400,000 Boondocking Spots: iOverlander vs Campendium

Over 400,000 GPS-tagged camp spots exist across the two apps combined, and most boondockers I talk to are using the wrong one for how they actually camp.

That’s not a knock on anyone. When I started full-timing back in 2018, I used iOverlander almost exclusively because a van-lifer I met at a rest stop in New Mexico swore by it. Took me about eight months to realize I was missing whole categories of dispersed BLM sites that were sitting right there in Campendium. The two apps look similar on the surface. They solve pretty different problems.

Here’s what I tell people when they ask me which one to download: the answer depends almost entirely on how remote you want to go and how much you trust crowd-sourced data from strangers versus data that’s been lightly curated. Let me walk you through what I’ve actually found using both, in real conditions, on real roads.

What each app is actually built for

iOverlander started as a tool for overlanders crossing international borders, people driving the Pan-American Highway, crossing into Central Asia, doing Africa. That DNA is still visible. The app’s strongest suit is remote international locations, and the community skews toward vehicle-based travelers who are comfortable with minimal infrastructure. In the U.S., it shines on spots that are genuinely far out: four-wheel-drive required, no cell signal, no amenity list to speak of.

Campendium was built with North American RVers in mind from the start. It launched in 2014 and has leaned into the full-timer community specifically, which means the review ecosystem reflects people who actually live in their vehicles rather than weekend campers. The filtering options reflect that: you can sort by rig length suitability, cell carrier signal, hookup availability, and whether dogs are allowed. That’s useful. Really useful, especially when you’re trying to answer “will my 38-foot fifth wheel fit here without backing down a half-mile of bad road.”

Neither app is perfect. Both rely on user-submitted data, which means spots go stale. I’ve shown up twice to iOverlander locations that had been gated off, once in the Arizona Strip and once outside of Moab. Campendium has fewer of those dead-ends in my experience, probably because its user base turns over reviews more frequently in popular U.S. areas.

The data gap that actually matters for boondockers

Here’s a figure that surprised me when I dug into it: according to Campendium’s own public stats, the platform currently hosts over 50,000 free and low-cost campsite reviews in the U.S. and Canada, and roughly 34% of those include user-reported cell signal data by carrier. iOverlander doesn’t capture carrier-specific signal data at all.

For boondockers who work remotely (and a lot of us do), that 34% figure is not just a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between committing to a site and driving two hours to discover you have no Verizon signal for a Monday morning call. I’ve started using Campendium’s cell filter as my first screen before I look at anything else.

That global number is where iOverlander wins decisively. If you’re planning anything outside North America, Campendium becomes nearly irrelevant. iOverlander has documented sites in 168 countries as of this year, with particularly dense coverage in South America and Southeast Asia, where overlanding communities have been contributing for over a decade.

Side-by-side: what each app does better

A few things in that table need a word of explanation. The offline maps situation is important if you camp where you lose signal before you reach the site, which is most of the good spots. iOverlander’s offline capability is genuinely free, which is a meaningful advantage. I tested this on a trip into the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in February 2025: downloaded the region the night before at a Flying J in Yuma, then had reliable offline access to all the cached spots for three days with zero cell signal. Campendium’s offline feature requires the premium subscription, but $35.99 a year is not exactly breaking the bank if you use the app regularly.

The road condition notes gap is worth flagging for truck-camper and van people specifically. iOverlander’s community is much more likely to leave detailed notes about “requires high clearance past the second wash” or “gate is locked November through April.” Campendium reviews trend toward “beautiful spot, very quiet” – more lifestyle, less logistics.

How I actually use them together

My workflow as of August 2026: I open Campendium first, filter by free sites, set my rig length ceiling (I’m in a 24-foot Class C), and toggle on cell signal if I have any work obligations that week. That gives me a shortlist. Then I cross-reference every shortlisted site in iOverlander to read the road condition and access notes. If a spot shows recent iOverlander check-ins with positive road reports, I feel good. If the last iOverlander visit was 14 months ago and nobody’s left notes, I call that a yellow flag.

A few worked examples from real trips:

Hartman Rocks, Gunnison, CO → Found the general area on Campendium, filtered for free dispersed, confirmed T-Mobile signal present → Cross-checked three specific pullouts on iOverlander, found one with a May 2025 note saying “road washed out past mile marker 4, walk in only” → Chose a different pullout, no issues, two days of solid 4G.

Anza-Borrego State Park boundary, CA → iOverlander surfaced a site on BLM land adjacent to the park that wasn’t in Campendium at all → Drove it, confirmed the spot, added it to Campendium myself with cell data → That listing now has 12 reviews, current as of this spring.

Outside of Terlingua, TX → Campendium showed six nearby free options with Verizon signal, needed that for work → iOverlander had notes on two of them flagging a flash flood risk in the arroyo adjacent to one → Avoided that one, camped elsewhere with no issues.

That last scenario is exactly why you want both. No single app has the full picture.

The honest limitations neither app will tell you

Both platforms suffer from the same fundamental problem: recency bias in reverse. Popular spots get reviewed constantly and feel reliable. Obscure spots might have one review from 2021 and nothing since. That 2021 review might describe a wide-open pullout that is now a gated private drive. I’ve walked into this situation more than once, and you will too.

Neither app does a good job of integrating with current fire closure data or seasonal road closures from the USFS and BLM. You still need to cross-reference those independently at campgrounds.data.fs.usda.gov or the relevant BLM field office page. This is the step most people skip, and it’s the step that will strand you.

There’s also no great verification system for hazards. Anyone can add a point. I’ve seen iOverlander spots listed as “safe and accessible” that required a high-clearance 4x4 to reach. The community generally self-corrects over time, but “over time” is not helpful when you’re making a routing decision at 4pm.

Sources

• Campendium public site statistics (2026): Platform-reported campsite count and feature data, campendium.com
• iOverlander contributor data and app documentation (2026): Site count and country coverage data, ioverlander.com
• Recreation.gov and BLM public land data: Official dispersed camping boundaries and closure information, recreation.gov
• USFS National Forest Campground Data: Seasonal road closure and fire restriction records, campgrounds.data.fs.usda.gov
• Rvers Online Full-Timer Survey (2025): Community-sourced data on app usage habits among long-term vehicle dwellers

Photo: Dziana Hasanbekava via Pexels