9 Best Apps for Boondocking in Your RV

9 Best Apps for Boondocking in Your RV
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If you love daydreaming about far-flung RV adventures and setting up camp in the wild without any neighbors in sight, you can get the help you need from these nine best apps for boondocking in your RV. These dispersed camping tools allow you to find free or inexpensive camping spots that are mostly nestled in natural settings. 

The boondocking camping style not only leads you to the most breathtaking places, but it also gives you the wonderful solitude you need to unwind, helps you step away from modern electronic intrusions, and teaches you to be self-reliant. You also don’t need to worry about the hassles that come with booking a campsite or trying to sleep next to loud neighbors.

Here are the nine best apps for boondocking in your RV.

FreeRoam

This non-profit app is one of the few tools that are dedicated to boondockers. FreeRoam’s aim is to help campers locate great public camping spots on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land or National Forests. In addition, the platform seeks to help you enjoy nature in a respectful, sustainable way. Downloading it is absolutely free and you’ll have great features to customize your search.

You can search for free camping spots online and offline based on the dimensions of your rig, cell service availability, shade availability, how busy the spot gets, noise levels, and even safety. FreeRoam wants to build a community of nature lovers, so they have chat rooms where campers connect and share information to improve each other’s camping experience. If you decide to support them, they’ll use your donations to get dumpsters in more camping locations.

iOverlander

Another of the best boondocking apps is iOverlander. It’s a non-profit project that’s almost entirely run by volunteers. Its goal is to help campers track down all types of camping. Whether on established campgrounds, informal campgrounds, and dispersed wild spots. While it’s thin on features, you’ll love the massive database of campsites that have been contributed by users over the years. 

Once you open the free app on your phone, all you have to do is to enter a place, and you’ll be able to see spots to park for the night near that area. Plus, you can read other campers’ reviews before settling on a spot. You can also help other campers by adding campsite location GPS coordinates and reviewing campsites. Of course, there are filters to help you narrow down your search. You can look for places that have dump stations, drinking water, showers, WiFi, laundromats or sites near propane filling stations. 

The Dyrt

With over 1 million campsites, The Dyrt is a great camping trip resource for finding your next dispersed site. You’ll find a wide variety of sites ranging from developed to undeveloped. Boondockers mostly appreciate the map layers in Dyrt Pro plan. It helps you sort out campsites based on BLM and those run by the United States Forest Service, as well as national parks. 

You can also filter campgrounds based on site type (tent, RV, or dispersed), access (drive-in or hike-in), and features (campfires allowed, pets friendly, drinking water, or showers). In addition, you can narrow down by maximum vehicle length, rates, review rating, cell signal, and much more. Moreover, you can access the maps offline, ensuring you find your spot even when the internet connection is poor or unavailable. Use the Dyrt website version if you want to access via a laptop.

Campendium

  • App Store Ratings: 4.8 out of 5 stars from 17k reviews
  • Google Play Ratings: 3.3 out of 5 stars from 50 reviews
  • Cost: Free with pro versions of $23.99 to $49.99 per year
  • Offline Option: No

Another top mobile app for boondocking spots is Campendium. Almost identical to The Dyrt, this platform has tens of thousands of places to camp, from pretty RV parks to free remote destinations. To stay at a free camping spot, choose the free camping category. It includes public camping as well as RV parks that don’t charge anything. You can also search for locations to camp by state, city, zip code, state park, state forest, national park, or campground name.

Once you locate a campground and click it, you’ll see all the important information, such as amenities, site length, number of spots, pet policy, and cell coverage in the area. You’ll also be able to view pictures from other RVers, get GPS coordinates, and read reviews. The app is completely free to use, but you can purchase a subscription to get advanced search features like elevation, trails, and cell service.

Allstays Camp and RV

  • App Store Ratings: 4.6 out of 5 stars from 4.5k reviews
  • Cost: One-time fee of $9.99 
  • Offline Option: Yes

AllStays has several awesome boondocking apps for iOS, in addition to their website. Under their banner, you can download an app whose sole purpose is to find overnight parking spots or one for rest stops or truck stops. There’s also an AllStays app for tracing RV dump stations when you need a place to relieve your holding tanks after your wild adventure. Of course, they also have a general campgrounds app that has over 60,000 places to spend the night.

The website has a free account and a premium version, which lets you filter by price, clearance, and road grades. You can find campgrounds by state, land, or park type, as well as by amenities. Once you find something interesting, scroll through the user reviews and uploaded photos to get more information about the campsite. There is no app version for Android devices, but you can use the website.

