National Forests are what you should be looking for.

Camping on private property is going to get you arrested for trespassing.

Defintly won't be camping on private property!

The closest free campground to Crater Lake that I am aware of would be Boundary Spring about 6 miles east of US 97 south of Crescent in the Deschutes NF. The others in the Winema NF closer to 97 all charge at least $12/night.
http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/!ut/p/c4/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gDfxMDT8MwRydLA1cj72BTJw8jAwjQL8h2VAQAzHJMsQ!!/?ss=110601&ttype=re
There is a free campground across the road from the Pine Mountain Observatory 26 mi. ESE of Bend. My friend Mark is the manager of the PMO.

I spent about a decade camping in national forests all over the country - but mostly in the SE and the west. GREAT campsites, usually with a pit toilet and water. Great experience. I'd go that route. No way I'd try to camp "near" - and risk camping on private property.

National Forest camping outside the designated campgrounds which are not free depends on state rules. For example, I recall that Arizona's rule for camping in National Forest simply required one to be a certain distance from any road, and that it was free. I am not sure that California has the same rules.

Free camping is haphazardly available in campgrounds run by other agencies. This was the case for us in the King Mountain Range of the Lost Coast--I do not know who ran the campground but it was maintained by prisoners--and in Washington State we camped on a Fish & Game Dep't campground on the Lyre river which was also free, maintained by the Boy Scouts. We also came across a campground in Oregon which was a trail head (we had to boil the water) which was free. National Forest campgrounds are substantially cheaper than state park and national park campgrounds. We have not always paid the fee. When there are no envelopes to deposit the payment we just set up our tent and will willingly pay if a ranger comes around to collect the money; that does not always happen.

I have a friend who has worked for BLM for many years and says you can camp wherever you want, free on certain areas. It is considered "public lands". I think a good map might show you exactly where this is permissible.

The federal government dictates camping regulations in the national forests, not the states. Dispersed camping is allowed in the more remote areas of the national forests and also on BLM land. Death Valley NP, for example, is surrounded by BLM land and free, dispersed camping is allowed and very popular outside of the park. However, the national parks you list are not in remote areas and are very popular tourist destinations. You would be well advised to have reservations for the campgrounds there.

There are also free campgrounds but they are few and far between. There's a few in the Eastern Sierra near Mammoth Lakes and there's a few in the Sequoia National Forest near the Needles but these are pretty far from the most popular areas of Sequoia and Kings Canyon or Yosemite National Parks.

Your best bet is to look at a map on which national forests are adjacent to the national park you're interested in, then check the URLs for those forests, and then find the page for camping there.

For example, here's the page on camping within Stanislaus NF, which contains the road to Yosemite:
www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/stanislaus/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=14919&actid=34

My experience is that paying the small fee to camp at a designated NF camp site is worth the cost. You may not get much more than a picnic table, a fire ring, and a pit toilet; but you'll gain quick access to the road to the national park. You do NOT want to lose an hour each way, each day, driving from your back-country camp site to the site that actually interests you.

Otis,

If it is the Feds that establish the rule, why is it than one may camp for free within sight of a road, or with RV in Arizona

http://freecampsites.net/attribute/states/az/

but free camping in the California National Forests is essentially walk-in camping (note the text on the El Dorado National Forest)?

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/campgrounds-california-10963.html

Or is it up to the administration of individual National Forests, as seems to be suggested by the article on California campsites?

Yes,it's determined by the individual national forests. The dispersed camping in the Tahoe Basin mentioned in that California piece is for backpackers not car campers and a wilderness permit is required. As far as the El Dorado National Forest text is concerned, they are saying that it's prohibited to "travel off-road in a vehicle" to a campsite but you can certainly camp alongside the road if it's permitted in that area.

We don't camp much in El Dorado but do in the Tahoe National Forest at Catfish Lake and in the Stanislaus National Forest at Utica Reservoir. These are not official campgrounds but you just need to find an existing fire ring, make sure you have a current campfire permit, and know how to dispose of your waste. Oh, and have a fishing license if you are there for the trout.

That Clover Meadow campground is a good one if you are in that area but it's a two hour drive to the Yosemite Park entrance.

We don't mind the extra 1-2 hours of extra driving to find a place with solitude and scenery. We know there are rules and regulations in place to preserve these areas and we will follow these rules.
We just wanted to see how many amazing places we could visit and still be able to camp for free.
We are a young married couple and every penny we can save on overnight accommodations allows us to drive a little farther and explore a little more.
Thanks for recommendation on the campgrounds so far and please keep them coming.

Google "free camping in [enter the state of choice]" and you will find a lot of information.

"We are a young married couple and every penny we can save on overnight accommodations allows us to drive a little farther and explore a little more."


