Campsite Math

Memberships

Is Boondockers Welcome worth it? Here is the night it starts paying

Overnight stays on private property, hosted by other RVers, with no camping fee.

Break-even nights, at three nightly rates

Boondockers Welcome replaces the nightly fee altogether, so the saving is the whole nightly rate you would otherwise pay. The table uses the Boondockers Welcome plan at $79.00 a year, read from the official page on 2026-09-19.

Annual fee divided by the saving on one night, rounded up.
Your nightly rateYou save per nightBreak-even
$35 a night$35.003 nights
$50 a night$50.002 nights
$70 a night$70.002 nights

Count only nights at participating parks, and only nights you would otherwise have paid for.

The limit that caps this: Stays run from one to five nights depending on the host.

What each plan costs

PlanPriceWhat you get
Boondockers Welcome$79.00Unlimited overnight stays with no camping fees at private community hosts; 3675 community hosts listed

What shrinks the saving

  • Stays run from one to five nights depending on the host.
  • It is also sold inside Harvest Hosts bundles, so compare the bundle price before buying both.

Questions people ask

Is Boondockers Welcome worth it?

It pays for itself once you spend more nights at participating parks than the break-even number. At a $50 nightly rate the break-even for the Boondockers Welcome plan ($79.00 a year, read 2026-09-19) is 2 nights. Below that, the membership costs you money.

How much does Boondockers Welcome cost?

Boondockers Welcome: $79.00 a year. Read from the official page on 2026-09-19.

How do I calculate the break-even point for Boondockers Welcome?

Divide the annual fee by what you save on one night, then round up. Boondockers Welcome replaces the nightly fee altogether, so the saving is the whole nightly rate you would otherwise pay.

Is Boondockers Welcome the same as Harvest Hosts?

No, it is a separate program at $79.00 a year with private hosts rather than businesses, but it is also sold inside the Harvest Hosts bundle at $169.00.

Is it cheaper alone or in the bundle?

Harvest Hosts Classic at $99.00 plus Boondockers Welcome at $79.00 is $178.00 separately, against $169.00 for the bundle, so the bundle is $9.00 cheaper at the prices we read.

How many nights before it pays for itself?

Divide $79.00 by your nightly rate, because a host night replaces a paid night in full. At a $50 site that is 2 nights.

What should I watch out for with Boondockers Welcome?

Stays run from one to five nights depending on the host.

Run it with your own numbers

The free worksheet does this sum for every membership at once, in a spreadsheet that recalculates as you type, or on one printable page.

Get the free worksheet

Compared with the others

What we do not know

Everything above comes from the program's own page, read on 2026-09-19. These we have not read from a source, so we do not answer them:

  • which hosts have hookups
  • anything about safety or host quality

We also publish no opinion on campground quality, availability or whether a program is a good company. We have not stayed a single night in any of them.

Sources