Sleeping on the road… well, not literally, but those “picnic areas” on Interstate 10 in Texas sure do feel like it! Check out a few of my favorite apps and sites that help me locate a place to snooze while on the road.
First up is Campendium! This is my go-to and my favorite feature is that it allows you to search based on price, and lucky for us, free is a price point! Under this feature, it will list rest areas but also free businesses to park at like Cracker Barrels and Casinos. It provides reviews with noise, safety, and any updates on rules, like parking is no longer allowed. Campedium even includes BLM land and other free land to camp at. This app/site is also a great database to locate cheaper campsites such as state and county parks. The review section on Campedium will show cell signal, which is a great perk if we need to work in the morning.
Best find on Campendium: San Pedro Campground at the Amistad National Recreation Area in Del Rio, TX
Price: $6 Discount for America the Beautiful Pass: $3 per night!
No hookups – Great cell service, no reservations needed, very quiet
If I can’t find anything on Campendium for free then I will check FreeRoam and iOverlander. These are two great (and free) resources to find overnight parking lots and spots. If you are looking for a campground with amenities, these resources won’t be it. But, they will show places like public hunting land, BLM, state trust land and similar spots.
Best Find on FreeRoam: BLM land (or maybe it was Arizona state trust land) between Tucson and Phoenix. We stayed 2 nights
Price: Free
Hookups: None – but there was cell service and beautiful views!
If I’m looking for amenities, like electricity, the first place I check is Boondockers Welcome. If you haven’t heard of Boondockers Welcome, its a pretty neat app where they offer free overnight parking on people’s private property! Sometimes they offer water and electricity for free and sometimes for $5-$10 per night, which is still a great deal for a parking spot in a safe, quiet and usually convenient spot. If you are looking for specific amenities you can adjust the filter to see which places offer those amenities. Even though it is free to book a place you do need a membership. Memberships are $79 a year. We bundle ours with Harvest Host. (see below)
Best Find on Boondockers: Definitely a driveway in Key Largo that offered free electric, we stayed 2 nights. Even if this was the only place we used for the year, it would have paid for itself with this stay! But, here is our spot in Reno. We were traveling to Lake Tahoe and needed a place to stay for a few nights. We had water and electric and could have used their wifi for free! It was so convenient!
Price: Free
Hookups: water and electric
Harvest Host is one of the coolest options we’ve found. (Thanks to my sister, Megan!) But, maybe that’s just because we like to eat and drink a lot and most of the places here are wineries, breweries, restaurants, or small businesses that ask you to patronize them. Let’s be honest, when I’m with my husband, we are going to be stopping at that local brewery anyway, might as well get a free night’s stay out of it! Most of these businesses don’t have hookups and allow for only 1 night, but some allow for additional nights for a small fee and I’ve noticed that some even offer hook ups. Both Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome have come in handy for stays when no free options were available and we didn’t want to pay over $50 for a campsite. We’ve stopped at a lot of breweries and a lot of wineries but there are a lot of other options too like local farms, rural airports, museums, and restaurants. If this sounds like something you want to sign up for, Check out this link for 15% off: https://gr3f.co/c/53807/T2ppx
Best Finds on Harvest Host: A farm in South Dakota outside of the Badlands (perfect location) and a campground/cabin rental with Northern Wisconsin right on a lake.
Price: $10 donation for the farm and cost of dinner at the lodge’s restaurant
Hookups: None
Final Recommendation is just use RV Parky when you plan your roadtrip! My husband, Jasper, always creates our road trips using RV Parky. It helps plan our gas budget and the site will make suggestions on places in the area to camp or stay overnight that are right on the route!
Have you used any of these sites or apps to find places? Did I leave your favorite out? Let me know! I would love to hear what you use!
One response to “Sleeping on the Road”
Itís nearly impossible to find educated people in this particular subject, however, you seem like you know what youíre talking about! Thanks