What this is
Muddy Tires maps free and low-cost places to camp, fill water, dump tanks, find propane, grab a shower, and break up a long drive — coast to coast across Canada. The core map and data are free, and will stay free. We pay for it with a few honestly-disclosed affiliate links and gear recommendations — never by paywalling the map or selling your data.
Most camping apps show you a pin and a vibe. We show you a pin and where the claim came from, because the difference between "free Crown land" and "park backcountry that'll fine you" is the difference between a good night and a bad one. Every legal claim traces to a source, and anything we can't verify is labelled as unverified rather than dressed up as fact.
What the camping badges mean
A BC Recreation Site — a government Crown rec site that's free or low-cost. We only call something "likely free" when a government source backs it.
Outside any mapped park (could be free Crown land or private — we can't confirm tenure from the data), or a conservation reserve. Treat it as "probably, but confirm on the ground."
Inside a provincial-park boundary, so it's backcountry that needs a reservation, permit or fee. Not free, even if it looks wild.
Community or OpenStreetMap data we haven't checked against an authoritative source. Useful, but unconfirmed.
Honest about the limits: most OSM campsites don't carry a "free" or "private" tag, so a site outside a mapped park gets VERIFY, not a free claim. Loading each province's government Crown-land layer (Ontario and BC are done; Quebec, Alberta and others are in progress) is how that gets sharper.
Where the data comes from
- Government open data (Tier A): Parks Canada, provincial parks (BC, Alberta, Ontario and more), Crown-land use atlases, BC Recreation Sites & Trails, Alberta Public Land Use Zones — all under Open Government Licences.
- Wildfire & weather: CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) national fire perimeters and 24-hour hotspots, and Environment Canada weather alerts. An unset fire flag means "no active fire reported as of the last update" — never "safe." Fire bans change daily; always confirm locally before any open flame.
- OpenStreetMap (ODbL): campsites, water, dump stations, amenities and roadside curiosities, attributed and shown as community-sourced.
Claims get a freshness date and decay over time — a road-access note older than a Canadian freeze-thaw cycle is automatically downgraded to "unverified for the season" rather than left looking current.
Who runs it
Muddy Tires is built by a solo developer on the NxTLvL stack, by someone who actually travels this way. Follow the build and the road on Instagram @vamping_vampers.
What actually costs money
Only the printables, and only if you want them. The map, the guides and the region pages stay free. The shop sells the same researched content as print-ready PDFs — log books, trip planners and province-by-province free-camping spot packs, with bookmarked tab-ready pages and both A4 and Letter. Instant download, nothing ships.
There is also a small tees shop from the same brand at vampingvampers.com if you would rather wear it than print it.
A few honest answers
Is it really free? Yes — the map and guides cost nothing. Some links to gear and services are affiliate or referral links; if you buy or sign up through them we may earn a small commission or credit at no extra cost to you, and that keeps the lights on.
Can I trust a "likely free" pin? Trust it as a strong lead, not a guarantee. Land tenure, fire bans, and local bylaws change. The badge tells you how confident we are; the final check is always yours on the ground.
Do you sell my data? No. The newsletter list is used to send you guides and road intel, nothing else.