Camp RVans

The rules are federal,
and free.

Almost every van-life site is selling a conversion, a rental or a membership. The part that actually governs your trip is who owns the ground you park on, and those rules are published free by the agencies that make them.

There is no universal van life law in the United States. On federal land the rules are consistent and generous: most BLM and Forest Service districts allow dispersed camping for up to 14 days before you must move on, typically at least 100 feet from water and away from developed sites. In towns it is the opposite, governed by local vehicle-habitation ordinances that vary street by street. Learn the federal rules once and check the local ones per stop, and most of the legal uncertainty disappears.

The reading list

Link-out only. Agencies and primary rules, not people selling you the gear.

Federal land, where most of it is legal

Hundreds of millions of acres, generally free, with rules published by the agencies themselves.

  1. Camping

    Bureau of Land Management · Primary

    The BLM manages more land than any other US agency and permits dispersed camping across most of it. Stay limits, distance-from-water rules and the requirement to move on are all here, from the agency that enforces them.

  2. Permits and passes

    Bureau of Land Management · Primary

    Where a permit is actually required, which is far less often than people assume. Worth checking before paying anyone for access to public land.

  3. US Forest Service

    USDA · Primary

    The other large federal landholder, with its own dispersed camping rules that vary by district and by fire season. Check the specific forest rather than assuming national rules.

  4. Camping

    National Park Service · Primary

    The opposite regime: national parks are tightly controlled, campgrounds are reserved in advance, and roadside sleeping is generally prohibited. Know which kind of federal land you are on.

  5. Recreation.gov

    US federal government · Practical

    The booking system for federal campgrounds, at face value with no reseller markup.

Towns, where it usually is not

  1. Van life

    Wikipedia · Reference

    The phenomenon, its history and the legal patchwork around vehicle habitation ordinances. Useful for understanding why the answer is always "it depends on the city".

  2. National Weather Service

    NOAA · Practical

    Wind, heat and winter storms decide more van trips than regulations do. Free, official, and better than an app.

  3. TripCheck

    Oregon DOT · Practical

    An example of what state DOT road information looks like. Every state runs one, and passes close more often than flatland drivers expect.