Last updated: May 21, 2026

26,800 free camping spots
on US public land.
All free.

Dispersed has the largest validated database of free camping in the United States. See how it compares to iOverlander, The Dyrt, and Campendium.

Download Dispersed
36,700+

Camping sites on US public land

26,800+

Of those, free to camp at

15,200+

Of those, dispersed camping

503

USFS ranger district MVUM maps digitized

$29.99/yr

Premium price (half The Dyrt's $59.99)

Feature by feature, app by app.

Every claim on this table is sourced in the methodology below.

Dispersed
Free camping on US public land
26,800+
Dispersed / wild camping sites
15,200+
All sites verified on public land
Yes
MVUM dispersed camping roads
Premium
Offline maps
Premium
Trip planning
Premium
Works without region downloads
Yes
Paid tier price
$29.99/yr
Built specifically for dispersed camping
Yes
iOverlander
Free camping on US public land
Not public-land verified
Dispersed / wild camping sites
20,909
All sites verified on public land
No — includes parking lots, gas stations
MVUM dispersed camping roads
No
Offline maps
Pro tier
Trip planning
No
Works without region downloads
No — one region at a time
Paid tier price
$59.99–$99.99/yr
Built specifically for dispersed camping
No
The Dyrt
Free camping on US public land
10,000+
Dispersed / wild camping sites
10,000+
All sites verified on public land
Partial
MVUM dispersed camping roads
No
Offline maps
Pro tier
Trip planning
Pro tier
Works without region downloads
Yes
Paid tier price
$59.99/yr
Built specifically for dispersed camping
No
Campendium
Free camping on US public land
Roadpass Pro
Dispersed / wild camping sites
Roadpass Pro
All sites verified on public land
Partial
MVUM dispersed camping roads
No
Offline maps
Pro tier
Trip planning
Roadtrippers
Works without region downloads
Yes
Paid tier price
$59.99/yr
Built specifically for dispersed camping
No

Numbers reflect publicly available data as of May 21, 2026. iOverlander's "Wild Camping" category contains 20,909 US listings — their closest equivalent to dispersed camping. iOverlander doesn't verify listings against public land boundaries. The Dyrt's number is taken directly from their in-app Pro feature description ("10,000+ free camping locations"). Campendium operates as part of the Roadpass Pro bundle. We update this page when competitor data changes.

What's free vs. what's Premium in Dispersed

Free in Dispersed

  • All 36,700+ campgrounds on US public land (USFS, BLM, NPS)
  • 26,800+ of those are free to camp at
  • 15,200+ are dispersed camping sites
  • Hidden Gems — community-curated dispersed spots
  • Reviews, check-ins, and photos
  • Federal land boundary overlays
  • One favorites list
  • Contribute reviews, photos, and Hidden Gems
  • Community profiles and contribution recognition

Premium

$29.99/year

  • MVUM dispersed camping roads (no other app has this)
  • Offline map downloads
  • Trip planner
  • Unlimited favorites lists
  • State public lands data
  • Site intelligence, weather forecasts, and regulatory monitoring

Where each competitor wins

iOverlander wins for international travel and raw pin count.

If you're driving the Pan-American Highway, overlanding in Africa, or camping in Europe, iOverlander's decade-plus of global user submissions is genuinely irreplaceable. They also have more raw wild-camping pins inside the US than Dispersed has dispersed sites (20,909 vs 15,200+) — that head start in submissions is real. The tradeoffs: their pins aren't verified against public land boundaries, and you can only download one region at a time.

Read the full Dispersed vs iOverlander comparison →

The Dyrt wins for developed campground discounts.

The Dyrt has built partnerships with 1,000+ campgrounds offering up to 40% off through their Pro program. If you primarily camp at reservation-required developed campgrounds and want booking discounts, that's a real benefit Dispersed doesn't offer.

Read the full Dispersed vs The Dyrt comparison →

Campendium wins for breadth of bundled tools.

Their Roadpass Pro subscription bundles Campendium with Roadtrippers, Togo, and RVillage for users who want one subscription to cover trip planning, RV community features, and campground reviews.

Read the full Dispersed vs Campendium comparison →

Where Dispersed wins

The largest validated free camping database in the US.

26,800+ free camping spots on US public land, all verified against USFS, BLM, and NPS public data. More than any other app's equivalent public-land coverage.

The only app with MVUM dispersed camping roads.

Years of digitizing USFS Motor Vehicle Use Maps means Dispersed shows you exactly which forest service roads are designated for dispersed camping — not just where other users have submitted pins. This is data no competitor has at any price.

Free where they paywall.

The Dyrt charges $59.99/year to unlock "10,000+ free camping locations." Dispersed gives you 2.6x as many sites in the free tier.

Built specifically for dispersed camping.

Other apps add dispersed camping as a feature alongside developed campgrounds, RV parks, or international overlanding. Dispersed was built from the ground up for finding free camping on US public land. Every design decision reflects that focus.

Half the price for premium.

$29.99/year vs The Dyrt's $59.99, iOverlander's $59.99–$99.99, and Campendium's $59.99 (via Roadpass Pro). And Dispersed Premium delivers MVUM data that's not available at any tier from any competitor.

How we counted.

Dispersed numbers

Three different figures, often confused:

  • • 36,700+ — total camping sites in our database on verified US public land (USFS, BLM, NPS). Includes paid developed campgrounds, free developed campgrounds, and dispersed sites.
  • • 26,800+ — the subset of those sites with no fee required. This is the "free camping" headline number used throughout this page.
  • • 15,200+ — the subset of the free figure classified as dispersed camping specifically (versus free developed campgrounds).
  • • Source data is derived from USFS Recreation Sites (data.fs.usda.gov), BLM Recreation Sites (gbp-blm-egis.hub.arcgis.com), NPS API (nps.gov/subjects/developer), supplemented by community-submitted Hidden Gems.
  • • Sites are validated against agency-published public land boundaries before inclusion.

iOverlander numbers

  • • The 20,909 figure is iOverlander's count of "Wild Camping" listings in the United States — their direct equivalent to dispersed camping.
  • • iOverlander doesn't filter listings against public land boundaries, so wild camping pins may include private land or non-public spots.
  • • iOverlander's raw US listing count looks higher than ours, but most of that gap is non-camping infrastructure (gas stations, parking lots, propane fills, water sources, mechanics) plus "informal" pins where someone overnighted in a public park or on private land and didn't get hassled.
  • • When you filter iOverlander to actual campsites on public land, Dispersed has more total sites. They only beat us on the dispersed/wild-camping subset specifically.

The Dyrt numbers

  • • The 10,000+ figure is taken directly from The Dyrt's in-app marketing copy describing the "Free Camping Locations" Pro feature.
  • • The Dyrt has not published a verified breakdown of their public-land coverage specifically.

Campendium numbers

  • • Campendium does not publish a US-specific free camping count in a way that allows apples-to-apples comparison. Their homepage marketing claim of 70,000+ campgrounds includes private RV parks and developed campgrounds not on public land.

This page updates when competitor data changes. If you see something out of date, contact us.

The math is simple.

More free camping spots. The only app with MVUM dispersed camping roads. Half the price for premium. Built specifically for finding free camping on US public land.

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