Newbie - Next Steps

[KelloggKid]

My wife and I purchased our first AS in June. Since then we've spent a total of about 3 weeks in her at 7-8 different places. We are now quite comfortable with the systems, have invested in solar and a generator, and have spent many nights dry camping. We've learned how to conserve our water, our power and the capacity of our various tanks.

We are now ready to move on to true boon docking I realize this term has different meanings so I'll clarify. We wish to camp in unimproved locations throughout the NW US and Canada. No State or Federal/Provincial parks, WalMarts, Rest Stops, etc. Preferable in a non-urban, forested environment with opportunities for hiking. Our dilemma is how to identify property that falls within the jurisdiction of BLM, COE, or USFS and is not private.

As an example, there are several rivers in N Idaho (N Fork of the CDA, St. Joe, etc.) where I have been told there are ample boon docking spots. However as we drive along these rivers we can't tell the public areas from the private.

In a few of the posts that I've ferreted out I've seen references to "the atlas" as a resource for identifying potential boon docking sites but I have no idea which "atlas" this might refer to. We've purchased numerous books re boon docking but they all seem to talk about how to manage your on-board resources or find a friendly Walmart.

So, my specific questions are:

1) What "atlas" or other resources should I obtain that would help us discern public from private land?
2) Does anyone have any specific suggestions for good boon docking sites in Eastern Washington/British Columbia, Northern Idaho, or Western Montana/Alberta?
3) Are there any good internet sites or other resources that might help identify some good spots.

With Fall coming on strong many of the parks in the NW are beginning to close their gates yet there are still many weeks of wonderful camping to be had. We feel this would be a really good time to further our boon docking skills.

Really appreciate any advice or information

[Len n Jeanne]

I don't know if this will answer your question, but generally the US Forest Service is signed when you enter it on the road. If you think you're interested in a National Forest, they're divided up into districts, so hopefully you can find one near you to contact. Then the ones we've visited have big maps showing all of the little roads and trails, which are really helpful. If you just Google something like "Idaho National Forests," that should get you started, with the names of the forests, district offices, and "contact us" information.

In the mountains, a lot of the designated primitive CGs are now closed for the season, but you can probably see where hunters have pulled off into the woods.

We're actually staying near the Flaming Gorge NRA in Utah/Wyoming just now, in Manila, UT. We stopped at the Forest Service office in town, and got some good, friendly information. We're staying at the KOA because on-line it looked like the USFS CGs were mostly closed for the season, but the staff person showed us places where dispersed camping is available now.

I would pay attention to elevation, though. Manila is at 6000 feet and has already gotten snow on the ground.

Once you're in a National Forest or BLM land, you can generally camp anywhere it's not posted to the contrary; but of course, long stretches of road don't actually lend themselves to "just pulling off the road."

Ditto with the BLM, which might be better in the shoulder season due to lower elevations. If you Google BLM district offices for a state of interest, you should come up with a list, complete with phone numbers to call. You might ask for their recreation specialist.

The BLM used to put out topographic maps with land ownership designations clearly identified. I don't know if they still do.

Although we live in BC, we haven't found a lot of dispersed camping sites in our part of BC. There are a lot of Forest Service roads, but these tend to be steep, quite rough, and not places where we'd care to haul our AS. There are small municipal campgrounds in a lot of places, and usually if you phone the village office, they can tell you if they're open. One of our favourites is in New Denver, on Slocan Lake. Most of the provincial park CGs are now closed for the season.

If you'd care to bop down to Utah, one of our favourite areas for dispersed/primitive CG camping is the North San Rafael Swell, north of I-70 between Green River and Salina. In winter, we found that Death Valley NP in California allows dispersed camping in a lot of its more remote areas; not to mention BLM lands around the park.

Happy trails-- from a couple of other 19' FC owners!

[Len n Jeanne]

It's a bit further for you to drive, but we've been spending 3 nights at Flaming Gorge National Recreation area, which sits on the boundary between northeastern Utah and southwestern Wyoming. Today we did a driving tour all the way around the Flaming Gorge reservoir. It is something like 90 miles long, and is just loaded with places for dispersed camping. We understand that the water is buzzing with power boats in summer, but today we hardly saw anyone else.

