With one of the most outrageously fun covers of all time, the 2024 Truck Camper Magazine Calendar is ready to order for $14.99. Check out which winning photo made each month, and read the incredible stories behind them. Order your 2024 TCM calendar today!
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We had an absolute blast reading the stories behind the calendar-winning photos this year. We’re talking world-traveling adventures, crazy weather stories (look out for snow and more snow), fantastic bucket list worthy destinations (we added Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Los Alamo), and immensely inspirational personal truck camping adventures. So much fun.
To maximize your truck camping inspiration, post a 2024 TCM calendar in your house, camper, and/or office wall and dream big – no huge – for next year. Then make plans to make those truck camping adventure dreams come true. Along the way, take pictures of your rig in amazing places, and enter the calendar contest for 2025! Did I just write 2025? Holy cow!
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s calendar contest.
Here’s to 2024!
Cover – Martin Kysel
Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
2016 GMC Sierra 2500
2016 Palomino SS-1200
We have been traveling across North and South America with our GMC Sierra 2500 (a.k.a. El Truckito) and our Palomino SS-1200 since November 2022.
One very famous tourist stop along the way is the world’s largest salt flat, the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. While many visit this site for the ‘mirror effect’ (when the flats are flooded during the rainy season), we had the privilege of arriving in the dry season, which is perfect for taking silly perspective photos!
We had a lot of ideas, but the best was defending our truck camper from a dinosaur with disassembled parts of our camper table. It has become one of our favorite photos from the entire journey so far!
You can find out more about our journey on our social media pages @eltruckito.
January – Matt Nelson
Death Valley National Park, California
2017 Ram 3500
2007 Arctic Fox 990
In early April, I was visiting the beautiful Alabama Hills in California. During our visit, the weather took a turn for the worse. The clouds rolled in bringing cold air, and snow; the mountains were all fogged in for days. I checked the forecasts for the surrounding areas and found Death Valley had a perfect sunny, mid-70s forecast! So, I packed up and hit the road to Death Valley.
I’ve always thought of Death Valley as a desolate and unremarkable place, but I was amazed by how colorful the hills were from various minerals. The magic unfolded during the golden hours of sunrise and sunset, casting mesmerizing contrasts and shadows across the landscape.
This picture shows my fantastic dispersed camping spot with incredible mountain views in Death Valley National Park. This road has designated sites for dispersed camping. There was not much traffic during the day and none through the evening. It required a free permit from the ranger’s station to camp there.
You can also see my Starlink peaking its head up. With Starlink, I was able to spend a whole week working for my day job with full service and spend my evenings exploring the park.
It was really interesting to explore old mining sites, learn about the rich history of the area, and visit the lowest elevation in the United States. I also made a trip to The Racetrack to see the area of the park where the rocks move on their own, leaving a trail behind them. I was towing a Jeep, so I took the Jeep. While not technically challenging, that road to The Racetrack would have been a rough drive with the camper.
February – Lance and Flo Wende
Utahraptor State Park, Moab, Utah
2022 Ram 5500
2023 Host Mammoth
After searching most of the day to find that perfect spot, we stumbled upon this amazing site on a Sunday afternoon. Even though it was in a very heavily populated boondocking area, we found a site away from everyone that was very quiet. It was not far off the main highway and about fifteen minutes to Moab, so we were able to get out and explore easily almost every day. Having a Jeep and being so close to all the iconic trails was a nice extra to a spectacular site with views. Though the rate for stay was $15/night, it included porta-potties and a trash dumpster.
The road back to the campsites takes you a back way into Arches National Park. You can only use this entrance if you have a National Park Pass. There’s also a hidden arch called Tower Arch that’s only really accessible by off-road vehicles.
Moab is one of our absolute favorite places to go and in our five years of full-timing, we typically go there twice a year. This photo was taken just after a short thunderstorm with super-high winds. We had to unfortunately watch another rig’s awning completely tear off while the owners were away.
March – Lori Dasko
Lost Dutchman State Park, Arizona
2016 Ford F-350
2022 Cirrus 820
We have found Lost Dutchman State Park, at the base of the Superstition Mountains, to be one of the most breathtaking camping spots in Arizona. It’s also very convenient to Phoenix where our truck camper dealer is located.
