Taking a Road Trip During the Pandemic? Consider Camping (Legally) on Private Land
These five sites will help you find the perfect spot to avoid the summer crowds
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From wineries to llama farms, a growing number of private lands are opening up to RV and tent camping. (wbritten/Getty Images)
By Laura Kiniry
smithsonianmag.com
August 3, 2020

Over the last three years, full-time RVer Robin Barrett has slept on the grounds of a miniature train museum in Oregon, beside the sprawling vineyards of a Colorado winery and at a lavender farm in Washington state. The author of Be a Nomad, Change Your Life, a guide to mobile living, is constantly seeking out new and interesting spots to park herself for the night.

"I look for places that provide me with much more of a local sense than if I'm simply staying at a truck stop or RV park," Barrett says, "and are typically not more than a half-hour off the route toward my end destination. I didn't know there were so many great options out there—but honestly, there are a ton."

Barrett is just one of the thousands of RVers that have fallen in love with boondocking, or "dry camping," a term that generally refers to RV or van camping without access to services like electrical hookups or external water facilities. While this includes bedding down beneath the stars in federally run forests, alongside public beaches, and even in the parking lot of a Walmart or Cracker Barrel (both which typically allow overnight stays), a growing number of private lands are opening themselves up to boondocking, website and in many cases, tent camping as well. During the COVID-19 pandemic, such sites have become particularly enticing across the U.S., as many travelers shy away from staying in hotels and RV rentals reach new heights nationwide. In fact, the peer-to-peer motorhome rental marketplace Outdoorsy.com is now "up to a booking a minute in the U.S.," according to its co-founder and CEO Jeff Cavins, via email.