Camping and RVing on a Budget: 10 Free Activities
Let’s face it, camping can actually be quite an expensive hobby! Though it’s worth every penny, we’re always looking for new ideas when it comes to avoiding expensive tourist attractions and staying on budget for our RV trips. Discover the beauty of the great outdoors without breaking the bank. Our guide to camping and RVing on a budget offers a variety of free activities and attractions to make the most of your trip. From hiking and exploring nature to finding free campsites and picnic areas, we hope to help find everything you need to enjoy a budget-friendly camping or RVing adventure.
These are just a few of our favorites:
1. Geocaching
If you haven’t tried Geocaching yet then I would highly encourage you to give it a shot, kids love caching! You are lucky because there are so many resources on the internet to learn about this somewhat secretive hobby. It only requires a free cell phone app and some detective skills to have a whole afternoon of fun searching the outdoors for hidden treasures. Just be on the watch for muggles!
2. Hiking
No matter where you are in the US, there’s probably a hiking trail close by. We use AllTrails to help us find our next place to hike. I love AllTrails because it offers up-to-date information on trail conditions and things to know like parking, fees, and accessibility. Asking locals about their favorite places to hike and see is also a great way to gain information about an area.
3. Spend the day at a lake/beach
Nothing screams summer like a day by the water. We love to pack a picnic lunch and head out early to find a great spot by a lake or river. I can usually find a nearby place by using Google Maps. And the day gets even better if you add in some fishing, bring along some sand toys for the kids, or if you do number 7 on this list.
4. Scenic drives
I don’t know about you, but I love a good scenic byway. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia, the flow, or maybe it’s how I take in the whole beauty of a new area. If there’s a scenic drive nearby you can bet I’m begging the family to go. My kids get a little bored though and I totally understand that. We were all excited to recently discover a fantastic app called Travel Storys - the app features local stories from all over the US. They offer tons of free walking and driving tours and even tours of US National Parks that only cost a few dollars. Our whole family enjoyed listening to the Spanish Peaks tour in southern Colorado last fall and we look forward to more tours this summer as we travel east. It’s just like our other favorite driving app GyPSy Guide, but with more options and more affordable!
5. Festivals and Farmers Markets
Warmer months abound with options for outdoor activities. If the area is new to you stop by the local visitor’s bureau for more information or find a town calendar online before you go. We love joining in on the fun of small-town festivals like when we found ourselves in Round Rock, Texas, one October weekend and decided to join in on the Chalk Walk and had a great time! Most activities like this are free, but if you have a few dollars we always advocate supporting small and local businesses.
6. Improve your photography skills
Whether you have a DSLR, a point and shoot, an old film camera, or just your cell phone, I think everyone would love to improve their photography skills. After all, we are camping in all these wonderful spots, why not show them off or keep a few extra memories for yourself? Taking 100 (or 1000) pictures of your favorite flowers, animals, landscape, or family is going to be much better practice than trying to take just one perfect shot. When you have free time, take an abundance of pictures and share a few of them with your friends and family on social media or even text a great shot to someone who might appreciate it. Grandparents are always wanting pictures of the grandkids.
7. Bike/Kayak/SUP
Assuming you currently own or can borrow one of these items - if you have the equipment, put them to use! All five of us have a kayak and we love to get them out on the water as often as possible. Once again, Google is perfect for this; “best places to kayak in _______________” is all I have to search in order to find the best spot around. Don’t be afraid to ask at a local outfitter shop as well, most are willing to share their favorite locations.
8. Birdwatch
Now I will say I would not consider myself a birdwatcher, but Jason loves looking for birds and listening for their calls. So in honor of him, I would say birdwatching could be a great family activity. I think the next time we go out of state I’m going to grab our binoculars and borrow a birdwatching book from the library to see what we can spot around the campground. You never know, the kids and I might find ourselves enjoying birds as much as Dad does.
9. Make up a new game
This is a favorite pastime of our oldest son, Austin. He loves to make up new games that he and his brothers can play. They’re all very elaborate and lots of fun. Challenge your kids to make up a new game for the family or take the time to introduce them to your childhood favorites.
10. Stargaze
We recently visited Arches National Park and were excited to find out they are an International Dark Sky Park, being city dwellers, we decided we had to take in the night skies. Plus, our oldest just happened to have his telescope with him on this trip! So after dinner one night we packed up the telescope, a few blankets, snacks, chairs, and our red light headlamp and headed back to the park. We spent hours looking at the stars come out. Jason downloaded the Night Sky app to his phone so we were able to name what we were seeing. Meanwhile, I set up my camera to record a timelapse that we were all able to enjoy later.
Whenever we head out for a weekend away or a whole summer vacation it’s easy to get caught up going from place to place and spending dollar after dollar, but don’t forget that many of our kids’ favorite activities are the ones we’d never expect. Our kids LOVE searching out new (to us) playgrounds and then going somewhere for ice cream. It’s how they love to spend their time and we enjoy thae time spent with them as well. I would absolutely encourage you to ask your whole family what they would like to do on your next camping and RVing trip. You never know where you might end up!