What makes a good teardrop campsite?

Last weekend we took another teardrop trip up to Sierra County for some hiking, and while our pretty campsite had some great shade and was quiet, the picnic table and fire pit were a good 50 yards from where we could park the trailer. We usually use the trailer galley as a pantry and prep area and a picnic table to cook our food. This particular configuration was not ideal and I got to thinking about what makes a good teardrop campsite.

What we look for in a good campsite

While you can't always find the perfect campsite, some of our best campsites have had these good qualities:

A wonderful campsite at Crater Lake National Park with a view of a canyon and a visit from a silver tip fox.

Privacy
It's wonderful to be able to put the trailer into a site that has plenty of privacy — preferably in the back part of the site.

Shade (or sun) and wind protection
Plenty of trees add to the privacy and provide shade. It's also nice to have a sunny spot if you are camping in an area that is more chilly. It's also nice to have a site with rocks or trees that offer protection from winds.

Site configuration
Being able to easily back up to a picnic table is ideal for us. We have also been able to manually maneuver the trailer so that the galley is close to a picnic table for easy cooking and eating. A pull-through spot is also nice to have, but those are usually reserved for larger trailers.

Great views
Who doesn't love a great view? It's the icing on top of the cake if you can open your teardrop doors and see a lake, river, canyon or snowed capped mountains.

Quiet or nature sounds
Having a quiet campground or site is wonderful. Add in the sound of a creek or river, birds or wind in the trees and you might have the perfect campsite.



What we like to avoid in a campsite:

We have had our fair share of not ideal campsites as well. These usually have the following bad qualities:

A cramped and noisy campsite at a KOA in Idaho is not our favorite type of spot.

No privacy
Everyone knows these types of campsites: trailers nearly on top of each other, noise and very little space available to spread out.

Bad terrain
Some campgrounds have sites in bad terrain. The ground is rarely level, there are usually badly located rocks, roots or tree limbs that make the site a walking hazard at night.

Road noise
Sometimes having quick access to a road is nice, but a busy road right next to your sleeping head is not.

"Nazi" camp hosts
We are quiet, clean campers who respect nature and campgrounds. We don't really appreciate being harassed by campground hosts who watch our every move or want us out of the site by 9:00 a.m.

Urban camping
I would love to have access to more big cities while camping, but have yet to find a beautiful, quiet campsite nearby. Has any city thought of opening up a teardrop campground in an empty parking garage? I'd go...

Hipcamp

While the website, Hipcamp, is currently only available for the state of California, they plan on expanding to 20 new states by next summer—just in time for teardrop camping. Hipcamp is a new website and team focusing on not only campgrounds and campsites, but the amenities that surround them. The site covers everything from campgrounds near the best wineries and stargazing to the best rock climbing and surfing.

I spoke to Eric Bach and Alyssa Ravasio, the owners of the site and avid campers. Alyssa's frustration with finding campsites online was the catalyst for the creation of Hipcamp. Eric is a world traveler, backpacker and a member of the purple-clad trio, the "Modern Gypsies", who won ABC's "Expedition Impossible". They both wanted a better search system online. They are also big fans of teardrop trailers and plan on having their own Hipcamp wrapped and branded teardrop soon.

Tell us a little about how HipCamp came about. What do you want users to get from it?

Hipcamp was born out of the frustration to discover and book campsites. The process seemed extremely fragmented. We'd have to go one place for official government information, another for photos, another for reviews, and then another place to book. We thought it could be done better and thus enable more people to get outside.

The goal is to give users a single source in which they can do everything they need to in order to make a camping trip happen. We want the users to have a simple, engaging, and fun experience while doing so. 

What has been the response to the site?

We've had a great response to the site! People are excited to move to new states and so are we. Our goal is to get to 20 more states in the U.S. by next summer. We'll also be adding in features such as user reviews, user uploaded photos, and new opportunities for our community (or tribe as we like to call it) to engage.

Which campgrounds seem to get the most traffic? What amenities are people interested in?

Some of the campgrounds that get the most traffic are Bullfrog Pond (in Austin Creek), Wildcat Campground (in Point Reyes), Bothe-Napa Valley Campground (in Bothe-Napa), Steep Ravine Cabins & Campground (in Mt. Tam), Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground (in Pfeiffer Big Sur), and of course Upper Pines Campground (in Yosemite). 

I think people are really interested in our activities, amenities, and features filters. That's one of the coolest things about Hipcamp, is that you can use the filters to get the exact type of campground you want. It's very personal.

Can you think of any California campgrounds for people who lean toward teardrops and tiny trailers?

Hmm...well some of my favorites are Huckleberry Campground at Big Basin Redwoods, Andrew Molera Campground, Steep Ravine Cabins, and Borrego Palm Canyon Campground.

Have either of you had any experience with teardrop trailers?

I've had experience with trailers in general, but not teardrops yet. However, it is our dream to own a Hipcamp teardrop trailer. It would be so cool to have one that is Hipcamp branded, but still feels natural and vintage.

We'll all keep an eye out for you on the road, Hipcamp!

Friday Teardrop Photo

Because it's so flippin' cold in most of the country right now, I thought I would put up a little photo of summer. This is the Sunflower and the Stargazers teardrop trailer camping side-by-side at the Glory Hole Recreation Area in the Gold Country foothills of California. It must have been about 95 degrees out and shade shelters like our REI Alcove help to keep the sun off the galley area. The Stargazers' shelter was used over the top of the picnic table.

