Tips for car/van camping in the winter
- Winter Vanlife Guide – FarOutRide
- 10 tips for cold weather vanlife – OutboundLiving
- Van life in winter – BearfootTheory
- Very comprehensive guide to winter van life – AlwaysTheAdventure
- Ultimate Guide to Overnight Camping at Ski Resorts and Where to Drink Beer Afterwards
- Home is: extensive research into ski areas and van living
Sno-Park Passes
- Oregon – Online or at DMV offices, resorts, outdoors stores, and other retail outlets.
- California – Permits are sold at sporting goods stores throughout California, at various businesses located near the Sno-Parks, at selected units of the State Park System and, for members only, at all Northern California State Automobile Association offices. You can call the Sno-Park Program hot line at (916) 324-1222
- More information about CA sno-parks
- Idaho
- Washington – get passes here
Sno-Park notes
- Oregon, Idaho and California have a reciprocal agreement allowing permits from one state to be used at Sno-Parks in the other state.
- Washington uses it’s own system
- From a California website: “In most Sno-Parks, overnight parking is allowed, including camping in your vehicle. When parked overnight, the vehicle must be staked with 8-foot high poles at each corner to help protect it from being hit by snow removal equipment.”
- Sno-Parks are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Websites/apps to help you find campsites
Note: none are winter-specific. Be prepared with multiple sites in the event a site isn’t open in the winter
- www.freecampsites.net: “Free camping near you. Go camping for free.”
- www.hipcamp.com: “Find yourself outside. Discover and book tent camping, RV parks, cabins, treehouses, and glamping.”
- www.vanly.app: Find and book safe overnight parking and amenities across the US.
- www.harvesthosts.com: “A membership program that invites self-contained RVers to have unique overnight stays.”
- www.sekr.com(formerly known as www.vanlifeapp.com): “Join the movement. FIND FREE CAMPSITES, FACILITIES, GATHERINGS AND PEOPLE NEARBY”
- www.iOverlander.com: free app and website. Crowdsourced information
- www.thedyrt.com: “Find camping for tents, trailers, RVs, and cabins with reviews & photos from campers like you.” TheDyrt Pro is $35.99/year which gives you trip planning tools, access to map layers (BLM, USFS and NPS) and ability to search offline. Pro may also let you filter by year-round campgrounds.
- www.rvparky.com: The app covers RV parks, campgrounds, rest areas, gas stations, stores, and other places to stop for the night.
- www.campendium.com: RV Park reviews, free camping, dump station locations, campsite photos and RV travel blogs. Easily compare campgrounds and share your best camping sites. (app and website)
Facebook Groups that are active:
These groups will often share information about overnight spots that aren’t official yet work well. Join the group and then use the search function.
- Ikon and Epic Pass Van and RV Dwellers
- Shred The East Car Campers (The OG!)- excellent community with great information and meetup possibilities
- Indy pass RV Dwellers