Costs
Part of Scenic drive gear under review: the good, the weak and the verdict
Pricing a self-equipped scenic drive weekend, fee by fee
Costing a weekend where you carry your own equipment: cheap site fees, the items sites do not provide, and the purchases a route quietly forces on you.
What to take away
- Site fees on public land are small. Eight to fifteen dollars a night is common.
- What is missing costs more than what is charged. Water and trash removal are the usual gaps.
- Some sites require specific equipment, and the requirement is published rather than implied.
- Budget the consumables. They are the part that repeats every trip.
Carrying your own equipment makes a weekend cheap in fees and slightly expensive in preparation. The arithmetic is simple once you separate the site fee from the things the site does not give you.
The fee is the small part
The BLM's page for Castle Rock Campground in Oregon lists a six site campground south of Prineville. Camping runs year round, with river access along the Lower Crooked Back Country Byway and an accessible vault toilet on site.
Fees are eight dollars per night plus two dollars for an extra vehicle. Sites allow at most two vehicles, and stays are limited to fourteen days.
The same page lists what is absent: no potable water, and no phone service in the campground. It is the first of twelve recreation sites along that stretch of river, with eight further campgrounds, two day use areas and a trailhead.
Eight dollars a night is not the number that shapes your budget. Carrying your own water for a weekend is. Carrying your own water is also the first item on the real packing list for slow road travel.
What the site does not supply
Some pages set out requirements that translate directly into purchases. The BLM's page for the Calf Creek Recreation Area Campground in Utah describes a thirteen site campground with a day use picnic area and trailhead. It is open year round and has toilets, picnic tables and fire rings.
Trash collection is not provided, so all rubbish must be packed out, and the campground cannot accommodate oversized vehicles and has no group site.
It also sets out a requirement for the trail. Restrooms are at the trailhead. On the trail, all solid human waste must be carried out using a portable containment system.
Visitors must provide their own system in a quantity adequate for their group and length of stay. The page names the visitor center in Escalante among the places to buy them.
That is an equipment cost created by the route rather than by preference, and it is published in advance. Gear bought for that route still has to survive dust and wind, which is what the camera gear field list covers.
A weekend budget with your own gear
| Line | Typical | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Two nights of camping | 16 to 30 dollars | Plus extra vehicle fees |
| Water | Containers, bought once | Refills usually free in town |
| Fuel | Largest line | Real consumption on the surface |
| Consumables | Ice, fuel canisters, waste bags | Repeats every trip |
| Trash | Bags, and a place to dispose in town | Pack it out |
Where the money leaks
Buying consumables at the last stop before the site is the usual leak. So is duplicating what the site already provides, such as carrying a stove when every site has a fire grate, or a table you never take out. Read the amenity list before you load the vehicle.
Where to go next
Which equipment survives the conditions in the first place is covered in what holds up on back roads. For the same exercise applied to a history focused weekend, see what a historic route weekend costs.