We were lucky to get this large RV campsite on a busy weekend and were able to squeeze the two teardrops and our two cars into the space. However, some campgrounds only allow a certain number of vehicles to be parked in one space, and sometimes they consider a teardrop trailer an extra vehicle. We had to convince the camp host that we were not a roving gang of trailers just looking for a place to crash and told him that we preferred to camp in the same spot as our friends so that we could share supplies and equipment.

If you're going to be camping with additional teardrops, check with your chosen campground before you make a reservation. Sometimes they will make you reserve two campsites next to each other rather than allowing you to share...no matter how small your trailer is.

Unusual Places to Take Your Teardrop Trailer

We have been to some amazing places in our teardrop trailer like Crater Lake, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, and there are some interesting places we still want to go to. For some reason we have never made it to Cathedral Gorge in eastern Nevada, but once I saw photos online of the amazing rock formations, I had to add it to my growing list.

Some other unusual places we want to take the teardrop camping is White Sands National Monument in New Mexico (along with the funky Truth or Consequences, NM), the Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona, Fort Wilderness at Walt Disney World and the Leinenkugal Brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

The reason we call these places unusual is that they are not your typical parks or campsites. The White Sands National Monument has regular missile testing nearby and you can sled down the white dunes like you would down mountains of snow. Saguaro National Park, while hell in the summer, is heaven in the winter and spring. The Fort Wilderness campsites at Disney World in Florida are expensive, but what a great way to stay in the park and avoid the traffic and lines for the buses. On the TNTTT forum, asianflava has a good review of the Fort Wilderness campground.

As for the Leinenkugal Brewery and the Leinie Lodge in Wisconsin. One of the first photos I saw of a teardrop trailer was Big Woody Camper's photo of one of their handcrafted woody trailers in front of the brewery. In addition, one of my favorite book characters, Anna Pigeon of Nevada's Barr's mystery series drinks Leinenkugal beer and their Sunset Wheat is hands-down my favorite camping beverage. I don't think we can camp there, but a photo in front of the brewery is going to be necessary.

Where is an odd or unusual place you want to take your teardrop trailer?

Friday Teardrop Photo

Outdoor cooking and camping at the Dam Gathering.
Taken at Antlers Resort & Marina in Lakehead, California near Shasta Lake.

Camp Chairs: Pros and Cons

When you camp in a teardrop trailer, your living room is the outdoors so your "recliner" should reflect the ease of nature and keep you comfortable as you sit in the sunshine or by the campfire. My husband and I have gone through our fair share of camping chairs and have found each of them to have their own pros and cons.

Currently we have two very comfortable loungers from Cabela's that we bought on sale. I have fallen asleep in them numerous times and they are great for looking up at the stars. However, they are super heavy and awkward to carry. They also take up a ton of room in the back of the car.

Right now, I am on the lookout for two new chairs that will not take up so much room in the car. I do like the Alps Aluminum camp chair from the Sportsman's Wharehouse. They are comfortable and do well in front of the fire as well as at a table. Most importantly, they are lightweight and fold up much smaller than the loungers. Unfortunately, they don't have that great foot rest.

Every few years or so, we will teardrop camp with some friends from Florida. We drive to meet them a state or two away from us and they fly in to meet us. This means we have to bring their camping gear along with us. They tent camp during this time, so we bring two easy-to-pack camp chairs that you can get at Costco, Target or Wal-Mart. These types of chairs are light and convenient, easy to fold up and store and they sometimes have nifty cup holders. However, they are cheap and tend to break apart after four or five camping trips.

What are your favorite types of camp chairs for teardrop camping? Where do you like to purchase your chairs and are there reasons why you choose one type of chair over another?

Teardrop Trailer Boondocking

Many times when we go camping with our friends (who also own a teardrop trailer), we will boondock. Boondocking is essentially free camping on public land. It's also called dispersed camping, and there are various places around the U.S. where you can set up camp for the night with a minimal amount of amenities. Boondocking with a teardrop trailer is just as easy as with a larger RV, and maybe even more so because a small teardrop tucked away in the woods or in the desert does not have as high a profile as a larger RV and can be less conspicuous.

You can boondock on BLM land or National Forest property, and some people even boondock in the parking lot of Wal-Mart or a local truck stop. There are discussions among campers whether or not parking lot camping is really boondocking, and the word tends to refer only to free camping on public land.

Depending on the area and terrain, boondocking areas will have specifically designated areas for camping, vehicles and campfires and some sites may not even allow any kind of open flame. Boondocking spots normally don't have hookups, sewer, showers or water, but sometimes they have basic pit toilets. Many boondocking areas have a time limit of several weeks.

You can find boondocking areas on these two websites: Free Campsites.net and Boondocking.org.

Boondocking tips:

Bring your own water or a water filter

Several places where we like to boondock have a nearby creek or river where we will fill up canteens just for washing dishes or ourselves. This water should not be used for cooking or drinking unless it has been filtered or boiled. It's best to bring several five gallon tanks of your own drinking water.


Stay safe

Camp with people you know and trust. Boondocking is not necessarily dangerous, but since there is no camp host and some boondocking areas are away from populated areas, it's best to not camp alone. 


Re-use campfire areas

If you are boondocking and happen to run across a spot where someone once had a campfire, use the same area rather than creating a new area to burn. Depending on where you're camping, many boondocking areas have plenty of downed wood.

Use Dry ice

If you plan on boondocking for a week or more, use dry ice instead of regular ice. Your food will stay colder longer and you won't have to travel a long distance to re-stock your ice supply. Here are some tips on how to use dry ice.