Have you heard of Harvest Hosts? They are a company where you can buy a membership and camp for free (limits with each membership plan) at participating hosts. Hosts are located ALL over the United States.
On my page “Looking for a Campsite?” I had them listed as a camping resource, but never joined, not until a friend told us that they had joined and were having fun camping at different wineries. We grabbed a discount code, off of a TV commercial, and signed up for a membership.
Depending on what type of membership you sign up for, you will receive a different number of free nights. We signed up for the classic membership so we get one night. You can pay for extra nights at most places. Learn more here – Harvest Host Plans
We live in Southern California and decided to try it out. I had never been to Old Town Temecula, so looked at Hosts in that area. We found 3 wineries and one farm and we chose the ranch/farm. We chose Boot Ranch (TBS Marketing) for a one night stay. We had to request a stay and heard back very quickly that our request was a approved.
Old Town Temecula is a fun town to grab lunch and check out the stores. While having lunch the owner of Boot Ranch messaged to get an approximate arrival time. There was a locked gate that he needed to open for us. When we got there, Gus was there to open the gate and take us to our camping location. We were on top of a bluff with beautiful views of the valley. We received a welcome packet and later Gus checked in with us to see if we needed anything.
Harvest Hosts suggests spending about $30 at the host location. Boot Ranch sells fresh chicken and duck eggs, honey, whipped tallow balm and more … so we got some of the above. We could have taken a tour to see the animals they have on the farm, but didn’t have time .. we may stay there again, who knows.
On the Harvest Host website, you can search a location and see what is available. There are wineries, breweries, businesses, etc … Lots of options. We plan on using it as often as possible and our cross country trip later this year.
A peak at what the Harvest Host map looks like.
Hot air balloons take off every morning, but since there was a cloud cover they didn’t go up. It would have been a great to see the hot air balloons!
Every Harvest Host offers a different experience. Some have hook-ups or partial hook-ups, some are on top of a bluff like where we just stayed and some are offereing a spot in a parking lot. You can get all of the details before you request a stay.
It’s a fun way to meet new people and see new places!
We can’t wait to book our next Harvest Host stay.
Thank for visiting my site!
Karen
Farm fresh chicken and duck eggs. Local honey. Tallow Balm with lots of good things in it.
A look out the RV door where the balloons would have been.