We typically try to stay at state or county parks when we travel and this one is a jewel. Legend has it that a gold mine found in the Superstitions by a Dutchman in the 1870s was lost again after his death, hence the namesake of this state park. We enjoy hiking and biking among the beautiful and serene desert scenery here, including stately Saguaro cacti which live to be hundreds of years old.
This photo was taken while a superbloom of yellow flowers, called Brittlebush, was occurring due to the previous wet and cool winter. It was our first time seeing a superbloom and we were excited to capture an image of our truck and camper among it.
From previous visits we knew that lovely sunsets are also a usual sight at Lost Dutchman State Park, so on this evening we timed the photo to catch the setting sun’s orange glow and last light on the desert.
April – Steven Osburn
Spring near Meadow, Utah
2019 Ford F-350
2023 Northern Lite 10-2
We live in Western Washington, but love taking trips into Utah in the spring when the weather at home is gray and raining, and Utah is sunny and not too hot (yet).
This trip centered around joining a group of friends at Canyonlands National Park for a week of hiking. Rather than rush there and back, we extended our trip on both ends to be out longer and enjoy the journey.
We typically boondock, but stay in RV parks and campgrounds if they are more convenient. On this trip, like most, was a mixed bag of places to stay.
On our way to Canyonlands, we passed through Ely, Nevada, and we recalled seeing a Facebook post by a friend who had found a natural spring in Western Utah earlier in the year. It was on our way, so we found it and decided it was a good place to spend the night.
The spectacular sunset and serene setting made for a great photo. The spring we camped near was too cool to sit and soak in, but for some reason, there were small, tropical fish swimming in the spring. That made it even more interesting. I wish we had time to spend more than one night here, but we had to be on our way.
After leaving the springs we pressed on to Canyonlands National Park, where we stayed in the group campsite in the Needles District. Since we were there for a week, we dropped the camper to drive to nearby trailheads.
With our 400 watts of solar power, we didn’t have to start our generator even once (unlike some of our friends who needed to run generators daily). Conserving water and wastewater was a bit more challenging. Regardless, we made it through the week with water (and tank capacity) to spare! The key was quick camper showers, and using the campground restroom during the day.
After Canyonlands, we started the second half of our adventure, which began at Hovenweep National Monument in Utah, where we saw Puebloan villages built between A.D. 1200 & 1300. Then it was off to New Mexico where we dropped the camper at Bandelier National Monument. This allowed us to visit Native American settlements from around 11,000 years ago at Bandelier, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park in Los Alamos, and the prairie dog towns at Valles Caldera National Preserve.
We had planned to head next into Colorado and circle back to Washington from the east, but the Rockies were still too full of snow for camping. We decided to head west and plan on a coastal return instead starting with, “standin’ on the corner in Winslow, Arizona” on our way to California.
In California, we found a hot springs campground just south of Death Valley (Delights Hot Spring Resort – great place!), and then on to Alabama Hills for a couple of days of boondocking. If you get a chance to go there, make sure to check out the Movie Museum in Lone Pine before you get to Alabama Hills. It helps you appreciate the area even more.
Unless you’re a full-timer, all trips must end. From there we worked our way up the coast toward home. On the way, we did the occasional Google search for “Breweries Near Me” to sample the local flavors!
May – Ben Watts
Southern Utah
2019 Ford F-250
2013 Four Wheel Camper Hawk
For my wife’s 40th birthday, we made big plans to celebrate as best we know how. We opted to escape the grey skies of our homeland in the Pacific Northwest and travel to southern Utah in our Four Wheel Camper in search of some sun and solitude. A long drive south and several days of exploring later, we had succeeded in finding plenty of sunshine. However, we had yet to find much in the way of solitude.
Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands were gorgeous as always, but the crowds were borderline oppressive. We had been listening to Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire throughout our trip. The irony that we were in a way contributing to the “industrial tourism” Abbey famously loathed. And the fact that we were largely experiencing his beloved desert via a recreational vehicle (which he also was not fond of) did not escape us. Nevertheless, we were inspired to find some semblance of the Utah Abbey once knew.
