UKC

Hi
Can anyone give me any info or advice on wild camping along Route 66.

We're thinking of doing a two week trip taking in part of the route.
Some one has already advised us to fly into pheonix then drive to LA.

Our plan is to hire an SUV or pick up and basically just go with the flow and hopefully wild camp along the way.


If any one has done this id be really interested in hearing from you.
I'd also welcome any advice regarding Route 66.

Thanks

Neil

In reply to neil9216:

Not sure if this is any use to you but Billy Connoly did a tv series on route 66 you can see episodes on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=billy+connolly+route+66

In reply to neil9216:

Seen most of the Arizona bit and a part of California I guess. It´s just featureless desert which is either BLM, State Land, State Forest or whatever. Mostly it´s leased to ranchers so you are on your own regarding gun carrying nutters waking you up in the middle of the night. There are some wierd people living out there in the desert!

In reply to neil9216:
I've driven LA to Phoenix. It's an awful lot of desert. Largely it didn't look appealing for camping. Where there were interesting features you tend to find organised camp grounds, towns, state parks or other such places.


Have you been to the USA before? They treat trespass quite differently over there to over here. Be it on your own head. Perhaps take a battlefield first aid kit with you. If you limited yourself to staying at unmanned or partially manned state parks, turned up late and left early you'll probably not be shot by any land owners, but personally I'd still not chance it.

I would look into the state run parks and campgrounds, e.g.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=862

In reply to neil9216:

Beware of banjo music!

In reply to neil9216:

I've driven down route 66, and like other posters above, I don't recommend wild camping on it.

I stayed in cheap motels along the way.

In reply to neil9216:

Just to avoid any confusion - that stretch would only take a couple of days (if taken at a leisurely pace), so I assume you're only really asking about one or two nights of accommodation? If you're talking about the full two weeks, then you really need to get out the maps and guidebooks and have a rethink - you could have a much more interesting holiday with the same kind of cost/time.

The advice above about wild camping is correct. In the USA, it's generally a good idea to plan your journey and figure out which state parks of NFS campgrounds to use. It's often worth the spend too - campgrounds are often very good.

If you've two weeks, consider coming in to Salt Lake City and then looping out east to take in Utah's parks before heading over to LA. You would have more than enough time and it would be a dramatically more worthwhile trip IMHO.

As a general rule, you'll need to think about booking ahead until around October. In peak season you can squeeze into forest and state camps if you get away from the most obvious ones, but will be taking your chances in the bigger parks or near major highways and towns. Out of season you've much more flexibility. For that part of the world an autumn trip is actually a good plan as it will be much cooler.

There's so much amazing scenery out there; don't spend a fortnight looking at scrub and dodging bullets...

Mark

In reply to hamsforlegs:

Yeah, you can wild camp in a few states in certain areas, just 150ft from a road e.g NH, but generally the southern states is less accepting.. as there is less and less land which is publicly owned.

Also many state park camp grounds are technically dry.. but generally as long as you keep alcohol out of sight, don't dispose of it at the parks or drink in public you should be OK..

They really hate trespassing.. like really hate it.

In reply to IainRUK:

88% of Arizona is publicly owned (it´s either Federal or State land). Doesn´t mean the public have unlimited right to access though!

In reply to jimtitt:
No.. I know I was caught in a state park after hours.. Didn't go down well

In reply to jimtitt:

Out of interest has anyone had any issues with the alcohol state park rule?

Alcohol is prohibited in many.. I can't risk it as even a misdemeanour on my visa is a serious issue..

But do they police it or use it as a mechanism for evicting rowdy people?

In reply to IainRUK:

The only state campground I´ve been on in Arizona alchohol was permitted (Catalina). The rest of the time there and Nevada we´ve been in wilderness areas where it´s not an issue. Can´t say I´ve ever noticed anything at all about rules about alcohol there anyway apart from some strange rules about buying it on Sundays or whatever.

In reply to jimtitt:

Around here its pretty common. Upstate NY less so, but parks closer to NYC its again banned..

But all NJ, PA, MD parks.. I think..

Some it just says 'in public' but that means you can drink in an RV but not out at a fire..