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Bobby F · 04-30-2022, 02:27 PM

Sedona had its day decades ago. I went there several times then, when it was basically an artist-hippie commune where people sold you healing crystals, gave wonderful back rubs, made their own sandals . . . The scenery was magnificent, the weather was great, it was wonderful. You camped in a beautiful desert and wandered into town for days' of fun and touristing.

Now it's just Desert Disneyland. Very expensive, crowded, not that friendly.

(Gawd, I sound like the old fart talking about "back in my day . . .!" But it's true. Maybe the modern Sedona experience is great if you don't hold up the old Sedona experience next to it and expect it to match. All I know is, I drive past it now.)

twogypsies · 04-30-2022, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby F

Sedona had its day decades ago. I went there several times then, when it was basically an artist-hippie commune where people sold you healing crystals, gave wonderful back rubs, made their own sandals . . . The scenery was magnificent, the weather was great, it was wonderful. You camped in a beautiful desert and wandered into town for days' of fun and touristing.

Now it's just Desert Disneyland. Very expensive, crowded, not that friendly.

(Gawd, I sound like the old fart talking about "back in my day . . .!" But it's true. Maybe the modern Sedona experience is great if you don't hold up the old Sedona experience next to it and expect it to match. All I know is, I drive past it now.)

Couldn't have said it better!!! Sedona is a zoo nowadays. We'd never return.

Gammel · 05-03-2022, 10:49 PM

Like Yogi Berra said:

"Nobody goes there any more. It's too crowded."

Wellibe · 05-06-2022, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wellibe

I'm located in the central Appalachians. Yesterday was Friday leading into the first really nice weekend of spring. I went for a hike on some nearby public land, then drove through a dispersed camping area. It's a gravel road along a river, about a mile and half long, with a couple dozen or so dispersed sites scattered along it. About a half hour drive to the nearest town. At a little past 3:00 pm on Friday, every last site was filled. Some sites had two rigs crammed into them. People milling around everywhere. The trailhead parking lot at the end of the road was so full I had trouble turning my mid-sized CUV around. Lots of out of state plates.

On the way home, I drove by a large FHU private campground just outside of town. It's not a resort, and not exactly in a "wild" setting, but it's a nice newer campground located near lots of attractions and services. Also, there is a minor festival going on this weekend, and the campground is about a five minute drive from the festival site. And yet the campground was 2/3 empty. Maybe folks with reservations just hadn't shown up yet (almost 4 o'clock by then)?

Anyway, I'm not sure we can conclude much from this anecdote, but I thought it was an interesting contrast.

We went to a different dispersed camping area this week, more remote, 1 1/2 hr from town, a few miles down a steep, potholed gravel road. Went during the week. Had the whole area to ourselves for 4 days/3 nights. Large, level site right beside a beautiful creek.

AJMike · 05-07-2022, 07:33 AM

I just got our new Jeep out of the shop where they installed a baseplate so we could flat tow it, so we decided to make sure everything was working properly and went for a short 2 day trip to the mountains. It is already getting hot here with daytime temperatures in the 90s, so the trip served 2 purposes - test everything and get us out of the house and the heat.

We went to one of our normal boondocking locations up on what is called The Rim. This is a 3 mile dirt road through BLM land and since it forms a semi-circle it has 2 entrances. We took the second, where there are some great flat and shaded areas, and were completely alone. Not another RV anywhere in sight for the 2 days and nights we were there.

The second day we took the Jeep and went to look at the part of the road at the first turnoff, and it was completely full. Not a single flat area that was not taken by some rig, so in our case all of the boondocks were at the first turnoff for the area. We were at the second.

