A Vanlifers Guide to Stealth Camping (+ 10 Places I Sleep In Cities)

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Paying for campsites sucks. & it sucks even more after you’ve painstakingly sacrificed the time, effort, & money to build your very own DIY conversion van. So we, just like many other vanlifers, opt instead for stealth camping. After driving cross-country (many times) we’ve perfected sneaky camping and come up with tons of tips to guarantee you’ll be able to find a free place to park at night. 

Whether you call it boondocking, dispersed camping, or stealth camping it all means the same thing. Free, sometimes bordering on illegal, car camping.  & believe it or not, you can find free van parking in every city in America and on all the rural highways in between. Here’s our complete guide to finding those stealth camping spots for yourself. 

How to Prep Your Van for Stealth Camping 

There are a lot of things you can do during and after your vanbuild that will help you blend in and not draw a lot of attention to yourself.

Pick the right vehicle

Sprinters, Ford Transits, & conversion vans are going to be the most practical when it comes to stealth camping. They are always street parked and nobody looks twice. It’s the more unique vehicles like school buses, ambulances, sprinters, or RV-style conversions that will make stealth camping difficult.

If you’ve already bought your school bus you’re not completely out of luck. These tips will still be plenty helpful to you but just know that your vehicle is going to draw a lot more attention than say …a 1990’s conversion van.

Opt for fewer windows

I think the ideal layout is one large side window. Maybe two small ones on a pair of back doors. Initially, most vanlifers think they want lots of natural light, but with all that sunshine comes the awkward tasks of trying to change or bathe discreetly. More often than not you’ll find you cover all those windows you thought you wanted.

Have window covers

Ideally, every window in your van should have a covering of some kind. The goal is to prevent anyone from seeing inside while you’re sleeping or just hanging out inside.

We made reflectix window covers for all the windows except our driver & passenger door. If you haven’t yet begun your van build, I recommend checking out how much converting our van cost us in full.

Add blackout curtains between the cabin and living space 

Before we started traveling in our van full time I didn’t think this was a necessity. But believe me, it is. Especially if you don’t make covers for your driver & passenger doors, you’ll want that additional layer of privacy.

Blackout curtains will help to reduce any light people might see around your front windshield while your in the van at night & help you stay hidden.

Consider decoys

A yellow construction hat, clipboard, or orange vest tossed over the dashboard will instantly make your camper van look like a work truck. No further investigation needed. This is especially handy with Sprinters, Ford Transits, or other cargo vans.

Have a pee bottle

The trickiest part about stealth camping in the city is finding bathrooms. I’ll go into that a little bit later but for now, just consider that sometimes late at night you may have to pee. & if you’re not comfortable popping a squat on the asphalt at 3 AM — then consider a pee bottle. & maybe one of those “Go-Girl” pee funnels.

Guys, as with many things in life, this is a lot simpler for you. I never promised vanlife was glamorous.

Tips for Stealth Camping in the City 

This is where your stealth camping skills are put to the test. Cities are hard. Most parking is paid & expensive and as a visitor to the city, it can be difficult to know which areas are safe for overnight parking. Because let’s face it, there is nothing worse than driving around for hours looking for a place to sleep. Actually, receiving the middle of the night knock on the window might be worse.

Recently, I used my sneaky skills to sleep comfortably & for free just 10 minutes from downtown Chicago over the weekend.

Sleeping in your car illegally isn’t exactly living the dream, but lots of vanlife isn’t glamorous. & sometimes (often) this is the only way to go in major U.S. cities. Here’s how to make it work.  

Park with your windowless side facing the street

Or the side with fewer windows. Window covers work wonders, but sometimes people will undoubtedly wonder what it is that you’re covering up. Police or other law enforcement can also get tipped off by window covers if you’re sleeping somewhere you shouldn’t be.

Show up After Dark & Leave Early 

The cardinal rule of stealth camping. Show up late & leave early. Whether you’re in the city, a national park, or in the middle of nowhere– this rule will help you get away with a lot.

When we road-tripped down the west coast through the North Cascades National Park & Yosemite we stayed in campgrounds for free every night. We showed up at around 9 or 10 PM & hit the road at 6 or 7 AM while the campgrounds were unhosted.

Seek out signs for street cleaning

Obviously, avoid this during street cleaning. But show up immediately after street cleaning has finished and you’re guaranteed to have an empty street with loads of legal street parking.

