How this site works
You want to know two things: where can I sleep tonight, and will someone knock on my window at 2am. This page explains how we answer that and how much to trust the answer.
Where the rules come from
We do not have inside information. Everything here comes from the agency that owns the dirt:
- Federal land from the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, at the field office and ranger district level, because a rule that applies in one district often does not apply in the next one over.
- Rest areas from each state's department of transportation, which is the only body that can actually tell you whether overnight parking is allowed and for how long.
- Sleeping in a vehicle from state statutes and, where they exist, local ordinances. This is the messiest category on the site, because a state can be silent while a town is not.
We read the source, write down what it says in plain English, link to it, and date it.
What the last-verified date means
It means a person opened that source on that date and confirmed the rule still said what we claim it says. That is all it means. It is not a promise the rule is still true today: an agency can change a policy the day after we check.
Treat an old date as a reason to click the source yourself. Treat a recent date as a reason to be a little more confident, and then click the source yourself anyway if you are driving a long way for it.
Why some fields are blank
Because we have not verified them. A blank means we do not know, not that anything goes.
We could fill every cell in every table by inferring from neighboring states or from what a rule probably says. We do not, because a plausible guess is worse than an honest gap. A guess reads exactly like a fact, and you cannot tell which one got you the ticket. Null beats wrong.
How to actually use it
- Start with the state. Rules are set at the state and district level, so that is where the answer lives.
- Read the rule and the date. If the date is old or the stakes are high, open the source link.
- Call the district office if it is close. The number is on the source page. Rangers answer the phone and they know about the closure that has not made it online yet.
- Believe the sign. When you arrive, the posted sign is the authority. If it contradicts us, it wins. Then email us so we can fix the page.
The gear and calculator side
Gear pages compare the things where specs decide the outcome: power, batteries, connectivity, water. Our ranking is our own scoring and use; brands cannot buy position. Some retailer links earn us a commission, which is covered in the advertiser disclosure.
The calculators run in your browser and nothing you type leaves your device. They are planning estimates using typical values, not a system design. They cannot see your wiring or your actual conditions, so use them to get in the right ballpark and then talk to an installer before anything gets wired, vented, or bolted down.
What we get wrong
Rules go stale. Districts change limits quietly. We miss things. If you find one, send the page and the source that proves it: [email protected]. That is the fastest way this site gets better.