Sleeping in car and wildparking allowed? (San Francisco: best, money, parks)

[ferretkona]

Had a great week on the beach off Van Damme State Park 20 years ago. State park employees only work a typical 9 to 5. My buddy and I skipped out paying for camping in the park and laid our sleeping bags out in the sand next to my truck. As long as our bags were loaded in the truck when park officials drove by we were cool. We were not skipping out on camping fees of the state park, the beach across the highway was mere beach.

[Voyageur]

Originally Posted by Woof

Free camping is allowed in many areas of national forests (but NOT national PARKS) Just go along a road in a national forest until you find an old logging road, then park a little way up it (naturally you need to carry water and food for this).

It depends on the National Forest. The four Southern California National Forests (Cleveland, San Bernardino, Angeles and Los Padres) require an Adventure Pass to park (but not to drive through). A Day Pass is $5 and an Annual Pass is $30 and is valid for all four of the National Forests. There is no fee per se for camping, but a pass is required for parking. I don't know about the particulars of the rest of the California National Forests, but at least some of them require passes.

You can camp in some National Parks with only the entrance fee paid. Death Valley National Park, for example, has several free campgrounds, and you can camp throughout most of the park (though camping on the valley floor and within two miles of major roads is prohibted). Mojave National Preserve has no entrance fees and no fees for roadside camping. More popular park units usually have fees.

[impala666]

Very dangerous ….go for a cheap motel!!
But not the “Bates Motel”.

[Woof]

Originally Posted by Voyageur

It depends on the National Forest. The four Southern California National Forests (Cleveland, San Bernardino, Angeles and Los Padres) require an Adventure Pass to park (but not to drive through). A Day Pass is $5 and an Annual Pass is $30 and is valid for all four of the National Forests. There is no fee per se for camping, but a pass is required for parking. I don't know about the particulars of the rest of the California National Forests, but at least some of them require passes.

You can camp in some National Parks with only the entrance fee paid. Death Valley National Park, for example, has several free campgrounds, and you can camp throughout most of the park (though camping on the valley floor and within two miles of major roads is prohibted). Mojave National Preserve has no entrance fees and no fees for roadside camping. More popular park units usually have fees.

I guess it's more of a bargain up in Northern California past about Redding, in the Shasta-Trinity NF and others. Makes sense since Southern California has such a huge population compared to north of the Bay Area.

[Hawk J]

I don't know how it is now, but lustrums ago when we lived in CA, for free we often boonie camped & fished (with our 1978 American Clipper C motorhome) along the Delta/Mendota canal, from Tracy to Firebaugh, & the CA Aquaduct. Great times & memories. A group of us often camped together. We caught many Striped Bass & catfish.

hahaha

[CheddarYeti]

Great thread of information. We (my husband and I) have been "Urban Camping" in our camper van around the cities in California. It's not dangerous if you're aware of your surroundings.

There are plenty of places OUTSIDE the city to camp for FREE. From truck stops (with showers) and Walmarts to Public lands and Federal Forests etc. GO TO [url=http://www.freecampsites.net]Free Camping | RV Camping, Car Camping, Tent Camping | Campsites, Campgrounds[/url]

HOWEVER, for inner city camping (aka Urban Camping), it's not so cut and dry. This is what we do in S.F. and in L.A:
1. Scout out a place in the day as you're sightseeing (look at signs/surroundings/etc).
2. Return to Urban NIGHT Camp as LATE as possible, after 10p is good.
3. Leave EARLY in the morning, before 8am or before you see businesses or residents (We're out by 6am usually).
4. DON'T RETURN night after night to the same spot, unless you want to get a knock on your window.
---
So, where do you Potty etc.?
For the the cost of a cup of coffee you can use a nice restroom. Public ones in the cities are usually pretty dirty and well guarded by full-time homeless residents. You can also carry Pee-bags for emergencies.
Showers are available at YMCA's and GYMs (if you have a membership). Also truck stops and public pools are options. We take "***** baths" between good showers to extend our inner city visit. Ha, dirty hippies! Sweet.

Very Important: ***** BE POLITE, BE CLEAN and DON'T GIVE THE RESIDENTS A REASON TO POST SIGNS. Keep Urban Camping Temporary and FREE. Have fun and see California quickly, before your money runs out.

[Woof]

I have to say that I can't stand truck stops, Cheddar, I hate the sound and feel of diesel engines on all night.

There's a map somewhere of Walmarts that allow RVs to park overnight. Generally speaking it's not allowed in the big cities, especially in Southern California - but that might not be enforced always. I guess it depends on the particular security guard. Some Walmarts in less populated areas actually welcome overnight RVs, since they're usually retired people who will buy plenty of stuff in the store.

I just bought a very nice new Ambassador camping toilet for my conversion van, and a cheap solar shower (Coughlans, which in this case makes a decent product but one that won't last forever). I'm getting it more comfortable now while I have a bit of spare money, in case I have to live in it when the economy tanks again. Also a foam mattress pad to make the crappy bed more comfortable.

Considering a very small refrigerator, but I'll probably stay with just using a block of ice in my large Igloo cooler. If you're not careful though, the cooler will get a lot of condensation and mold. Drain it regularly, and don't spare the Clorox when getting it ready for another load of food.

I don't remember if I mentioned it on this thread, but be careful to keep a good battery if you are going to be running much of any electrical stuff in a van or car, such as TV, fan, laptop, and lights (you don't need a TV or radio if you have a laptop with aircard and good speakers, that's like a home entertainment system in itself). I keep a CPAP going, for those who know what that is. An emergency battery charger/tire inflater/light costs only a little over a hundred dollars, but my battery is good enough so I don't really need that. Yet. Sears is still good for batteries if little else. They have a battery which is some sort of hybrid regular AND deep cycle, more expensive by half than their best regular brand, but it can better handle the stress of running things all night.

[southdudeman30]

Caifornia has a penal code that prohibts establishing residency in a public spot so if you are willing to move when or if a police officer asks you too then usually 99% of the time you are fine. However, most counties have ordinances against habitating vehicles between 10PM and 6AM; if the law is enforced a violator is subject to a citation for habitating inside a vehicle (usually small fine) but you can appeal the citation in court or ask a local homeless advocacy group (where available) to help pay the fine. However, you can sleep fine during the day legally in California (6AM-10PM) anywhere on public roadways where it's legal to park. Regardless of the law, it can get cold at night in the winter in California and the daytime high temperature always is above 40 degrees (year round average 50-70 degrees) statewide. *Exception is high elevations.

[Perlayadira]

Were can i sleep free in a car tonight 90260 area

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by Perlayadira

Were can i sleep free in a car tonight 90260 area

https://freecampsites.net