Your first night boondocking: a practical checklist
How to camp without hookups or neighbors, and without anything going wrong.
By Juno Marsh · August 27, 2026 · 9 min read
Boondocking, or dry camping, means parking your RV somewhere without water, power or sewer hookups. That is often on public land and often free. It can be wonderfully quiet. It can also be stressful the first time, because every system in the rig is now your job.
Before you leave pavement
Arrive with a full fresh-water tank and empty gray and black tanks. Charge your batteries on the drive in. Check the road surface on satellite imagery, and scout on foot before you commit a big rig to a sandy two-track.
Choose the site
Use sites that already exist rather than making new ones. Stay the posted distance from water sources, and check stay limits, which are often 14 days. Level the rig before you set up anything else.
Conserve
Take navy showers and use paper plates, and run the generator only when it is allowed. Keep to quiet hours. Most people find that a 40-gallon tank lasts two people three to four days once they start paying attention.
Leave no trace
Pack out everything you brought in. Don't dump tanks anywhere except a dump station. CampingSpirit's overnight parking layer shows the nearest one.
