How We Find Camping
Hello my friends! MAK here. Today we’re going to sharing how we find camping! We haven’t shared this info with you all yet because it’s a process that we’ve been practicing and evolving for the last five years. Often people ask us how we find camping so we are excited to finally distill the process into a video and blog post! Let’s get into it!
Though this blog post was brought to you by The Dyrt, however, the opinions and process are entirely our own.
Thank you so much to The Dyrt for supporting us so we can make helpful videos like this one! They’ve sent us a code to share with all of our friends for a free 90 day trial of The Dyrt Pro! Use code BFN90 so you can take it for a spin this summer as you head out for some grand adventures!
here’s
How we camp
99% of the time Owen and I are staying on public land using dispersed camping. We tend to avoid established campgrounds because we have a vehicle that is set up to be 100% off the grid, 100% of the time.
We enjoy the solitude and wide-open spaces of dispersed camping, and because we don’t need the resources that established camp areas offer, there is no reason for us to seek them out. However, if we’re desperate for a shower, water, or need to be in close proximity of a town where dispersed camping might be unavailable, we’ll use a campground. But this kind of occasion only ever comes up maybe 3-4 times a year.
research &
PLANNING AHEAD
Once we know what area we’re wanting to venture into, we’ll look at the map for public land within that area. The Dyrt and Public Lands app have handy public lands layers that show boundaries of National Forests, Bureau of Land Management land, and more.
The Dyrt on the left, Public Lands app on the right
Many of these public lands allow for free camping of some kind. For this please refer to this blog post about how to learn how to camp on public land.
Being able to see these public land borders makes it easy for us to then identify a specific area we want to camp in, which then allows us to look closer for a specific camping spot. For this, we love to cross-reference The Dyrt and iOverlander to see what all is out there.
The Dyrt on the left, iOverlander on the right
This is when we like to read through reviews to learn what type of vehicle they drove to get there, road conditions if they had any cell service there, and if they had a good stay!
* Just keep in mind that some of these apps require service to use them. This is why it’s important to do this research ahead of time, but we’ll get into that a little later!
let’s talk
Trip Planning
If you happen to be an RVer or are planning a camping road trip it can be more challenging to figure out where to stop along the way if you’re not familiar with the area you’re heading to. This is where I’d recommend the insanely handy “Trip Planning” feature on The Dyrt of which I have yet to find anything quite like it!
This feature helps you to pick your path of travel from where you leave all the way to your final destination by putting in important metrics like the size of your vehicle, which is important if you’re camper is tall. It will help you find a route that avoids low overpasses and things like that.
Little sampling of our road trip using the Trip Planner feature on The Dyrt
The Dyrt planning feature also asks you how long you want to drive each day, and if you have any particular parks or public lands you’d like to see along the way!
With all those details it will suggest a route and show you stats like how long the trip will be, how many hours of driving, and how much it will cost in gas! Cool right?!
Once you’ve picked your route The Dyrt will suggest camping along your path of travel based on if you are looking for an established campground with water and power or even free camping!
In fact, we have a blog post using this feature that also details a suggested road trip from Las Vegas, NV to Salt Lake City, UT that will take you to some of our favorite spots in the Southwest!
the importance of
Offline Maps
Before heading off to a camp spot it’s important to be prepared with maps downloaded offline. This is helpful if the area you will be traveling in won’t have service, but is a good habit to get into even if you’re unsure of service connectivity!
We download maps offline using The Dyrt, Google Maps, and OnX Offroad. I know that seems like overkill but this is the best way to ensure that we find a spot even if we’re out of service!
From left to right - The Dyrt, OnX Offroad, Google Maps
And each of these apps serves a different purpose for us:
The Dyrt gives us more camping options when we’re offline
Google Maps helps us navigate roads when we’re offline
OnX Offroad gives us satellite imagery when we’re offline
And all of them allow you to save waypoints for offline use
And full transparency, we’re offline A LOT, so this detail will always be important for us!
go
CAMPING & ENJOY
Now, after ALL that, it’s time to just sit back and enjoy your camp spot!
No matter where you camp, just be sure that you are respectful of the land, animals, and the people who may be around you. This is particularly important in dispersed camping on public land because we want to be sure that we all have access to these wild and wonderful places for years to come!
If you’re needing to brush up on your camping etiquette, which I think we could all use from time to time, and is especially important if you’re new to camping. As mentioned earlier in this post, we have a blog post/video on this subject. We cover planning for camping, leave no trace protocol, campfire regulations, leaving a place cleaner than you found it, and how to use the bathroom in the great outdoors!
The end
So that’s how we find camping. Finding a killer camp spot is a process that we get a lot of enjoyment out of which is why we put so much work into it. There is nothing better than doing your research and showing up to a camp spot for the record books!
In no way does your search for camping have to be “involved” as it is for us. Using tools like The Dyrt and some of the others we mentioned will make planning for your camping trip nice and easy.
Don’t forget to use our code BFN90 if you are interested in trying The Dyrt Pro as you head out camping this summer!
We hope this (and the video) are helpful in getting you out there and enjoying the great outdoors that we all love so much! Have fun, take care of our wild spaces and we’ll see you down the road!
Love,
MAK
