By car, sleeping in it
$420
Four days in a national forest, sleeping in the car, paying nothing to sleep.
Any city within a few hours of a national forest to Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont, 3 nights. Here is where every dollar goes.
| Rental car, 4 daysAn economy car at about $55 a day. Off-airport branches are usually cheaper than terminal counters. | $220 |
| FuelRoughly 400 miles round trip in something that does 28 to the gallon. | $47 |
| Somewhere to sleepDispersed camping on national forest land is free. This is not a loophole, it is the published rule. | free |
| Food, 4 days$30 a day. Higher than the city trips because you are buying everything at a supermarket and cooking it, including water. | $120 |
| Ice, firewood, and the first-night mistake | $33 |
| Total | $420 |
What costs nothing
- +The sleeping, which is the expensive part of every other trip on this list.
- +Every trail, which is the other expensive part.
- +Dispersed camping needs no reservation, so there is nothing to book and nothing to lose by changing plans.
When this number is true
Every budget like this rests on assumptions. These are ours, written down instead of left out. Prices checked September 2026, and they move.
- ·Dispersed camping is allowed across most national forest land, but not all of it. Rules vary by forest and some areas are closed or need a permit. Check the specific forest before you drive.
- ·The Forest Service counts sleeping in your car as camping. That is good news: it means it is allowed wherever camping is allowed, and it means trailheads and visitor centres posted No Camping include you.
- ·Standard limits are 14 nights in any 28-day period, at least 300 feet from any stream or lake, and within about 150 feet of the road.
- ·Walmart overnight parking is decided store by store by the manager, and local ordinances can override that. Do not build a trip around it.
- ·A car is not a tent. In Vermont outside high summer, this is a cold way to sleep.
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