Our quest drew us far from town, away from the national parks, and deep into the vast yellow-shaded lands labeled BLM on our map. In short order, the lines of cars waiting to get into the parks were far behind us. The sights and indications of man’s influence on the land were, aside from the road we traveled, increasingly non-existent. We were getting close. A turn off the highway and some teeth-chattering washboard eventually led us to a place we felt Abbey might recognize.
Our campsite offered up expansive views of red sandstone cliffs and stark desert landscapes found elsewhere on our trip, but with one big exception. There was not a single soul in sight. Nor did we hear, see, or otherwise encounter another human for the duration of our stay. These opportunities, and places to experience them, are increasingly rare. Thankfully, with a good map and a little know-how, opportunities to revel in the enchantment of our public lands are still out there to be had.
June – Steve Seketa
Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories
2018 GMC 3500 HD
2020 Lance 1172
This was the first long trip with our 2020 Lance 1172 truck camper and 2018 GMC 3500HD. We spent June, July, August, and early September traveling through Canada and Alaska. Overall, it was a 14-week 19,144-mile trip; 3,200 of those miles were on gravel and mud roads. We talked about, dreamed about, and researched this trip for three years.
This picture was taken in late June of 2023 (6,808 miles into the trip) at the end of the road in Tuktoyaktuk. Having the truck camper has changed the way we camp. We now have better capability to travel to interesting remote locations with the creature comforts we enjoy.
We drove approximately 600 miles each way from Dawson City up the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean. While the road conditions were as bad as the comments we had read, the scenery and adventure more than made up for the slow, bumpy, dusty, and muddy drive. We took eight days to travel up and back.
We boondocked all the way there and back and stayed at the Tuktoyaktuk campground on the Arctic Ocean for two nights. During our stay in Tuktoyaktuk, a pod of Beluga whales came through the area. While driving on the Dempster we also saw a Grizzly bear, several fox and moose, and countless Tundra Swans.
We enjoyed this trip up the Dempster so much that we are planning a return trip in 2026 and plan to take 10 to 12 days to explore the area better.
In preparations for the trip, we added 460 amp hours of LiFePO4 batteries, a 3,000-watt inverter/charger, DC-to-DC charging, airbags, a rear sway bar, and Torklift Fastguns and frame-mounted tie-downs.
July – Anne Marie Lewis
Mount Shuksan, North Cascades, Washington
2013 GMC Sierra 3500
2013 Eagle Cap 850
Forty-one years ago, I began highlighting our travel routes through 48 states and 8 Canadian provinces on a map. Now tattered, taped, and dog-eared after so many years of use, that same map points me to the places we haven’t visited.
And that’s how we came across the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington state in mid-July of this year. There was a spot on the map with no highlighting plus a few references to trails in the area on the Washington Trails Association website.
Our (loose) plan was to boondock in the area for three nights, giving us two full days to explore the mountains. Despite the overcast and chilly weather with fog shrouding the mountaintops, the hiking was spectacular.
I took several versions of this picture each day, but they just weren’t what I was hoping for. On the morning of the fourth day, the sun was shining brilliantly. After a moment’s thought, we decided to stay another night.
By the time we finished hiking and returned to this spot, a brief period of sun revealed Mount Shuksan’s summit and the glaciers spilling down its flanks. I parked the camper and rushed to the opposite side of the small lake to get the shot that I had been waiting for.
August – Josh Gould
Prince Edward Island
2021 Ford F-250
2023 Scout Kenai
In the Spring of 2023, we picked up our long-awaited Scout Kenai. Between the sale of our previous truck camper and the pick up of our Kenai, we made extensive upgrades to our F-250 to go further and camp at harder-to-reach boondock locations.
While our rig is built for Overlanding, boondocking, and dry camping, it lacks air conditioning. In the summertime, it’s ‘north we go’ for cooler temperatures.
When you’re from New Hampshire, ‘north’ means Canada. After exploring Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Labrador, and Quebec the previous summer, it was time to check off our last Maritime Province; Prince Edward Island.
After driving down the most technical off-road trail we’d been on – a beautiful beachside spot in New Brunswick on the Bay of Fundy – we were met with a horrible thunderstorm soon after setting up camp. The thunder was so close and so loud it kept the whole family awake through the night. This was a preview of the challenging weather we’d have for most of the trip. The next day it was time for my wife and I, our 8-month-old daughter Lincoln, and our two labradors to head to “PEI”.