Park near trees or some kind of cover

It’s always good to have a little bit of cover & not be in such an exposed area. & when you have to pee at night…it’s easier to hide in.

Find well-lit areas 

This is a safety issue. Your instincts will tell you to find a dark corner to hide in but this could backfire. Car prowling and burglary often occur in these dark alleys. Something as simple as a single street light can make all the difference in deterring intruders.

Change location every night 

It doesn’t have to be a drastic change of location, just find a different parking spot. In most cities, you can legally keep your car for in one spot 72 hours, but if people notice you…you could be testing your luck.

I wouldn’t stay on the same street or in the same neighborhood for longer than a week.

Find other cars 

If your van is the only car in the area at night you’re bound to draw some attention. Ideally, you want to melt into a parking lot full of cars and blend in. But at least find a spot with a few other vehicles scattered about.

Safety Tip: Sleep with your head away from the street. That way if a car crashes into your camper in the dead of night, you’ll walk away with much less severe injuries.

10 Places that Often Work For Stealth Camping

There are my top 10 go-to spots to seek out when you reach a new or unfamiliar city.

1. Legal Street Parking

Many cities across America have street parking. Often that street parking is only “paid parking” until a certain time. 6 or 8 PM usually. After that, it’s fair game for a free overnight spot. Just be sure to leave before it becomes paid parking again in the morning.

2. Hotel parking lots 

These are our go-to spots. Quality Inn, Holiday Inn, Best Western– any large chain hotel will do. The trick is they can’t have enclosed parking or any parking passes. If you show up late in the evening you can usually sneak right in.

3. Big-Box Stores

Walmart is the typical go-to. Unfortunately, in large cities where homelessness or crime is a problem, many Walmarts don’t allow overnight camping anymore. If you’re just staying for a single night it’s unlikely anyone will contact you.

Home Depot & Lowes have turned out to be more accepting of overnight guests.

4. Cabelas

They are a nation-wide store & allow overnight parking at every location (if it’s just for a single night).

5. 24-hours businesses

Gyms and Laundromats have been my favorite. Since they are open all night there is bound to be other cars in the lot.

6. Strip Malls & Mall Parking Lots 

Huge parking lots with minimal policing. Every once in a blue moon we consider a large well-lit strip mall lot & we’ve never had any problems.

7. Truck Stops 

They are meant for evening stopovers after all. Even better sometimes they have showers and water refill stations. You’ll get all your auto services in one. However, some truck drivers aren’t a big fan of vanlifers using their facilities.

8. Bars & Breweries in Small Towns

Often we find ourselves sampling the local brews until late in the evening. & sometimes these large breweries will have equally large parking lots. Many bars in small towns won’t think anything of a car left in the lot overnight.

9. Parks and Industrial Parks 

We love a good park. Not only is it a legal place to park but you can also spend your morning cooking outside, working out, and enjoying a green space. Sometimes they have designated parking lots and sometimes just street parking. Either way, it’s an area that will be deserted at night.

An extra tip for your comfort: Try to find a flat parking space. This way your bed will be level while your sleeping & you won’t run the risk of rolling right off your mattress.

10. Residential Areas

Should You Stealth Camp in Residential Areas? 

This is a hot-debate among van dwellers. Personally…I say absolutely. I would say we park in residential neighborhoods about 50% of the time. In fact, in Florida, it was one of the easiest places to park overnight.

Tips for Camping in Residential Areas

• Feel out the neighborhood ahead of time. You’ll have problems in both wealthy & unsavory neighborhoods. Rich people don’t want vanlifers cluttering up their street & residents of bad neighborhoods are often suspicious of people parking in front of their house.
• Try to avoid parking directly in front of a house. Especially if people are awake.
• Look for apartment complexes. No one bats an eye at extra cars parked near them.

How to Find Bathrooms & Showers While Stealth Camping in the City

This is vitally important. Here’s where you’ll find a restroom pitstop when the bushes just won’t do.

• Gas Stations.
• Grocery Stores. This one is always a sure thing.
• Rest stops.

This is one of my least favorite parts of vanlife. & although we made some mistakes while building our van, the one thing I wish we could change is our shower system.

