Another type of 1-nighter we've used the van for is en route camping. I learned this term from the CA state parks website, which offers this option for self-contained campers. As the name implies, it's meant for camping on the way some where. It's basically a place to rest for the evening and take off in the morning. Some state parks offer this as a no-reservations, first come, first serve arrangement. If it costs anything, it's usually cheaper than a full on camp spot. While "en route" might have specific implications, I'll use it to describe the times we've camped a night, where camping wasn't neccesarily the objective.
The place we've done this the most is Carrizo Plain National monument. One of the drivers for getting our van in the first place was to make our drives to visit my mom in Southern California more comfortable. Carrizo Plain is managed by BLM and offers dispersed as well as first-come-first serve campgrounds. It doesn't quite cut the drive in half--in fact it probably adds another 2 hours of travel. I like it because of how remote it feels-- you need to drive several miles on dirt roads. There's a big salt/soda lake and it's a great place for catchiing the wildflower blooms. I think Borax was first mined there too. There are ancient petroglyphs as well though we haven't stopped for those yet. The kids don't actually like it that much because of how remote it is, they find it a little spooky.
For when we want to minimize drive time yet still rest for the night, we'll stop in Bakersfield at Buena Vista Aquatic Recreational Area (Kern County parks). This isn't all that special-- it feels like an old fairgrounds, but it's a super short drive from the 5 freeway. There was one time we were there and it was pretty flooded.
The other use case that kinda fits here is when we crash with friends in their driveway or join them when they've rented a house or some other accommodations.
Come to think of it we've camped a lot like this. A few other places we've done this:
- China Camp (marin county)
- Harvest Hosts: Countless wineries, lavender farm, brewery in Oakland
- KOA: albequerque
- Hip Camps: Jolon road, morgan hill, corallitos, Los Gatos
