agesilaus

We are real fans of COE cg. More of them west of the Mississippi. And their sites are mostly long pull thrus that are 75 ft long.

The cg are much newer than National Park CG

We just got back from our summer trip. We tried to alternate no-hookup and boondocking with FHU parks. I'd say that we averaged $30-35 at FHU parks. No hook up ran from $0 to $15. We would never stay at some place that charged $75, for one thing we have no interest in shuffle board or camper activities. KOA prices have gone up a lot several years ago and we've pretty much avoided them since then. I recall one KOA in Bozeman was $60/night and I think the one near Devils Tower was about the same.

The Florida Keys cg have extortionate pricing in winter as another example even the Florida State Park--Bahia Honda is the most expensive in the state system.

Of course with a 40 ft Class A you'll have a lot more trouble than we do with a 30 ft Arctic Fox TT.

The only discount we used was Good Sams except Idaho has a senior discount that applies to out of state campers.

I'm new here. How do we know what area you are in? Other than your screen name?

Utah is packed with Boondocking opportunities as is Colorado and Wyoming. And tho we haven't spent much time there, Nevada too, and Idaho. City of Rocks is a very interesting area in Southern Idaho. The San Juan Mountains east of Moab are another. And I'm sure there are plenty around SLC. There are some areas around Zion and Bryce. Flaming Gorge Reservoir in south west Wyoming is another. The list is long.

Actually after making my complaint about boondocking in Florida I decided to actually see if that is true. Maybe not, The Florida Forest Service aka the State Forests and the WMA areas all offer camping some primitive and some with electric & water.

FSF

Apparently they use the reserve America reservation system. I'm going to try to get a spot in Tate's Hell over Labor day. On a river.

On 8/5/2019 at 11:01 AM, vermilye said:

Gouldings if you need hookups, in the Monument Valley campground if you are willing to dry camp.

A couple of other near by dry camping areas are Goosnecks State Park - inexpensive, and Valley of the Gods - free. Both offer great views and are rarely overcrowded.

Trump will not shut down the parks, he did not the last time. The only complaints I saw came from Joshua Tree in CA

Flaming Gorge is very scenic and has some spectacular camping and boondocking. We've been up that road pulling a 34 ft fiver with no trouble.

We have always had terrible weather at Red Mountain, is that Monarch Pass? Including snow and sleet in June and July. And I don't mean snow sprinkles, this was the heavy wet snow. No telling what it's like in November.

Once you are in Utah you should be fine tho not immune to snow. In fact I'd much rather do Zion and Arches in cool weather than summer. They are both hotter than Hades and I think you can drive in the Zion Valley.

I just saw a forecast showing storms already stacking up in the Pacific off WA and OR so an early winter may be at hand. Or maybe not who knows. The weather guy said it looked more like January than August tho.

I'd stay in Goosenecks SP or the Valley of the Gods unless you need hookups. VoG is right at the bottom of the Moki Dugway as an added attraction. Neither one is that far from Monument Valley.

We, having a 4WD truck, just drove around the loop with no guides involved. You can stop and take photos and so on. There are a couple of spur trails you aren't allowed on but you'll see 90% of the place. You'll want 4WD since there is deep sand. The guided tours are loaded on the bed of a flatbed with some benches and then raced around the loop. I wasn't paying $40 for that

Unfortunately we are back in North Florida after 8960 miles where the whole state can't even make a good sized hill. The high point in the state is something like 360 ft and it isn't even on a hill...heh. Boondocking around here means camping in the Ocala NF on sugar sand roads in the scrub pine and palmettos.

I haven't really looked for other sites tho, but I will.

Next year my wife can retire, I already am, and we won't have to rush back down here.

New to Escapees and just getting started on Boondocking. We are very long time campers and RVers and have camped in every one of the lower 48 with our family. I've been interested in boondocking but our RV type at the type didn't seem compatible (34 ft fiver)

We just got a new to us 2016 Arctic Fox 25Y since the kids are all out of the house and started boondocking on this summer's trip:

1) Shadow Mountain Tetons. Absolutely wonderful site where you have a full view of the mountains across that large meadow from your CG. We stayed 3 days on the 4th of July weekend, we were very lucky to get a site (#15) on the 3rd in the afternoon. This is off the Mormon Row road. It was a rainy period and the road in is dirt so we were a little concerned about getting out but it didn't rain the last day. Check the NF info station in Jackson for maps of this and other boondocking sites around the Tetons.

2) Hungry Horse Reservoir south of Kalispell MT. This was the downside of our trip. We stopped at the Ranger station in Hungry Horse and got a map and info on a Wednesday afternoon. I more or less expected we would find a spot on the 55 mile road down one side of the lake. But the place was packed full. We then made the newbie mistake of turning down a side road without checking it out first. Think it was Dead Buck road. Anyway got a mile and a half down the road and it was blocked with a pile of dirt. There was a smallish opening on one side and instead of backing out I tried a turn around. Got stuck in a ditch. We spent the night at what was actually an excellent spot on a creek thinking it would be a tow truck in the morning.

But a rescuer arrived to camp on the other bank and he talked me thru maneuvering the TT out of the spot. Saved us a bunch I'm sure. But lesson learned.

Next was Camel Hump Lake/Reservoir just over the line into ND off I-80, near Beach ND. Pulled into this place found a nice spot right on the small lake. Only a couple of others out there and they were hundreds of feet away or on the other side of the lake. So far so good. Woke up at 7:30 AM to find the site surrounded by 50 or 60 locals including a Pepsi Hot Dog stand trailer. Out fishing and the natives were not pleased to find us there. Packed up and left...heh. This was Saturday morning so I suggest avoiding Camel Hump on weekends.

Last boondocking stop was Burning Coal Vein in ND to the 15 miles north of Amistead ND. Nice spot only one other camper in the area with maybe 10-12 slots. Nothing to do in the area tho. And be careful not to drive past the last site because you will end up on a dead end at the top of that hill. Never did see the burning coal tho we looked for it. There is a pit toilet at this spot.

Shadow Mountain

Burning Coal NF

This is very late but I just joined. There are some fantastic boondocking sites at Tetons, the first is Shadow Mountain which has fewer that 20 slots but you will have a wonderful view of the mountains from your CG. We stayed in site 15 this summer for three days over the 4th of July weekend.

Further north are some more areas. What you want to do it stop at the NF information center in Jackson and they have maps of the areas. The Grassy Lake road has many Boondocking sites but it is in between GTNP and YNP. The sites are in wooded areas with no views except the woods of course.