Farhatch home

A weekend, in four stops

Farther out. The car comes too.

Read the trip in the order you will live it: pack in the driveway, eat on the road, settle in off the pavement, and sleep beside the car. The route rail keeps your place as you scroll.

4 stages43 guides and toolsPublic land rules, sourced

Start at the driveway

A silver full-size SUV parked on a red dirt track in open desert, with sandstone buttes on the horizon.
Mile 120: the last dirt road to a dispersed site. Photo: Jeremy T. Dyer, BLM Utah / Public domain

Mile 0 · The driveway

Before you go

The car leaves as a complete base. Pack it in an order that still makes sense on the second night.

A person in a puffer jacket loads gear into the raised tailgate of a modern SUV parked on a gravel pull-off above a lake.
The hatch is the first stop of every trip. Photo: Erik Mclean / Pexels
  1. Stop 1.1How to pack the carLoad order, a clear rear view, and the night kit last.Guide
  2. Stop 1.2Car camping essentials checklistEvery stage on one list.Checklist
  3. Stop 1.3SUV camping setupSeats down, a flat floor.Vehicle

All 11 pages in Before you go

Mile 1–240 · Between towns

On the road

A kitchen that rides flat and opens at any pull-off with a view.

A green two-burner camp stove with a skillet and a steel kettle on a table in the Utah desert.
Breakfast on a two-burner, an hour from camp. Photo: Alex Moliski / Unsplash
  1. Stop 2.1Two-burner propane stovesSize, output, and fuel fitting, side by side.Compare
  2. Stop 2.2Cooler or 12V fridgeA cold box chosen by trip length.Decision

All 13 pages in On the road

Last mile · Off the pavement

Settling in

Turn off the pavement with daylight left and set camp off the side of the car.

A visitor stands between a parked car and a tent on a dirt site, red sandstone buttes in the distance.
Car, tent, and a day's light left. Photo: Alex Ennes, BLM / Public domain
  1. Stop 3.1Dispersed camping basicsWhat it is, and how to find a spot.Guide
  2. Stop 3.2Campground or dispersed siteServices against space and quiet.Decision

All 10 pages in Settling in

After dark · Beside the car

Overnight

When the day ends the car is still the base: light, warmth, and a bed that is ready.

A vehicle with a lit rooftop tent and ladder under a dark blue night sky, camp chairs below.
A lit tent and a ladder, a step from the car. Photo: Frank Schrader / Pexels
  1. Stop 4.1Sleep setup calculatorThe night's low and the surface you sleep on.Tool
  2. Stop 4.2Truck bed campingA pad, a canopy, and the tailgate as a porch.Vehicle

All 8 pages in Overnight

Back on the driveway

Unload in reverse: the night kit first, the floor last. Then dry the tent before it goes in the garage.

Start with how to pack the car