We've been doing it for yrs. show up LATE and be ready to go early. Scope a spot but dont throw up the tent. Beside locks on the Trent/Severn, in agreement forests, back lot of rural churches. Corner of a farmers field, pasture not a crop field. Truck pull off rest areas.
Be discreet , leave NO mess, and often if somebody wanders over and says "hey, what you doing??" if you reply, I'm just crashing out for the night, gone early and I'm leaving no mess, the answer is usually "carry on"
I would like to go for a wk or so next yr. hopefully things will be in order for me. what are some of the things you pack for a trip? I've been watching YouTube vids for a while and think a lot of things i wouldn't need for a wk long trip
Get a map of crown land. Find a trail, head about a Km back and pitch your tent away from the trail. Bring bear spray and carry a 4-5" sheathed knife with you. Don't have a campfire without a proper campfire stove. A small gas or alcohol stove is better. We used to do it all the time in the 1970s in Nova Scotia. I know times have changed and Ontario is super-populated compared to what it was 40 years ago, but there's still places to stealth camp on Crown land. Power line trails are also good.
Avoid camping on private land unless you have permission. Always use the excuse that there's no vacancy at any hotel or campground, it gets the most sympathy. Personally, I would stay at a campground unless they're full, but I'm not a young man anymore.
Done it all over North America, some places are easier than others, it does require some planning as you can't just setup camp anywhere.
If travelling long distances in the US, and America the Beautiful pass is worthwhile, as are state park camping passes.
In Canada you can camp for free on most crown land however it does vary by province and there are some restrictions. It's hard to plan ahead as there is no booking free sites, you always need a contingency. Cyclists will have all the easy access sites close to highways so be prepared to venture off the beaten path a bit.
Provincial and National parks are often restricted and they charge when you enter with any sort of vehicle.
You can also try Free Camping Near You | Go Camping for Free!, be sure to read the descriptions as a lot of the sites are for RVs (i.e Walmart - most allow overnight stays in their parking lots for RVs and Trailers).
I would like to go for a wk or so next yr. hopefully things will be in order for me. what are some of the things you pack for a trip? I've been watching YouTube vids for a while and think a lot of things i wouldn't need for a wk long trip
A 1 week trip doesn't need much, I can fit a tent, bag, mat, cooking kit and changes of clothes into a 45l duffel that rides your pillion. If you like a lot of clothes you can pack a 60l duffel if your bike has a small rear rack. It's nice to have side bags too, that gives you room for staples like coffee/tea, camp fuel, and a few tools. You can feed and water yourself on the fly so there's no need to carry a lot of provisions.
i bought a tent and stove last yr, the rest of the equipment i already had. i took one run up to wawa and overnighted in a camp ground at Espanola that wasn't open, but the owner allowed me to set up for a couple of nights
Buddy that travels with us has a "camp hammock" , it has a bug screen , waterproof top cover. Strings it between two trees, he's off the ground and claims to be just comfy. Says its much better than laying on the ground. It works very well in northern Ontario, not some much on the prairies....
Hammock camping is great in really bad weather, no wet tent to pack up, no sleeping bags that need to dry out. Put your roof tarp up first and you can setup or pack-up under it even in the pouring rain.
I did it a couple of times this summer. Didn't stay in Camp Grounds but it was on public land. I was just so paranoid about staying in a public place with COVID
I spent my summers camping on crown land as a kid. Never understood why anyone would pay to pitch a tent in a crowded campground.
I carry a cheapo hammock with bug screen as well as a tent. It's been handy when I've stopped late and it would have been difficult to find a tent space in the dark. A bivvy sack is similar that way. It's easier to find a space to lie down vs space to set up even a small tent. The hammock is better for bug protection though.
With a bit of research and patient looking, you find good places to camp for several days if that's what you want. If you're just laying over for a night and on your way again, camp late and leave early works well almost anywhere
- Get the iOverlander app. Read reviews on each site carefully and choose wisely. Thank me later.
- Freecampsites.net. Increasingly irrelevant given iOverlander however.
- Buy a BioLite campstove. Best investment ever in camping gear, especially for backwoods/boondocking. Burns whatever you can find on the ground in the woods around you for fuel. Breaks down and packs down into itself to a compact form. Can charge your electronics and provide light as well. The thing is epic.
- In late, out early as mentioned above if you're not sure about your exact chosen site.
- Get the iOverlander app. Read reviews on each site carefully and choose wisely. Thank me later.
- Freecampsites.net. Increasingly irrelevant given iOverlander however.
- Buy a BioLite campstove. Best investment ever in camping gear, especially for backwoods/boondocking. Burns whatever you can find on the ground in the woods around you for fuel. Breaks down and packs down into itself to a compact form. Can charge your electronics and provide light as well. The thing is epic.
- In late, out early as mentioned above if you're not sure about your exact chosen site.
Yep, it generates electricity while burning. Has a built in rechargeable battery that stores some (gives me about a 30% charge on my iPhone 11) and will continually charge anything plugged into it's USB port as long as you keep the fire going. Basically, if you're using it anyways for cooking and such, well, free USB power at the same time.
Forgot to mention, iOverlander is wonky on Android...at least in the version that was out a few weeks ago. Planning a trip back out to Gaspe with friends and they wanted to check out the app I use, but they're Android and I'm iPhone. Turned out to be a permission issue that had to be fixed manually, then it loaded fine. Before that it just crashed when you'd try to look at the listings.
It's not a fancy app, but holy hell is it a RV'ers / Campers dream so far as finding boondocking options. A lot of the places we stayed at with our little rental trailer could easily have been camped at in a tent.
Yep, it generates electricity while burning. Has a built in rechargeable battery that stores some (gives me about a 30% charge on my iPhone 11) and will continually charge anything plugged into it's USB port as long as you keep the fire going. Basically, if you're using it anyways for cooking and such, well, free USB power at the same time.
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