agesilaus
North Florida
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I don't think people were saying that they get free camping at State or County parks. I haven't seen it. They were saying you might be able to use federal land, NF or BLM or maybe Corp Of Engineering land. Looking at the BLM and NF websites it doesn't appear that Iowa has any.
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fla-gypsy
North Florida
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ttymeg wrote:Ok, so state, county, and federal lands. No National Parks here in Iowa, and when I search the state parks they all charge about the same as a private CG and provide electric, water, sewer, one even has cable. Same with our county parks, all charge about 20-25 bucks a night.
So I guess our parks must charge a lot more than the rest of the states if you are all getting no-fee areas at state and county parks? We don't even need a specific "site" made for camping, but I don't see much in Iowa where you can just pull into public land of some kind and find an area and camp? Anyone from Iowa or the boardering states know of some good spots like that?
Most Florida State Parks charge between $15-25. Most have water and elec. A lot of National Forest sites are very cheap and offer no utilities at all.
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tom_kat
way upstate new york/lake george area
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our state parks in ny charge around a 20 dollar fee with no hook ups but there is free areas if you know where to go and lots of state land with a few parking areas if you know where to look.pull offs near fishing areas along water ways that are on state land ect.your $20 to 25 with hook ups sound good to me.when your traveling around keep a look out for areas where you might be able to camp out for a night or two there usualy some around off the beaten track you just need to look for them they dont advertise them.fishermen and hunters usualy have some favorite spots they go.
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windriderjr
Massachusetts
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The only times I've been able to boondock for free with an RV was on BLM land in Nevada. That was on a dry lake in the Mojave Desert and we had a permit.
I don't know about Iowa, but in New England I expect to pay between $15 and $25 per night at a State Park and between $35 and $65 per night at a private CG. If you're only paying $20/night at a private CG, you're doing fine.
I do go backpacking occasionally but that's a different kind of boondocking 
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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ttymeg wrote:I've been reading this forum for over a year now getting advice on purchasing an RV, and it's sooooo helpful! Thanks to all of you for sharing. Now that we bought one, I'm reading more on the topic of using it, camping, having fun with the RV lifestyle!
My question is...I see many folks say things like "we never camp in a commercial campground" or "I have not stayed in a CG for years!" so where are they camping? Some of them are probably staying in parking lots, others may be staying in RV Parking lots and others may be boondocking in disbursed camping areas like national forest, BLM or other public lands.
Thanks!
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Hornet28BHDS
Parker, PA
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We love to go to State Parks. The PA Park system has electric sites and run around $20.00 for a night. They are great!
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monakayk
CO
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We enjoy boon-docking (dry camping) on weekenders. There are several places we often visit throughout the summer within an hours drive from home. This area we camp in is TOTALLY FREE.
We camp at BLM lands around the Red Feather Lakes area in CO. Make sure to use safe camping practices. We make sure to keep our campsite clean of food/drink and store food properly and not leave it outside to attract wild life.
Do a search for your state for public land maps and they will show you what areas are available.
Boon-docking in places like the one in our photos below is well worth investigating where they are.
This is real camping for sure!
This Forum's Thread for Boon-Docking...great folks over there will help you with all your questions and concerns:
Boon-Docking Thread for this Forum
HAPPY CAMPING!!
 MonaK
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tonyandkaren
pennsylvania
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Get a copy of this book - Camping with the Corp of Engineers.
http://www.rvbookstore.com/corps.html
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.
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Triker33
Homestead, FL
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Joined: 11/30/2002
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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.
Give him a free place and get two weeks of web use. Or 24 places a year.
He has already closed the PDF files off in the yahoo one for a week or so.
He said a problem he is trying to fix. Right! Bet it doesn't get fixed until he gets the none payers or none contributers kicked off his two sites.
He sure used a lot of people to get his commerical site going.
Don't think he will get my $20.
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ttymeg
Cedar Rapids, IA
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tonyandkaren wrote:Get a copy of this book - Camping with the Corp of Engineers.
http://www.rvbookstore.com/corps.html
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!
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