For Behind the Shot Part 6, we are featuring photos and stories from Joshua Tree National Park, Assateague Island National Seashore, the Los Angeles Astronomical Society dark sky site and many more! Click here to participate in the 2026 Truck Camper Magazine Calendar Contest and be considered for a Behind the Shot feature.
Dave Riddle
Oregon State Park’s Succor Creek Natural Area
2015 Chevrolet Silverado 3500
2017 Host Mammoth
Camera Used – Samsung Galaxy smartphone
This photo was taken in the Succor Creek Natural Area, in a dispersed camping area about 2.5 miles from the Succor Creek Natural Area campground. We went there with our camper and toad to explore this very remote area of southeast Oregon. Getting there, we crossed three streams that went over the road with two still having some water, and drove a very long 15 miles of very rough gravel and rock road. In the end, the destination was definitely worth the trip as the area is beautiful from a geological perspective, with stunning basalt cliffs and outcroppings, along with the opportunity to find geodes and thundereggs. This area was on our list of places to visit, and despite the roads, it was definitely worth the drive to be here.
Bjorn Green
Joshua Tree National Park, California
2024 Ford F250
2023 Lance 825
Camera Used – iPhone 15
Millie F
Craggy Wash, Arizona
2009 Silverado 2500
2020 Palomino HS-750
Camera Used – Phone
This was taken on the move from Central Oregon down to the warm desert of Arizona for winter. I met up with a friend in SoCal, and after a few days at the beach, we stopped at Craggy Wash for a night. There was a meteor shower that night that we got to enjoy after a long day of driving!
Steve Price
San Luis Obispo County, California
2019 Ford
2019 Four Wheel Campers Grandby
Camera Used – Cell phone
This is at the Santa Rosa School House from 1881.
Krista Wisseman
Assateague Island, Maryland
2020 Chevy 2500
2024 Arctic Fox 811
Camera Used – iPhone
Memorial Day weekend with friends on the beach. This is in the Bullpen at Assateague Island National Seashore.
James Bonnardel
Freeway road stop in Iowa
1995 Nissan Titan
2023 Palomino SS-1240
Camera Used – Phone
Driving home solo to California from Iowa. Just a quick rest-stop type quickie, but on the way back this angle looked pretty neat.
Al Alicea
Los Angeles Astronomical Society dark sky site, Lockwood Valley, California
2006 Ford F350
2025 Arctic Fox 1150
Camera Used – Phone
Our Astronomy club has been upgrading our remote site and I found it only fitting to snap a shot of the new camper. About an hour outside Los Angeles, it’s a great place that still has bortle 3/4 skies. Unfortunately, there is no camping on the site due to Ventura County codes/rules, but since I take care of the property, I was able to take the shot. We are developing five acres just north of the property that will hopefully include camping and will have a clubhouse for overnight stays.
Click here to see all of the photos entered so far in the 2026 TCM Calendar Contest. Enter your truck camper photos today!
