camping sites in the Western USA

[geegee]

While the information in it isn't consistent since it's crowdsourced, I've found some decent free places to camp on http://freecampsites.net Some of them in Oklahoma and Kansas had flush toilets and showers.

[preston uk]

Many thanks for all the advice. I like the idea of town parks. Its unheard of in the UK where  we often get screwed for poor facilities on  infrequent campsites.

[indyfabz]

Many thanks for all the advice. I like the idea of town parks. Its unheard of in the UK where  we often get screwed for poor facilities on  infrequent campsites.

If you will be doing the Trans AM I highly recommend the Bike Camp in Twin Bridges, Montana. It's free, but donations are appreciated. The place is a model facility. Huge lawn of lush grass for your tent right along the Beaverhead River. Indoor shelter with some used furniture and electrical outlets for charging things. Picnic tables. Flush toilet. Hot shower. Bike repair stand. Even a large camp sink with counter space for washing dishes. In the center of town (a 5 min. walk) you will find a very good grocery store for a town of its size, a couple of restaurants, a bar, laundry and even a library with free Internet access. The grocery store has a collection of things cyclists may want/need, like energy bars, inner tubes and travel sizes of things like sun block, tooth paste and bug spray (very important in that part of the world). It's also a good place to meet other cyclists. I met around 10 people in the three nights I stayed there during two separate trips in the area.

[Pat Lamb]

As indy says, the Twin Bridges facility is very nice.  (Just note carefully what he notes about bug spray!)  We thought hard about stopping, but it was just after lunch when we went through.

There's often a headwind in the afternoon headed south to Dillon, and it doesn't kick in until about 5 miles out of Twin Bridges.  Since we battled that headwind in the afternoon, I don't know if you could miss it by leaving Twin Bridges early in the morning.  But I'd be willing to try!

[jamawani]

Preston -

As many of the earlier posters have said, camping on the TransAm in small towns is pretty easy and cheap.
Kansas towns are especially welcoming - nice parks with cafes and grocery stores nearby.
(What Kansas lacks in scenery is made up for by its hospitality.)

Once you hit Pueblo, CO you get into the West where public lands predominate.
You are permitted to camp anywhere on National Forest (woods) and Bureau of Land Management (desert) lands -
Provided you are at least 1/2 mile from a developed site. (Some exclusions)
Dispersed camping is generally prohibited in National Parks and varies on state lands.

Water and sanitation are issues in dispersed camping - a water filter and a trowel are essentials.
Also, water sources are infrequent - esp. in Utah and Nevada.

[staehpj1]

Water and sanitation are issues in dispersed camping - a water filter and a trowel are essentials.
Also, water sources are infrequent - esp. in Utah and Nevada.

How useful a filter will be depends on the route.  I know that on my ST tour there was no surface water to filter probably for 2/3 of the trip.  On the SC route having a filter along was great.  There were lots of ice cold mountain streams and the cold water was great in the hot weather.  I'd expect that the WE is more like the drier part of the ST wrt lack of surface water, so I wouldn't count on a filter being useful there.

[PeteJack]

Someone suggested asking the police for help with campsites. I haven't read all replies so I may be repeating. In my experience the place to ask for help in small towns is the Volunteer Fire Department, they are usually very helpful and before today they have let us sleep in the station. Also try City Halls, sometimes they let you camp in front of the town hall. Be careful and make sure they haven't got sprinkler systems that provide an unwanted alarm clock. BTW there is nothing remotely close to OS maps in the US at any price so don't bother looking. Well, there are US Geological Survey (USGS) maps that are very detailed but the place is so big you'd need a sag wagon to haul enough to cover the Transam, they are just not practical for bike touring ACA maps take some beating but do make sure to check the addenda, campsites have been known to come and go. To this end small towns often have libraries where you can get free internet access, again see the ACA maps. And library staff are a great source of local knowledge about campsites, eating places etc.

You'll have a blast.

[indyfabz]

Be careful and make sure they haven't got sprinkler systems that provide an unwanted alarm clock.

Heh. Many years ago I stayed at the city park in Lander, WY on the TransAm. Not long after I pulled into the park another guy camping there warmed me to keep my tent fly zipped up. He had been riding with a buddy who crashed going into DuBois. His buddy was in the hospital in Lander. The day before I arrived he went to visit his buddy and had left his tent fly open. The sprinkler system came on. He returned to his tent to find 2" of water inside and everything soaked from the spray.