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Motorcycle Touring: Planning, Packing & Traveling>
Motorcycle Articles
 Planning a Motorcycle Camping Trip


Motorcycling and Camping go together. It's the love of being outdoors, and taking in the wonders of nature with all of your senses.  Maximize your love of motorcycle travel and the great outdoors by spending at least one night of your tour camping. Just bring along a tent and a sleeping bag, maybe a small camp stove if you plan on cooking and you're pretty much prepared.Typically the best equipment for motorcycle camping is the type of camping equipment used for back-packing since it is normally very lightweight and packs very small. Check out our camping section to make sure you're prepared.  Depending on the area you are traveling in, you might be able to just stop along the road somewhere and set up camp. This is really ruffing it, since you will be lacking running water and bathroom facilities, but if that's what you are into, then more power to ya.  A campground is a more comfortable way to go.  But you shouldn't leave it to chance that there will be a campground along side the road when you start to get tired of riding. There are a couple of  things that must be taken into consideration when planning to camp on your tour  vs  spending your nights in motels.

  •  If you are set on camping, we strongly recommend you do some planning in advance. If there is a  specific campground you want to stop at . Call ahead and see if you need to  make reservations in advance. Unlike staying in a motel where you simply head for a town and pull in to the first motel, not all campgrounds are friendly  to motorcycles and  will not even allow motorcycle camping (especially if your bike is loud). If you are traveling in the summer, you'll find that a lot of campgrounds fill up, and some are by reservation only.  We usually look for state parks, Forest Service Campgrounds and those run by the Department of Natural Resources and list them out along our route, so when we start to get tired, we can look them up to see how close something is to where we are. 

                                                                                                                  

  • Plan on stopping  earlier at night, preferably before dinner time. Most campgrounds start to fill up around the five o'clock hour, during camping season. Also, you really don't want to be trying to set-up your tent after dark, especially if the only light you have is your bike headlight and a flashlight.  Plus when camping, you normally need to start a fire or setup your small camp stove before you can sit down to dinner. Unlike the motel where you check in, unload your bike and head to the restaurant next door.

 

  • The ideal campground is a motorcycle only campground or a campground that is motorcycle friendly. There are not a lot of them yet, but we have listed the ones we know about in our links section.  We have a shortcut to that list of  motorcycle only  campgrounds, here.  If you know of others, please send me an e-mail  leah@touringdepot.com . 

 

  • Some of the cheapest places to stay on the road are state parks, Forest Service Parks, or others ran by the government. Normally they cost around $10 per night and most of them do allow motorcycles (as long as you follow the rules). Many state parks have camping facilities, bathrooms and showers. Here is a link to a campground directory featuring state parks http://www.reserveamerica.com/us/campgrounds/r/campgroundDirectory.do . 

 

  • Commercial places like Kampgrounds of America (KOA) are okay, too. They cost a bit more than a state park, but they offer more amenities (like laundry facilities and pools).  You can go to  http://www.koa.com and get a directory of KOA "Kampgrounds" across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.                   

If you are thinking about camping on your road trip, then it is advisable to look-up the location of some campgrounds along your route. Contact them before you leave to find out if they are motorcycle friendly and if reservations are required.  If you make reservations be sure to include this into your ride plan ( the number of miles you are hoping to cover that day)  and make that your destination. Have a back-up plan ( such as knowing the size of the towns you'll be passing thru along the way and if they have a motel)  in case something happens and you can't make it to the campground before night fall.  All this planning and making reservations can take away from the freedom of your road trip, so don't make reservations for every night, unless you like a very rigid schedule.  When we go on a road trip, we always take the tent and sleeping bags and know in advance where some campgrounds are, but we never make it a for sure plan to camp.  You can't always count on the weather, or that the campground will show up at the end of your riding day. If you like your freedom, your best bet is to have the gear along, so you can camp if you find that great spot, but if it doesn't come up or the weather is turning nasty, pull into that cheap motel for the night, get a good rest and try again tomorrow.  The ultimate challenge of a road trip is to find a suitable place to rest, of any kind, before the sun goes down.