According to my copy there some very inexpensive campgrounds at Coralville Lake- $6.00 but they're probably $8.00 now because my book is a little old. There are also some free ones by the Mississippi in both Iowa and Illinois.
At Coralville now it's 10-14 for a standard site at the COE campgrounds.
I guess I'm getting from everyone that "boondocking" doesn't necessarily mean "free" which I thought is what folks meant. I thought that a CG, when they said "I never stay at CG's" included state and county and Corps of Engineer type campgrounds as well. Thus I erronously thought they were camping around at great places for free. I don't mind paying for the sites and the prices seem reasonable, I just wondered if there was something I was missing when it came to boondocking for nothing in decent places. So thanks for all the input, I understand it better!
Some of those boon dockers are camping in great places for free. It's
hard to get the information on the internet though and living in Iowa kind of limits you. I didn't post this site before because you won't be able to go to this places with out a long drive but check it out. http://www.eugenecarsey.com/camp/default.htm
As already mentioned, National Forests and BLM public lands are almost all completely open to dispersed camping. A few small areas are restricted to camping in designated CGs, mostly in areas so popular some restriction and control is necessary.
You will no problem finding a place to boondock. The problem is finding those 'picture perfect' spots that are in the RV ads. They exist, just sometimes hard to find. You may have to settle for a less than ideal spot for the first night, until you explore the rest of the NF or public land nearby and find the perfect spot.
If you don't mind the 'view', the landing at an old timber harvest unit is flat, with firm soil, large enough for a large RV to turn around in, and at the end of dirt road so no thru traffic.
Here's another hint:
The Forest Service is decommissioning older campgrounds in remote areas that no longer get enough use to justify maintaining them. They pull out the signs, picnic tables, and fire rings, and maybe the old wooden one-holer. What is left is a large shady flat area suitable for free boondocking.
So look at an older FS map and compare the CG symbols on the map to the current campground list on the FS website. On the old map but not on the website? Possible boondocking site!
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Log off and go camping!
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Most of the folks here telling you about the great boondocking places they go to, are located out west, as I am.
There a whole lot more public land west of the Mississippi than there is east of it. After living here awhile, it IS hard to remember back the when I lived in the Midwest.
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One thing that's definitely in your favor is the Iowa State Park system - it's wonderful! We've never had a bad experience there. One of the reasons the fees might be a little higher than you might expect is because the Iowa State Parks don't charge an entrance fee. Everywhere we've been has been immaculately maintained, has safe & modern playground equipment, and nice size sites. We also see park rangers making very regular rounds through the parks. We haven't seen any problems anywhere, but it's nice to know they're looking out for any issues.
Over on our side of the river, we see a lot more disparity among different state parks.
Most of the low-fee undeveloped campgrounds, and public lands with no-fee dispersed camping are in state forests and national forests, in forested areas, and on mostly unforested and unarable Federal lands (managed by the BLM) which have never been sold, mostly in the Far West. Whether or not you have such lands, depends on the development history of your state.
Iowa would have almost no BLM lands because public lands were all sold off or homesteaded mostly before the 20th century when settlement and conversion to agricultural use dominated public lands philosophy. Similarly, the philosophy about the forests was to clear them for agricultural use, rather than preserve them as a public asset.
Around Iowa, not necessarily near it, there are the Mark Twain NF in southern Missouri, Shawnee NF in southern Illinois, Chippewa and Superior NFs in northern Minnesota, Nicolet NF in northern Wisconsin, and some National Grasslands in Nebraska and South Dakota. They won't all have no-fee dispersed camping, but campground use is typically under $10 a day.
Iowa has at least a dozen US Army Corps of Engineer recreation access areas with camping, along the Mississippi and on some flood control lakes. These generally do not have dispersed camping, but less developed campgrounds will have lower daily fees than the modern campgrounds with RV facilities.
Tom, that description of Iowa and around Iowa is VERY helpful! Thank you very much. I'll look into all those places. We have a fam reunion in Northern MN every year right on the Canadian Boarder and so the MN Natl Forests are an annual opportunity and I had not even thought of that until you outlined tese "nearby" options for Natl Forest.
THANKS!
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22ft Deck Boat,
Me, Dear Wife, 3 Boys (11,8,6) & Baby Girl (1)
Quote: There is also a free Yahoo group called overnightrvparking. The owner of which also operates a searchable commercial site and is a blogger here at RV.net
The owner is going to kick anyone out of the free yahoo one that don't pay for the commercial one or contribute to parking places.
He has already closed the PDF files off in the yahoo one for a week or so.
I wasn't aware of this, I have not subscribed to the commercial site. It does torque me that he is now charging for the information which was accumulated and given to him for free. That said, he certainly has put a lot of work into cataloging and organizing the files.
To the OP, there is a lot of free camping available. It has taken me years to find them but I know of at least ten free semi-developed campgrounds here in Ohio. I did a Google search for "free camping Iowa" and found lots of information. You need to spend your time and do the research. Think about it, free campgrounds don't advertise, but they are out there.
Tim
"Okay, I admit it, the only thing I'm really good at is being me."
Don't assume NationalForest lands will allow "dispersed camping" everywhere. Many places have restrictions, such as a certain distance from the road, but they have closed most if not all of the spur roads. Many of the places I used to camp are now unavailable except for backpackers, mountain bikers, and horsy folks.
"THEY" don't want any vehicles back there, vehicles might disturb the (whatever).
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I live in Iowa too. Though I haven't checked out places for "camping" with a recreational vehicle I have tent camped at county parks for a low fee in the past here in Polk County (Des Moines area) and my guess is there are county parks in all parts of the state. Likewise the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has wildlife management areas open to public hunting (with local special regulations at times). While I probably would rather not camp there in hunting season the rest of the year might be nice. I have left a message with the Iowa DNR asking whether this is allowed. When they get back to me I'll post the answer. This would include areas like the public hunting lands around Big Creek Reservoir NW of Des Moines and the Stephens State Forest near Chariton in Lucas County. Doubtless there are wildlife management areas in all parts of the state as well. There would be no electrical connections but with my pickup camper I can be self contained for several days. The exception would be thse times when I want to use the air conditioning which requires connection to 120 VAC electricity. I have no place for a generator with the pickup camper but I am looking at fifth wheel trailers where a generator would be an option. Having hunted in Stephens State Forest I suspect no one would object to the noise from a generator.
The fellow from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources just returned my call. They do allow "camping" in the parking lots in the wildlife management areas such as Stephens State Forest. You can go to the DNR's website for a county by county list of the wildlife management areas in Iowa. I can say the public hunting areas near Big Creek and Stephens State Forest are great areas in which to walk. The man with the DNR said they didn't want trash left around but I would think no one here would be guilty of that anyway. I should add the reason for putting RV "camping" in quotation marks is that I'm old enough I define real camping as involving a tent. RV "camping" is really travel!
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