ESSENTIAL OVERLAND APP: onX Offroad now shows dispersed camping

More than 80 million Americans went camping last year, and more than half had a difficult time finding campsites or making reservations, says Molly Stoecklein, senior communications manager for the onX apps. Stoecklein says she was referencing The Dyrt’s 2025 camping report.

“Legal and responsible dispersed camping is a solution,” she says. “And that’s where onX offroad’s layer comes in — the industry’s first digitized information source of vehicle-accessible camping spots on roads and trails in the national forests.”

OnX Offroad calls itself the leader in off-road maps and GPS technology, empowering powersports and overlanding enthusiasts to explore 615,000-plus miles of motorized trails and 852 million acres of public land. Built for off-roaders, by off-roaders, the company says it strives to create the most complete, current and accurate mapping app available on the market.

The new map layer was unveiled at Overland Expo West in Flagstaff as part of a recent upgrade to its Offroad app. The Offroad app is GPS enabled, meaning it shows where you are within a few feet even when you lack cellphone service. You can download higher resolution maps when you have better service for more detail on the map.

Before onX added the feature, adventurers could download an motor vehicle use map (MVUM) from most U.S. Forest Service districts and see dispersed camping locations that were marked with a dot. Hard copies of those maps sometimes were available at kiosks outside Forest Service offices in places like Canjilon, but usually you had to go into the offices, which are not open on weekends or holidays. Also, the government offices are not staffed at all in some areas, though friendly forest officials have left the maps outside when I called and said I was arriving after staffed hours.

The new service is an improvement over relying strictly on the federal government, onX said.

“However, this (government-driven) solution didn’t allow you to aggregate all that information in total, in one place,” Stoecklin said in an email. “Furthermore, many forests did not have a downloadable map available, and more didn’t list camping corridors on those maps. So we’ve done the legwork to make that information accessible. Putting the data layer into the onX platform — one is able to use all the navigation tools and other features of onX alongside that camping spot information.”

Overlanders often rely on more than one app, as each one has its own strengths. The MVUM maps, which display within Avenza maps after a free download, better show some spur roads such as Forest Road 535A, 539Q and 539M near O’Neil Landing in the Jemez without zooming.

Dispersed camping is remote camping on public lands, including Bureau of Land Management or Forest Service, away from campgrounds. This type of camping has grown in popularity especially since the pandemic, offering a remote natural experience away from crowds and stinky pit toilets. Overlanders favorite thing about it: In areas it is allowed, dispersed camping is free. It also doesn’t require reservations or dealing with recreation.gov and its extra fees.

At its launch, the dispersed camping layer on onX pinpointed nearly 140,000 miles of roads and trails in the U.S. national forest system, according to onX. When toggled on, the layer highlights these road and trail segments in bright yellow. Users click on the road or trail for an area’s unique regulations.

The dispersed camping layer includes vehicle-accessible corridors on U.S. Forest Service lands in New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, as well as Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. The app developers say they plan to expand the coverage nationwide later this summer and to include dispersed camping on other federal lands in the future. The layer is currently available to onX Offroad premium and elite users.

The onX app is free to download, but charges a recurring yearly cost of about $99 for elite service. It has recently been offering deals for summer holidays, so be sure to check the cost. The company offers other apps for hunting, fishing and backcountry.