This may be an unwelcomed opinion, but for safety reasons perhaps you should reconsider how much solitude you want. The national forest camping fees can be nominal (or free) but at least you are on the map, so to speak.

If money is really that tight, you can earn free annual passes through volunteer work.

http://www.forestcamping.com/dow/intro/introduc.htm

but for safety reasons perhaps you should reconsider how much solitude you want.

Are there really that many backpackers who report problems? On the other hand, special bear proof containers must be used in the Sierra when not staying at official campsites with bear proof lockers, and grizzly bears can be a problem in the Rockies:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/4235940724/in/set-72157623117942088

Driving an extra hour or two to find free camping is not going to save you any money, not when gas is going to be near $5 per gallon soon. If you want to save money, the best thing is to not drive so much and hone in on one area of the country. It's really hard to follow your other posting (I gave up) but it sounds like you will be spending more time driving than actually staying in any of the parks.

I would not worry too much about safety with boondocking. Just use common sense about animals, fire, sharp objects, weather, etc.

Otis has a good point about saving money though. Assuming 40mph, and 12 mpg for the RV, an extra hour drive will cost you about $15 in CA right now.

I don't think these folks have an RV. I think they are talking about REAL camping, i.e. living out of doors. So they might not spend as much driving to places.

My wife and I are tent campers. And we get about 25 miles to the gallon in our vehicle. We enjoy driving, and think of it as part of the destination. And for us we have never had a an issue worrying for our safety while camping. Other then being bear aware.
Every penny counts but it is a vacation, just thought it would be great to be able to camp were there is no crowds lots of solitude, wildlife, and the night sky filled with so many stars we don't know were to start looking.

"...just thought it would be great to be able to camp were there is no crowds lots of solitude, wildlife, and the night sky filled with so many stars we don't know were to start looking."

Do you realize that you can get that in National Forest campgrounds? Many times we would be the only campers or one of just a few in an entire campground. I would say that 90% of the time we felt very secluded as far as having others around us while camping in gorgeous areas with "no crowds lots of solitude, wildlife, and the night sky filled with so many stars we don't know were to start looking".

Have you actually camped in a western National Forest campground before?

We've stayed in national forest campgrounds many times--always been a good experience and very cheap.

Here is the website of the Pine Mt. Observatory. SE of Bend Oregon. http://pmo-sun.uoregon.edu/ The free campground is on the west side of the road.
There are a very limited number of trailer/RV sites but you can find up to about 20 spots to pitch a tent. It is a "dry" site so you do have to bring your own water.
This site was picked by the University of Oregon for the Observatory to be far from light pollution.
Mark will even lend you a wheelbarrow to move your stuff to your site.

The farthest west we have camped is Utah. And we stayed at a natl forrest(free) that if someone didn't recommend I never would of found it. And thats why I was asking for recommendations on good camping spots for free.

Tomfuller, thanks that is something we are defintly going to check out

So, here we are. We are recommending national forest campgrounds. It sounds like a perfect match for what you want.

Here ya go -
http://www.forestcamping.com/

Yeah natl forests are what we are seeking but so is Blm, army corp of engineer, natl grass lands anyplace that is a public use area that allows overnight camping. There are so many places we dont not where to start and we will be on the road for 30 days thats alot of area to cover. All we asked for was some campground names. The place Tomfuller recommended is a place we will defintly visit but if it wasn't for him telling us how would we of known.
Isn't one of the reasons you can start a topic on Fodors so you can ask people who have visited theses areas or live in theses areas for some help on were to stay and what to do? I guess we were wrong.

There are so many places we dont not where to start and we will be on the road for 30 days thats alot of area to cover. All we asked for was some campground names.

There is no need for specific campground names unless someone has a wonderful one to recommend, in which case you might need a reservation because others also find it wonderful. Reservations are becoming more common in National Forest campgrounds. But if one drives through a national forest, one is bound to see campgrounds. I have an out-of-print book that gives all the campgrounds (with a few changes here and there), but a list might be available on the web from each National Forest area.

Ah, I see. I've never heard anybody call tent camping "boobdocking" - I've only ever heard that term in relation to RV camping.

jrnjill,

We have found the RV forums to very useful. We have a motorhome, but often they have discussions about tent camping, too. One in particular - rv.net - has a forum devoted to tent camping. Friendly, knowledgeable folks. You might want to check them out.

jrnjill,

sounds like your itinerary is similar to what my husband and I are planning for this summer. Any tips on the dispersed camping around Yosemite etc... now that you have gone and explored?

we just camped at nelder grove which was free its near yosemite - lots of trails and giant sequoias , very beautiful , theres 7 sites -two are walk in sites