4 ms·

Is there a list of these places somewhere?

by mason55 10y ago

waterphone 10y ago
Not really, because BLM land, especially in the west, is incredibly scattered and vast. You could find a list of, say, BLM Wilderness Areas, but not their general land. I would suggest looking at a land ownership map for an area you're interested in to see where concentrations of public land can be found. Caltopo is a great option for this—among many other layers you can turn on, "Land Management" is an option you can overlay atop the background for anywhere in the entire U.S. in the top right layer dropdown. A land management agency legend for the color overlays will appear at the right of the top navbar when enabled. http://caltopo.com http://caltopo.com
SwellJoe 10y ago
This is actually one of the great gaps in available tools. For camping, there are some pretty good crowd-sourced websites that will help you find boondocking spots; these are not necessarily the most beautiful (though reading reviews will often tell you if there's something amazing nearby to check out while camping). A lot of it is targeted to folks who can't afford to camp in RV parks or campgrounds, but wants to get out into the wild. This one is probably the best for finding BLM and National Forest options for camping: https://freecampsites.net/ https://freecampsites.net/ All Stays is OK, too, but has a lot of noise in the form of Walmart parking lots and rest areas and such, as well as commercial campgrounds, (which are also great if you live in an RV and need a place to park for the night on your way somewhere): http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/ http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/ I wish there were a really good website that combined all of my favorite things: Public lands, free/cheap camping, and beautiful or interesting scenery. But, I kinda piece together my travel itinerary once I know where I'm going; I'll google a bunch the day or two before I start driving. Usually I'll have a pretty good idea of the places I want to stop, and how long I want to stay, based on reviews and the information I've found. And, sometimes there are surprises. When I'm on my way places, I'll sometimes stop at all of the public sites along the way (as best I can figure out where they are), and camp at the ones I like the best.

Is there a list of these places somewhere?

by mason55 10y ago

Is there a list of these places somewhere?

Not really, because BLM land, especially in the west, is incredibly scattered and vast. You could find a list of, say, BLM Wilderness Areas, but not their general land. I would suggest looking at a land ownership map for an area you're interested in to see where concentrations of public land can be found. Caltopo is a great option for this—among many other layers you can turn on, "Land Management" is an option you can overlay atop the background for anywhere in the entire U.S. in the top right layer dropdown. A land management agency legend for the color overlays will appear at the right of the top navbar when enabled. http://caltopo.com http://caltopo.com

SwellJoe 10y ago

This is actually one of the great gaps in available tools. For camping, there are some pretty good crowd-sourced websites that will help you find boondocking spots; these are not necessarily the most beautiful (though reading reviews will often tell you if there's something amazing nearby to check out while camping). A lot of it is targeted to folks who can't afford to camp in RV parks or campgrounds, but wants to get out into the wild. This one is probably the best for finding BLM and National Forest options for camping: https://freecampsites.net/ https://freecampsites.net/ All Stays is OK, too, but has a lot of noise in the form of Walmart parking lots and rest areas and such, as well as commercial campgrounds, (which are also great if you live in an RV and need a place to park for the night on your way somewhere): http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/ http://www.allstays.com/Campgrounds/ I wish there were a really good website that combined all of my favorite things: Public lands, free/cheap camping, and beautiful or interesting scenery. But, I kinda piece together my travel itinerary once I know where I'm going; I'll google a bunch the day or two before I start driving. Usually I'll have a pretty good idea of the places I want to stop, and how long I want to stay, based on reviews and the information I've found. And, sometimes there are surprises. When I'm on my way places, I'll sometimes stop at all of the public sites along the way (as best I can figure out where they are), and camp at the ones I like the best.