Drive forward towards your dream life by boondocking on BLM land.
If you are considering a mobile life, try Boondocking on BLM land. When you do, your budget opens up and the beauty of the natural world reveals itself in miraculous ways, each new adventure unfurling just around the next bend in the road.
Because boondocking is free, you can live without the worry of a mortgage or rent payment. It opens up your budget and allows you to choose how you want to live. Perhaps that is to work less, or be creative, or just sit and watch the birds fly by. It’s up to you. But Boondocking is not your mother’s RV camping. To me, it’s a lot more fun, but its also a little different than traditional RVing.
When you boondock, you are not hooked up to the power, water and sewer connections you might get in an RV Park. The good news is, you also don’t have to pay the price tag that comes with those parks, or the stinky view most of them provide. One of the best ways to boondock is on BLM Land. Never heard of it? Let me explain…
What is BLM?
The Bureau of Land Management manages all kinds of various programs on U.S. Public Lands, one of them being recreation. That’s where we come in. Have you ever flown across the country and wondered what all that vast open land was below? A lot of that is BLM land. In fact, BLM comprises 10% of the total acreage in the United States. If you put that together with National Forest Land (which I will cover in the next blog post in this series) they make up 25% of the entire country! That means one-quarter of these United States is available for you to live on, usually free-of-charge.
When I first considered the RV Life, I thought maybe camping on these lands was somehow illegal – that I was going to get a heart-lurching knock on my door at 3am by a not-so-friendly local sheriff calling me a bum and running me out of town. Not true.
BLM is there for the public.
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA for short), directs the BLM to carry out a dual mandate: that of managing public land for multiple uses while conserving natural, historical, and cultural resources.
Before you think I’m sending you 100 miles into the desert, keep reading. BLM options are as close or far from civilization as you want. Go to blm.gov and search. It looks this this and is ridiculously easy to navigate and find a spot to camp:
To make your search even easier, there are several apps out there that let you search for Public Lands. My favorites are freecampsites.net, rvparky.com, allstays.com and parkadvisor.com On most, you jus hit the GPS and a map loads with your nearby choices. These apps help you find and navigate to all kinds of public lands, including BLM. Freecampsites.net, in particular, is great because there are reviews like this:
Of course, there are rules to boondocking on BLM land. Check your local BLM website to be sure, but most allow you to camp, free of charge, for 14 days. After that you have to move 25 miles away. Easy, right? You just find BLM land to drive to, get off the main road onto a usually well-maintained dirt road for a few miles, and set up camp for up to two weeks. You see the sunrise, the sunset, the moon and see and hear the local wildlife, all from the comfort of your camp chair. It rocks.
Quick caveat here, there are some BLM lands that charge a small fee. Quartzsite, AZ, for example, a winter-meca for RVers, is $180 for a pass to camp for six months. Two weeks costs about $40. There are also some BLM campgrounds that charge a fee, but they are rare and info on them will be found on your search, either at the BLM site or on one of the apps.
If you are planning to camp often in one particular state, I recommend purchasing a Benchmark Map; it’s really handy for scoping out dirt-roads and how far in your site might be, as well as giving you tons of info on your location.
The length of your stay is up to you and your resources. I find that my solar panels and 30 gallon water tank last me about a week before I have to head back out and fill up. I’m working on making it longer but am usually antsy to hit the road and see a new site. I’ll have lots of upcoming blogs on how I get power, stay connected and make my water last. Feel free to write me on any of my social media pages or here to ask questions. If you have suggestions for your fellow CRV readers, please also add them below!
Thank you for reading! And, let’s help other people discover everything the RV life offers by Sharing, Liking and Subscribing.
Be Happy. Create More. Set Yourself Free .
Robin
CreativityRV
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Love you youtube videos. I am 70 and am in the process of selling my home to be able to travel more. My biggest problem i am anticipating is my 6 cats. How woll they travel and how will i keep them safely inside the van. 3 are semi feral so it will be hatd to get them back if they escape. Do you travel in Canada. I would love more info on how to find free camping here in a safe place. Thanks for all the great information you have already given me. Gail
Hi Gail! Great timing. Im just about to upload an interview with CAROL, who travels with 3 cats; I might suggest you read the interview and watch the video to see how she does it with 3 (I only have 1). She has a screen set up so her guys can’t get out. My Boy has no interest in going outside, but if yours do, you might see her set up. I hope this helps!
Can you please tell the difference, besides size, between a van and a b+ camper? I want to purchase soon and I have written to Bob Wells and I want clear answers… I live with 2 cats…
Hi Kim,
Thanks for the comment. I can tell you that my B+ is 25′. My understanding is that a standard van can come in several sizes. you can have a pop top, or an extended length van that might take you up to about 19′. Some B sized vans (like pleasureway) are around 19-22ft. I think mine is called B+ because it’s 25′ and doesn’t have a cab over bunk. 25′ units WITH a cab over bunk are generally called Class Cs. I hope this helps!