The main Forest Service office on the Utah side is for the Ashley National Forest, located in Manila, UT. We went back there today, and the staff person at the desk confirmed that you can pretty much boondock wherever you want-- with many sites close to the water.

The main thing would probably be getting a good map from the Forest Service and staying on graded roads, as the dirt roads can get kind of rough.

We brought our canoe and really enjoyed it-- it is a big windy lake, but with many small inlets that are more protected.

We didn't boondock there, but one back-of-beyond place in southeastern Idaho that we visited a few years ago was the City of Rocks National Reserve/Idaho state park. There is a designated campground, but a lot of the camping among the rock formations seemed to be more primitive.

[Lumatic]

The best atlas I have seen is the Delorme atlases by individual states.

I have seen those sites along the CDA river and have wondered the same thing. Scouting trip?

[Trailbob]

I have several Delorme atlases, and they are very helpful. The most recent atlas that I bought for Idaho is made by Benchmark Maps, it is similar to the Delorme but (to my aging eyes) has better contrast. You can find them at Sportsman's Warehouse in Idaho, among other places, if you want to check them out.

When I hunt or explore National Forest or BLM land, I try to buy the NF or BLM maps for the areas I will be in. They have color code for NF, BLM, State, and private lands.

Also, there are GPS maps that will show private vs public lands. I have one for a Garmin 62 gps for Idaho.

Many (most?) states require private property to be posted, or fenced and/or under cultivation. "Posted" can be by orange painted rocks/posts/trees, etc, or by "No Trespassing" signs. However in Wyoming, land does not have to be posted and it is up to the hunter (or hiker) to know if it is public or not.

In our experience, you can dispersed camp on public land in existing dispersed campsites ("hunter camps", etc) unless it is posted otherwise.

[KelloggKid]

Perhaps it's unique to the PNW but there are several areas around here where there are chunks of privately owned land mixed in with Federal. As an example, last week we saw a sign that said we were entering a national forest. Yet there were still private homes a plenty. I want to be careful that I don't end up on someones private property.

The suggestion of Delorme Atlas is what I was seeking. I had forgotten completely about Delorme. That said, after seeing the comments I started looking into Delorme and it appears that there may be an alternative worth looking into. Here is a review I found comparing a product called Benchmark to Delorme.
https://pmags.com/backcountry-road-m...ark-vs-delorme

I think I'll give that a try.

And thank you all very much for your comments.

[Lumatic]

GPS
Garmin makes a GPS which is designed for RV use. So do a couple of others but Garmin is most popular. You program in your rig dimensions and it is supposed to pick roads suitable for your rig. Also shows campgrounds, Gas stations, mechanics, etc. It's considerably more expensive than the basic model.

I use it and like it, but with more than a grain of salt. For example, recently I was traveling down a back road in my 4x4 on the west side of Canyonlands NP. A 4x4 was obviously needed. There is a remote area of Canyonlands 80 something miles down that road. As you turn onto the road off the pavement there was a sign saying "road may be impassable due to storms". A bit farther a sign saying "if you are following GPS to Canyonlands NP you are dead wrong". A few miles more a bulldozer was parked followed by sand dunes that obviously blow across the "road".

[Len n Jeanne]

KelloggKid, when we were in the Ashley National Forest district office, we inquired about more detailed USFS maps of the area. The woman at the desk showed us one framed on the wall that did show land ownership. This BLM site may be of interest: https://www.blm.gov/maps

You're right: western public lands have a lot of inholdings. There are probably still some of the old recreational cabin leases around, also.

One thing to consider is whether you find semi-hardened campsites on public lands-- used by hunters or summer campers. These probably are open for your dispersed camping, as well. A reconnaissance trip or two minus the AS might yield some good sites for the future.

We would recommend contacting the USFS or BLM district offices in your areas of interest for advice on dispersed camping. We've found these people to be goldmines of local information.

Road conditions are, of course, another factor.