Is Sleeping In Your Car/SUV/Truck considered "Camping"?

[Wildernessjane]

If you're taking a nap at one of these "patrolled" trailheads, don't forget to put a note on your driver's door: "Jed, we left earlier and will be camping at tree line. Please come up and join us at the orange tent." And make sure you're not too obvious in the back of the vehicle.

We're just trying to show up and hike a peak at O'Crap Thirty.

Brilliant

[DArcyS]

The legal answer is yes that is considered camping.

36 CFR 261.2

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/36/261.2

"Camping means the temporary use of National Forest System lands for the purpose of overnight occupancy without a permanently-fixed structure."

Define "overnight" I remember discussing this years back. Yes, the USDA, and therefore the USFS, probably consider it "camping" but the definition isn't very tight. If I show up late and nap in my car before a 4am start, does it fit in that definition.

At dictionary.com, definition #4 states, "done, made, occurring, or continuing during the night." That "during the night" is really problematic, as the beginning and end times are indefinite or not required.

People can try to parse the language all they want, but I think we all know what the government means.

To me, they have this rule because they know people are going to be relieving themselves outside of their car, and that's where the problem rests. If but one person did this, not a big deal, but when a full summer of lots of people do this, maybe a problem. I suspect that's the underlying issue.

[XterraRob]

Wow, I'm almost in agreement with XTerraGuy

I'll send you a red hat, welcome to the team.

[JQDivide]

Yes it is considered camping.
But so many of us do it.

We do it all the time, in a few places we probably should not.

We once got kicked out of the trailhead for the CO trail in Durango the night before getting on the train for Chicago Basin.

Just don't make it obvious.

Joel

[HikerBox]

I'm a "follow the intent of the law, not the letter" kind of person. Camping is really about pooping. Poop in a pit toilet or WAG bag and it really shouldn't matter (unless you get caught).

As for OP, I would have asked the guy why I would need to turn on my headlights if I camped in the lot...

[mtree]

This topic pops up every few months.
Yes. Sleeping in your car is considered camping.
Yes. You can be ticketed or worse.
Yes. Lots of us have done this with no adverse effects.
Yes. It will continue to happen.
Yes. Pick your "camp" sites wisely.

I once slept in my car on Guanella Pass. An RV got the boot. And another guy got booted who I had just chatted with earlier. Not sure why. She didn't even come over to ask me. Maybe my vehicle looked like I was hiking that night, which I did, but not til 3am. A couple others were not harassed either. Odd.

And, no. I'm not going to get in anyone's face in the middle of the night at a trailhead. Unless you're ready to follow through, that's just asking for trouble.

[GuiGirard]

I was informed by a police officer that sleeping in your vehicle is indeed considered camping. We got a knock on the door at around midnight one time and he did not seem amused when we tried to explain that we were just sleeping in our vehicle, not camping, while parking directly in front of a “no camping” sign. Of course, the sign had a picture of a tent on it so we did not think it applied to us.

Well, that's inherently problematic if that's considered camping at some places and not at other places. I'm thinking of interstate rest areas. Yes people stop and sleep in their vehicles at all hours and mostly "overnight" (whatever these hours are), in cars, RVs, and of course, semis. That is in spite of "no camping" signs posted on literally every rest area I've stopped at.

(Some?) National parks have "no sleeping in vehicles" signs. We can all appreciate the clarity.

Then, as we all know, there are people out there who literally live in their vehicles, for a variety of reasons, and that number went up substantially with the pandemic and remote work. Are they camping too?

What was the grumpy man doing in the parking lot? I would imagine he only got pissed at your headlights because he was trying to sleep (i.e. camping.)

Probably. There are way too many "Karens" in this world, and indeed, by "karening" others, many of them project a lot of their insecurity onto others.
Gotta wonder what would someone do at 3AM on a parking lot that has a no camping sign on it, besides getting ready for a hike, something which I'd imagine he wasn't doing!

[GuiGirard]

If I had chosen to sleep in the back of my SUV in the hiker parking area that night and had NO exterior devices associated with my sleeping in the back of my SUV that night, would I be "camping" and subject to fines/penalties for illegally camping in a hiker parking area?

A similar situation could have arisen at Thirty Mile Campground for my earlier hike of RGP/Window/Window Peak as they have a designated fee camping area and a separate hiker parking area.

Please advise...

Yes and one reason it would be illegal is that camping (assuming that sleeping in your vehicle is camping, which at least some jurisdictions will interpret it as such) is not legal within a certain distance of an organized campground, as would also be in proximity of a body of water. I'm sorry that I can't be more specific about which distances are too close and if there's a nation-wide National Forest uniform distance or if it varies by forest, Google will be more reliable than me on this matter.

[Dave B]

Just tell the cop that you're "overlanding" (make sure to do the air quotes), totally different than camping.

[mtngoatwithstyle]

...and I did find this Summer that some campgrounds in Colorado will not allow for just getting a spot,paying for it and sleeping in the car. They want you to put a tent up and really camp, camp, camp old fashion!.