For most of the trip, we never saw the sun. We darted all over the island looking for sun or at least trying to avoid the areas that were getting rain. It wasn’t only the lack of sun that became challenging. The damp weather and lack of breeze brought out the notorious Prince Edward Island mosquitos.
Arriving at another campsite equally as beautiful as the one in our picture, we were welcomed by hundreds if not thousands of mosquitos. In an attempt to get out of the truck to take a picture I was covered in mosquitos and they flooded the cab of the truck just by opening the door.
As we dotted along the North Shore of the island we started to check campsites not for their nice views or how quiet and secluded they were, but simply by if the mosquitos were tolerable enough to get out and set up camp.
On our last day, our luck changed for the better. The sun came out to dry things out, warm us up, and show the beauty of Prince Edward Island. We tried to pack in as much fun as we could.
We spent the day in Charlottetown, the capital of PEI. The downtown was beautiful and the streets were filled with friendly people who seemed to all be celebrating the sun and the end of a wasted week of their precious short summers. We walked, shopped, ate, and drank all over the small city until we were content and ready for a relaxing evening camping.
We knew Seacow Lighthouse was a popular place for boondockers and it was a beautiful location. It did not disappoint. We arrived early to settle in at the best site right on the famous red cliffs. With the warm sun and a light breeze, there wasn’t a mosquito in sight.
After the dogs and I climbed down the cliffs for a swim, we sat in our camp chairs and stared out at the ocean watching the fishing boats motor around as the red-orange sun began to set. After a week of challenges, we had the perfect day. It all came together on our final night and made it all worth it.
That’s just how camping and travel goes. Sometimes you just have to work for it. Do what you can with what you have and make the most of the conditions. Even in challenging circumstances, it’s still time with your family, out there trying to explore and share an experience together.
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September – Don Mammoser
2020 Toyota Tundra
2023 Outfitter Caribou Lite 8
This photo was taken about half-way through a month-long trip where my family of two young girls, my wife, and I were exploring Utah and Arizona.
Back when there were just three of us, we traveled extensively. Some of these adventures lasted for months at a time with just a pickup truck and a topper shell that I built out for sleeping.
That space quickly became too crowded when our second daughter was born, so we ordered a Caribou Lite 8 from Outfitter Campers. We are simply thrilled with our choice and the Caribou Lite 8 is perfect for us.
We picked up our new truck camper in February of 2023 and planned an inaugural 30-day trip for April. The Tundra and camper served us well as we zig-zagged through Utah and Arizona, encountered some nasty spring weather, and traveled rough 4×4 roads through the desert.
We love having a one-piece, off-road-capable camping set-up that allows us to explore wherever we wish to go. We dry camp almost every night and rarely think about staying at any campground or established facility.
Our Caribou Lite truck camper gives us much more comfort than we were used to with our old set-up. For almost 10 years we lived without things such as heat, a refrigerator, and an area to sit inside during inclement weather. Now, we plan to go further and for longer periods of time. We’re excited to have our girls grow up with truck camping.
This image was surprisingly easy to get. We were exploring the Lake Powell area and found this large pull-off near the Wahweap viewpoint. Both of our girls were hungry and it was lunchtime. We had no particular place to get to, so we popped the roof and felt lucky to have such a marvelous view out our dinette window while we ate a leisurely meal. I simply walked up the little hill nearby in order to get this exact view with our truck camper in the foreground and the lake behind.
Thank you to all who voted for my image and feel free to follow us on Instagram and YouTube.
October – Dawn Elsbree
Dolomites, Northern Italy
2019 Toyota Tacoma
2019 Four Wheel Camper Fleet
We are Dawn and Andy, currently on an expedition to drive around the world in our Oregon-plated Toyota Tacoma with a Four Wheel Camper Fleet pop-up.
It had been a lifelong dream of ours to travel around the world, but it took us 32 years of marriage and raising and launching three children before we were finally able to make the leap of faith. We sold our house and took off on our journey in 2019. We started with traveling the United States and Mexico and, when the world opened up to international travel, shipped our truck from Baltimore, USA to Liverpool England.
