deal with the crowds and noise of a usual campsite. This site helps source the best BLM (bureau of land management) and FS (forest service) areas, which are usually free dispersed camping.
Campsites
I try to keep up with my reviews on the above referenced websites, so I can give back to the community of reviewers I depend on. Some of my favorite campsites have been at national parks and other public campgrounds - the best place to check out those reviews is on campendium and the dyrt. Others have been on private lands, in farms, etc. - the best place to check out these reviews is on hipcamp. Still others are dispersed camping on forest service and BLM lands - find these on freecampsites and the dyrt. A few recent favorites:
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