If you're looking for the top free camping sites across the U.S., Canada, and Baja head over to www.campendium.com and check out our Best of Free Camping guide.
You can also use filters on the Campendium website or app to help you find a great free place to camp in a specific state, city, or point of interest.
Search for a city, state, province, point of interest, or your current location to get to the search map. On the results map you will see filter options. Click the Price filter, then drag the slider all the way to the left. You can also check the Always show FREE box to lock this filter and show only free camping while searching.
Applying the FREE filter will show you all locations that offer free camping or overnight parking based on the reported Last Price Paid by others in the Campendium community. These results will include publicly managed locations, parking lots, rest areas, and possibly RV parks that offer free overnights to their members (ex. Thousand Trails).
If you prefer to see free camping on state or national forest, BLM, or other publicly managed land only, you'll also want to apply the Public lands filter.
You can use filters to narrow your results to only free options. Tap the Filters tab then scroll down to the Price filter. Slide all the way to the left so the price shows $0. Tap View Results to see all free camping and overnight options in the area. These results will include publicly managed locations, parking lots, rest areas, and possibly RV parks that offer free overnights to their members (ex. Thousand Trails).
If you prefer to see free camping on state or national forest, BLM, or other publicly managed land only, you'll also want to apply the Public Land filter before tapping View Results.
Campendium does not currently offer an Android app. The Campendium website is mobile friendly, so if you're on an Android mobile device we encourage you to open www.campendium.com in a web browser and follow the directions in the website tab to search for free camping. Alternately, Campendium's features are are also available in Roadtrippers, so if you're an Android user you can download the Roadtrippers app from the Google Play store to search and review campgrounds free camping.
Some free camping locations require a permit. On occasion, these permits may cost a small yearly fee. If this is the case, a Campendium page will be marked with a permit symbol or note. For more information on dispersed camping, please see our article: What is dispersed camping?