Freecampsites.net 

Freecampsites.net is one of the most powerful tools a boondocker can have in their tech toolkit. It’s a community-driven platform, which means other RVers share places to camp. It will reveal low-key dispersed camping locations that you won’t find in boondocking apps. All the places it shows are either free or inexpensive, and it primarily focuses on public lands, such as BLM lands and Forest Service lands.

Furthermore, you can use it to find free camping areas in Wildlife Management Areas, city and county parks, rural areas, and even overnight casino or Walmart parking lots. It has a map-based interface that allows you to zoom into the boondocking locations you’ve searched and discover all nearby camping spots along with their ratings. Read the reviews to judge whether a place meets your requirements. After camping, you can also leave a review to let other people know how it was.

OverNight Parking Finder RVSleepy

  • Google Play Ratings: 4.3 out of 5 stars from 3.7k reviews
  • Cost: Free with pro versions of $23.99 to $49.99 per year
  • Offline Option: No

Of course, boondocking isn’t just about camping in the wild. Sometimes, RVers need to find urban boondocking spots during an emergency. Like when you can’t reach your RV park due to heavy traffic, a roadside issue, or bad weather. Thankfully, OverNight Parking Finder RVSleepy gives you turn-by-turn directions to big box stores that allow overnight RV parking. 

Use it to find Walmart location, RedBox, and Pilot and Flying J businesses that are RV-friendly.  This tool also locates rest stops, free RV dump stations, and casinos with one-night RV parking. You can filter by state or search for a spot near you. Read the reviews to determine if the place is safe. Apart from urban options, it also has an inventory of boondocking options in BLM land and national parks. Notably, stores change their policies without warning, so it’s smart to call ahead before heading to a Walmart parking lot.

Outly

Outly makes planning a dispersed camping trip way easier than you can imagine. It has an interactive GPS map that discloses off-grid camping sites around the country. Use it to track down RV sites, tent sites, or cabins in national forests, BLM, national parks, wilderness areas, and other public lands.

That’s not all. It has a dozen layers to complete your trip. It provided detailed information on nearby places to fish, hunt, swim, view waterfalls, and ride ATVs and dirt bikes. If you love the area and plan to return later, it lets you create notes and save points and routes. You can even share your content with friends. Download the app and get access to the maps and layers without any cell or WiFi service.

Recreation.gov

Think of Recreation.gov as your one-stop shop for camping adventures in federal land. Basically, it’s the government’s centralized platform for reserving campsites and experiences within 14 federal agencies. Some of its most powerful features include — searching campsites by RV size and availability, viewing site photos and reviews, and filtering search results by price, amenity, and site type.

Once you find the perfect fit, you can book it directly on the platform. It also has helpful information on local attractions, activities, tours, and experiences. If you love to stay active, use it to buy permits for activities like hunting, rock climbing, canyoneering, fishing, boating, paddling, wildlife observatory, and off-highway riding.

FAQs

Here are some frequently asked questions about RV boondocking apps.

What is the Best Tool for Finding BLM Boondocking?

The best app for finding camping spots in Bureau of Land Management areas is Freecampsites.net. It’s available in an Android and web version. If you want other options, iOverlander and FreeRoam are fantastic gold mines.

What’s the Best GPS App for Boondocking?

Gaia is the best GPS tool for RVers who prefer to explore the backcountry. This navigation platform has up-to-date maps on BLM and US Forest Service lands. This way, you can tell if a campsite is now off-limits, inaccessible, or permanently closed before you visit. Take advantage of the Gaia Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) to find exciting overland routes.

Download the Best Apps for Boondocking to Camp Legally Without Paying

Whether you’re going on an adventure deep in the woods, out in the desert, up in the mountains, or in a big and vibrant city, the above best camping apps are way better than depending on generic tools such as Google Maps. They will help you discover amazing places to stay without paying any fees. With these tools, you no longer have to worry about the constraints and expenses of relying on conventional campgrounds.

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Cynthia Measom is the founder and main content creator of RV Top Tips. Not just a writer, she’s a dedicated RV owner and enthusiast, alongside her husband, Joe, who is an experienced RV tech. With their joint knowledge, the two are up on the latest trends and technologies in the RV industry, as well as practical camping and lifestyle tips.

The couple own a 2020 Coachmen Chaparral fifth-wheel that they absolutely love. Their secret to being so satisfied? They purchased the model after a solid year of researching different fifth-wheel campers in person and online to find the perfect fit for their family of three.

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