It’s outdoor & flimsy & really really sucks to use in cold weather. But most van showers are like this. This means that in addition to finding restrooms along the way we also spend a significant amount of time looking for places to have a steamy hot (indoor) shower.

How to Score a Hot Shower

• Get a gym membership. Just a cheap basic one at a national gym will do the trick.
• Truck Stops.
• National Park Campgrounds. & sometimes other campgrounds if you’re lucky.
• Check around on Ioverlander. It’s a great app for vanlifers & it has the option to search for shower facilities. I’ll talk about this app more later.

Places to Avoid When Looking for Stealth Camping 

Not all camp spots are created equal. Obviously. Here are the red flags you should avoid when picking the perfect stealth camping spot.

Anywhere near train tracks

Trains run all hours of the night. You WILL be woken up at 2, 4, & 6 AM but the train rumbling along the tracks blaring its horn. Just try to avoid them when you can.

Rich Neighborhoods & Sketchy Neighborhoods

As I mentioned above in the “residential camping” section. Both neighborhoods are likely to be suspicious of an unknown van-type vehicle pulling in late at night.

Other than that just use your best judgment. You probably don’t want to park on Main Street if it’s filled with bars and bound to be busy at all hours of the night. You also probably don’t want to park in the Home Depot lot if it happens to be where all the homeless people are hanging out. Just assess the situation and use your best judgment.

Stealth Camping in the Wilderness

Stealth camping in the wilderness or rural America is WAY easier than in major cities. You can pretty much park anywhere your van can fit if you follow the “Arrive Late & Leave Early” policy.

But here are some apps that can help you find legal boondocking spots in the great outdoors.

Apps & Websites to Help Find Free Camping 

Download these apps before your next road trip.

The Dyrt

This app is the definitive guide to all campsites in the US. Every campground, free or paid, is on this app so you can browse and see what is available in your area.

Allstays Camp & RV

Great app for helping you to find RV hookups, campsites, & other general camping services.

Ioverlander

I love this app because you can search for not only campsites but water, showers, Wifi, & so much more. It’s a community effort too, so it’s kept up to date by other vanlifers along the way.

Boondockerswelcome.com

Kinda like couchsurfing.com, but for vanlifers. Basically, these lovely hosts are willing to share their driveway or property with an overnight guest at no charge.

Blm.gov

Every state has BLM land. Utah has some of the most scenic and conveniently located BLM land suitable for all vanlifers. Federal land that is unused and free for the sleeping. It’s often also called dispersed camping. It’s free but has no amenities. Just wilderness.

Wilderness Stealth Camping Tips

Say your driving through a state park or just some highway in the middle of nowhere, nighttime falls and you’re looking for a place to set up camp. Here’s what I recommend.

What about National Parks?

That’s the dream, right? Waking up, throwing open your double doors to the phenomenal views of one of the great wonders of the USA. Tunnel View at Yosemite, Old Faithful at Yellowstone, or Crater Lake in Oregon. Wellllll… it’s definitely against National Park laws. But being 100% honest we’ve slept at all three.

If you’re willing to bend the law here are some things you should know.

• Leave early and arrive late. The obvious benefit of sleeping in the park is that you arrive before everyone else. So get up early & get yourself that headstart.
• Sleep in Lodge parking lots. This works really well in Yellowstone & Grand Teton.
• In smaller national parks like the Badlands, you don’t even need to be sneaky. No one particularly cares where you sleep. Glacier National Park, on the other hand, set up in the wrong place & you’ll get the knock for sure.
• Use trailhead parking lots that have backcountry campsites. Backpackers leave their car and sleep in the wilderness so you’ll have the added cover of other vehicles. Just be sure that the park doesn’t require backcountry car permits.

Now you’re a free parking expert & you’re ready to hit the streets. Using these tips, I’ve been able to stealth camp in every city in America from NYC to Chicago to Seattle and everything in between.

Feel free to reach out at geena@beyondthebucketlist.co or comment below if you have any questions about stealth camping or just vanlife in general.

Best Way to see the National Parks? Van Life.

Okay. I might be biased. But van life has changed the road trip game. It’s made it cheaper. More comfortable & helped me to travel more off-the-beaten-path. & that’s just a few benefits of the van life. But van life isn’t always as glamorous as it’s made out to be. & if you’re on the fence you should test out van/RV travel before you invest in your own rig.

Be sure to save this post for later when you’ll need it!!

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