We were there on Wednesday and Thursday, so the nearest turnoff to the nearest city was completely full in the middle of the week. Perhaps all of the missing boondocks are here in southern Arizona???

mbridinger · 05-13-2022, 12:50 PM

Your point is valid. It seems like some boondockers' flock together in certain spots. Last week I saw spots near Flag empty and others near Happy Jack packed like a RV park. Maybe we need a sub-classification for Boondockers.
1) Waldocking
2) co-docking
3) solo-docking far away from others

AJMike · 05-14-2022, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbridinger

Your point is valid. It seems like some boondockers' flock together in certain spots. Last week I saw spots near Flag empty and others near Happy Jack packed like a RV park. Maybe we need a sub-classification for Boondockers.
1) Waldocking
2) co-docking
3) solo-docking far away from others

As a general rule we don't like to boondock completely alone, but would prefer to have someone nearby, just in case of some serious issue like being locked out of our RV (which happened to use once). Then there would be someone to approach to get help, but on the other hand it was very, very quiet where we were. So I guess sometimes it is just the luck of the draw.

But we don't boondock to save camping fees, so we never Waldock or CrackerBarreldock. We boondock because of the beauty of the areas, the quiet and the knowledge that no one is right next to use, jammed together as close as the private RV park can justify. But it is also true that I don't mind saving the money ...

Marine359 · 05-14-2022, 09:12 AM

We often travel from Asheville to coastal Florida. Unfortunately St Augustine and points south along the A1A are out of range for us for a one day drive.

That’s where Cracker Barrel comes in. We don’t stop there to save money. We usually spend more there than a CG would cost. It’s a matter of convenience. We do not have an affinity for parking lots, but CB gets us to our destination with less hassle than any other overnight option. Easier access from interstate than any commercial campground, and much safer and well lit than WaMart. The big plus, is after a long drive, we settle into a nice affordable meal without having to cook. In the morning, we’re on our way in minutes after grabbing a CB breakfast or just some coffee. We boondock a lot, but don’t consider lot-docking to be true boondocking, We’ve only wall-docked in emergency when we’ve been forced off the road by extreme weather. Hated it each time.

CaptainBuilt · 05-14-2022, 12:50 PM

This isn't a full list of of places I've boondocked, but I try to keep a map of them, with notes.

https://goo.gl/maps/TgemYyTNTDrvpGUk8

Here is a map of places I have been, and places I've scouted out and haven't been yet. A lot of them have notes:

https://goo.gl/maps/1mwqsGLDEtzeBpx89

Also, I NEVER pay for camping. I can write a full post about hacks I've learned.

I do have a National Park Pass that I pay for, and Harvest Hosts. In a NP, there is plenty of boondock camping, just gotta know where to look.

Itinerant1 · 05-16-2022, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainBuilt

This isn't a full list of of places I've boondocked, but I try to keep a map of them, with notes.

https://goo.gl/maps/TgemYyTNTDrvpGUk8

Here is a map of places I have been, and places I've scouted out and haven't been yet. A lot of them have notes:

https://goo.gl/maps/1mwqsGLDEtzeBpx89

Also, I NEVER pay for camping. I can write a full post about hacks I've learned.

I do have a National Park Pass that I pay for, and Harvest Hosts. In a NP, there is plenty of boondock camping, just gotta know where to look.

I would not call a Walmart or behind a business boondocking, dry camping...yes, moochdocking ...yes , boondocking...no.

twogypsies · 05-16-2022, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Itinerant1

I would not call a Walmart or behind a business boondocking, dry camping...yes, moochdocking ...yes , boondocking...no.

I agree.

twogypsies · 05-16-2022, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainBuilt

T

Also, I NEVER pay for camping. I can write a full post about hacks I've learned.

I do have a National Park Pass that I pay for, and Harvest Hosts. In a NP, there is plenty of boondock camping, just gotta know where to look.

What national parks have you boondocked? We've been volunteers in some of them and it's not allowed.

Typical conscientious campers don't do 'hacks' to sleep overnight. There are 'legal' pavement parking places to spend the night without hacking the system. Doing otherwise just hurts the general RVing community. Things start being closed down for overnighting as some places are now doing, including national forests.