What overlanding is — and what planning involves
Overlanding is a self-reliant, vehicle-dependent journey to remote places where the journey itself is the point, not just clearing a hard obstacle. Planning a trip means researching the terrain, managing limited resources (fuel, water, power), and prepping the rig to sustain you for several days off the grid. The good news: your first trip should be small, and most of the skill is in the research you do before you leave the driveway.
The steps to your first trip
- Find dispersed camping. Use a crowdsourced app like iOverlander to find free campsites, then confirm you’re on legal public land using the Dispersed Camping layer in onX Offroad before you commit.
- Pick a navigation app. Gaia GPS if you want deep map layers (like USFS Motor Vehicle Use Maps); onX Offroad if you want an intuitive interface and a big database of pre-vetted trails. Most people settle on one and learn it well.
- Build the route. Use a desktop route builder to draw your line along real trails, check the elevation profile, then sync it to your phone for offline use — cell service will vanish.
- Choose a beginner-friendly route. Start with something well-documented and forgiving, like the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail — roughly half pavement, never far from supplies while you learn the ropes.
- Practice etiquette. Stay on existing roads and established campsites. Fragile ground like cryptobiotic desert soil takes decades to recover, and bad behavior is exactly how trails and camp areas get closed.
The mistakes that ruin first trips
- Relying on cell service. Google Maps fails in the backcountry — download offline maps before you leave home.
- Forgetting your tires. Driving pavement at low trail pressure builds heat that destroys tires; air back up at the trailhead, every time.
- Ignoring land ownership. Without the right map layers it’s easy to camp on private or restricted land — which threatens access for everyone after you.
Start here
Pick a navigation app and actually learn it before your first trip — a 7-day trial of onX Offroad or Gaia GPS is the fastest way to see where public land ends and private begins. Then plan one short, close-to-home overnight. The trail will teach you the rest.