Having the pop-up camper is an ideal traveling situation for us, especially when driving around Europe. Mountain and village roads are small and having the mid-size truck and low profile is ideal. The Toyota has been a great choice as it is sturdy and reliable. And when something does go wrong, Toyota dealerships are worldwide.
We find our camping spaces using two apps; Park4Night in Europe, and mostly iOverlander in the United States and Africa. The apps are free and users take the time to give honest reviews, cost information, and feedback on the variety of sites.
We always love a wild spot but, in heavily traveled areas, these can be hard to find or even illegal. The apps help us figure out the local rules. Traveling with a truck camper overseas has definitely made us appreciate the endless BLM and National Forest free sites we have access to in the United States!
We always know we are inspired by something when we eagerly reach for the camera and start taking pictures. As it is the two of us on this journey, we have switched our passion from taking pictures of our children and pets to capturing our beloved home on wheels in front of stunning views.
This photo was taken last year as we were winding up a year of driving around Europe and preparing to ship to Africa. Throughout our lives together, we have explored the outdoors and found remote mountain drives and trails.
Our happiest place is always the rugged mountains. This view of the Dolomites in Italy took our breath away. Our time in these mountains was special to us, knowing that in a month we would be in Africa and saying goodbye to snow capped peaks for a long time. It was also taken on our 33rd wedding anniversary!
If you would like to follow along with us we have a blogsite at roguewanderers.com and are on Instagram @2roguewanderers.
November – Matthew Breiter
Death Valley, California
2020 Ram 3500
2022 Arctic Fox 1150
We took our truck camper down a winding gravel road in Death Valley National Park. If we had a large Class C or a Class A motorhome, we wouldn’t have been able to make the tight turns and steep sections on the road. We camped in the Furnace Creek Campground and used Starlink during our stay.
This photo was taken toward the beginning of our trip, which was several months long to escape the cold of the Midwest. If you’ve never been to Death Valley, we highly recommend checking it out! Our favorite time to visit is between November and March. Death Valley has some shorter hikes and you can even climb on sand dunes. If you’re lucky, you may find some mud cracks in washes as well.
Feel free to follow us on Instagram @infinite.explorers.
December – Gary McNicols
Warren, Idaho
2022 Chevrolet 3500
2014 Arctic Fox 1140
The owners of these three campers have camped and RVed together for 60 plus years. When we were kids, we camped and RVed with our folks. As adults, we took all of our kids too.
We do all types of RVing from camping at RV parks, state parks, national parks along with Harvest Hosts and sometimes moochdocking at friends or relatives. Our favorite kind of RVing is boondocking.
This trip came about because my nephew had an elk hunting trip planned for out of state. When it came down to it, all the other people that had tags were unable to go. We tried to get some of the tags transferred with no success. So myself and his pops and another uncle of his decided we would go as support crew. All of us love hunting, fishing, camping, and just being outdoors.
Upon arriving in Warren Idaho, we found a nice flat place to camp at about 8,000 fee and set up camp. I must add it was our first boondocking trip that we were able to take Starlink for RV. With a few other gadgets, we were able to communicate perfectly between basecamp and the hunting parties. We were also able to watch our favorite college team, the Oregon Ducks, play their Saturday football game.
We then started scouting for the elusive bull elk and mule deer. The first couple of days of scouting we located several big branch bulls and lots of small bucks and then it started snowing light, fluffy, drifty, dry snow. The first day of snow was about 6 inches. Once it started snowing, we never saw another bull elk. We continued to see lots of small bucks. We saw a giant bull moose, but we did not have a moose tag.
We saw lots of beautiful country and lots of wildlife, but it kept snowing, and snowing, and snowing. All the campers were four season, cold weather campers, but it never really got cold. The lowest was 19 Fahrenheit (-7.2 Celsius).
Once we had about 24 to 30 inches on the ground, we decided we should get the heck out of Warren. The light dry and fluffy snow and a little breeze created drifts totaling 3 feet plus. So we all chained up all four wheels and exited stage left before we got stuck there for the winter. We all made it out safely and, needless to say, the elusive bull elk and mule deer bucks are safe for another year.
The Back Cover
All 11 Runners-Up are showcased on the back cover of the calendar:
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