Discovering Remote Places To Camp

I'm gearing up to get out on some short solo camping trips in my Taco and I'd like to learn how best to find somewhat remote places to camp. I want to get a little bit off the beaten path where there will be lower vehicle density and no RVs. It's fine, perhaps even desirable, if there's no water or toilets; I'm fine with bringing my own water and/or filtering, and packing my sh*t out. As a note I'm located in the S.F. Bay Area in CA, so of course expecting to drive a few hours to check out new places.

I've been backpacking for ~30 years so I have plenty of equipment to camp in a no-frills manner. I want to be able to seek out a decent place to camp where other people may or may not be around, but I'm unlikely to get there and find out there's no space left. Needing reservations is of course undesirable. Hopefully this isn't asking for too much, although I know it might be.

My Taco is a '11 TRD Sport 4x4 DCLB, completely stock with decent A/T tires. I'll want to avoid roads that are excessively technical since I'll be solo some of the time.

I searched a bit on the site to see if this has already been discussed but so far my searches aren't quite hitting the mark. Please point me at other threads if this has been covered already. I am currently exploring various sites/apps but I think it's likely there are better ones.

• USDA Forest Service site
• BLM site
• Random sites found via Google
  
• iOverlander site
• Campendium app (haven't looked at this one yet)

Thanks for your insights.

 

Also freecampsites.net Depending on your location you may or may not find updated contributions.

 

One of the challenges when first searching the interwebs for information is knowning what terms will be most useful in the search engine queries. I finally came across this article that introduced me to the terms "dispersed camping" and "boondocking". The article mentions both Campendium and freecampsites.net (thanks for the link, @Pushincaskets) as well. The BLM land looks like a great way to go. Whenever I manage to get out, I'll post back with the location I chose and the experience.

 

Don't. It's one of the reason so many remote camping locations are packed lately. Just go enjoy the outdoors and have fun. No need to post GPS coordinates for the "cool" areas. lol

 

I was referring more to my process (did I find a place to pitch a tent, was the info accurate) rather than a specific location, but your point is well taken. Cheers!

 

East coast here with some experience in the southwest (AZ, NM, UT, CO, NV) but nothing in CA. BLM and NF lands are the way to go from what I've seen for back country dispersed camping out your way. Both agencies offer decent detailed paper maps if you're old school. I'm just getting up to speed wit https://www.gaiagps.com/membership/ . Take a look at the free content and see if its of any interest to you.

 

I use a few different map overlays on Gaia. Usfs maps are useful overlayed on satellite, etc. When I find an area that looks interesting I'll use it to figure out a route (usfs road overlay shows 4x4 trails). Then I'll see if I can find any information on the old interweb. Last place I found required gate combos to access the road to the remote sites. Once I got in touch with the office the ranger giving the combos also gave me some good suggestions along the route. This spot was his suggestion and I would have never found it had I not spoken with him.

 

I use Gaia GPS as others have mentioned and there are some helpful overlays that come with a subscription. I start with Delorme Atlas & Gazetteer for the state I want to go to. There is something about a physical map that has all the overlays you want already on it. No battery, no app, no cell connection - love it. The first few pages have camping/fishing/recreation spots and the map has outlines for natl parks, natl forests, public land, etc. and RV parks and park campgrounds have their own icon printed so you don't have to look hard. The only downside is the maps are big and you need a place to store the collection; not an issue for me as I have a Pelican case in the truck for odds and ends.




Public Land in the Big Horn Basin, WY