Camp Layouts and Logistics#
Small/medium/large camp layouts#
- 2025 City Plan — Walk-In Camping — Where walk-in camping lives this year and what “no cars, carry your gear” means for layout and logistics (survival.burningman.org)
- Camp Resource Guide — Open Camping notes — Why not to “land grab,” and how to size your footprint so cars fit inside your layout (burningman.org)
- Criteria for Camp Placement & Good Standing — Anti “land grabbing” — What Placement flags as bad behavior in open camping; good norms for small groups (burningman.org)
- Event FAQ — Vehicles at Campsites — Can you keep the car at your camp? Plan parking and footprint accordingly (burningman.org)
- General BRC Camping Info — Overview of open vs walk-in vs placed camping; what open camping looks like in BRC (burningman.org)
- On-Playa Resources (Playa Info, maps, directories) — Where to register your camp location and check city maps once you land (survival.burningman.org)
- Family Survival Guide 2024 (PDF) — Kid-friendly siting — Where to camp near services and away from adult content; layout hints for small family camps (survival.burningman.org)
- Survival Guide 2017 (PDF) — Walk-In precedent — Historical walk-in placement and expectations; useful for trendlines (burningman.org)
- Survival Guide 2018 (PDF) — Small-camp safety — Extinguisher placement, sound etiquette, and safe spacing around tents/RVs (survival.burningman.org)
- Survival Guide 2019 (PDF) — Walk-In notes — Earlier map annotations that show how walk-in shifted by year (survival.burningman.org)
- Survival Guide 2022 (PDF) — Small-camp orientation — Historic walk-in notes and on-playa resources to sanity-check your small layout (survival.burningman.org)
- Survival Guide 2024 (PDF) — Walk-In Camping callouts — Last year’s specifics; great baseline for small-camp expectations (survival.burningman.org)
- Survival Guide 2025 (PDF) — Walk-In Camping & Basics — Current rules, water and trash reminders, and walk-in details to plan small camps (survival.burningman.org)
- Airport: “Other Places to Camp” (Plane Camping) — If you’re based at BRC Airport: distance to city, movement options, and logistics (airport.burningman.org)
- Hushville — Quiet Village rules — A plug-and-play-free quiet zone; great reference for low-noise micro-layouts (hushville.org)
- Hushville “Camping in Hushville” — “Like open camping, but quiet”: no generators, no amplified sound, self-sufficient services (hushville.org)
- 2024 Black Rock City Plan — Last year’s block depths and walk-in notes; benchmark for consistent layout assumptions (burningman.org)
- Camp Layouts — Official Requirements — Frontage, fire/service lanes, bike parking, generator siting; includes template links (AI & Figma) (burningman.org)
- Camp Resource Guide — Vehicle flow & parking inside your footprint — Arrival/departure planning; flexible layouting when cars arrive off-schedule (burningman.org)
- Camps & Placement — Overview — Why BRC camps aren’t parking lots; how open camping coexists with placed camps (burningman.org)
- Cultural Direction Setting & Decommodification — Why frontage/interactivity and transparent operations matter in camp design (burningman.org)
- Help Center: Planning a Theme Camp — Size caps (new camps 100’×100’ max), what to plan, and links to Placement resources (help.burningman.org)
- Placement Process & Timeline — When PCQ opens/closes and what to expect; plan your layout before you apply (burningman.org)
- Registered Placement Sectors & Streets — How sectors work and what optional placement means; affects where your medium camp fits (burningman.org)
- Sound Policy Update (2023) — 90 dB @ 20’ inside the city; orient speakers and pick neighbors accordingly (journal.burningman.org)
- 2024 BRC Placed Camps Map (PDF) — Citywide camp distribution reference for neighborhood context while planning large layouts (burningman.org)
- Disorient — D25 Camp (2025) — Current-year size, headcount and address for a placed megacamp; useful as a placement-scale reference. (wiki.disorient.info)
- Disorient — D16 Camp (2016) — Concentric design intent and protecting service roads in a dense footprint (wiki.disorient.info)
- Disorient — D19 Camp (2019) — Debut of a multi-story pallet-rack frontage; lessons for tall frontage and interior lanes (wiki.disorient.info)
- Disorient — D22 Camp (2022) — 224 campers at Esplanade & 6:30; photos and notes show big-camp spacing and flows (wiki.disorient.info)
- Disorient — D23 Camp (2023) — Post-mud year recap for a ~199-person camp; layout, frontage, and access realities (wiki.disorient.info)
- Disorient — Sustainability Efforts — Power re-think and renewable goals that drive generator placement and cable runs (wiki.disorient.info)
- Disorient Wiki — Camp (year hub) — Links to D25/D24/D23/D22 pages with year-specific siting, headcount, and block dimensions (wiki.disorient.info)
- Elephant Camp — Orientation — Arrival expectations, on‑site shifts and how they slot into build‑week cadence. (iloveelephantscamp.org)
- Elephant Camp — Map/Frontage callout — “Got Placement?” entry path + frontage dimensions; example of communicating address & access. (iloveelephantscamp.org)
- Disorient Wiki — Urban plan — How a 200’×400’ Esplanade camp arranges frontage, spine containers, kitchen, and generators (wiki.disorient.info)
- Elephant Camp — Orientation & Camp Design — Build-week roles, power setup, kitchen, bike parking, and layout day for a big placed camp (iloveelephantscamp.org)
- Opulent Temple — Camp Overview — Large sound camp logistics: camp grid power, showers, water sources (opulenttemple.org)
- PolyParadise Survival Guide 2017 (PDF) — Earlier edition with placement-era layout practices and camp ops you can crib (polyparadise.com)
- PolyParadise Survival Guide 2024 (PDF) — Includes “Camp Layout,” showers, greywater, trash ops for a very large BRC village (polyparadise.com)
- Rootpile — Camp Logistics — Concrete dimensions (e.g., 15’×15’ shaded tent plots), parking policy, power grid rules (rootpile.com)
- Spanky’s — Infrastructure — RV policies and camp infrastructure expectations from a long-lived large camp (spankys.org)
Kitchens & storage#
Transport & trailers#
Box trucks and RV hardening#
- Box Truck vs ShiftPod + Monkey Hut (pros/cons) — Tradeoffs on space, heat load, and build complexity (reddit.com)
- Building a Theme Camp — why a 26’ box truck with lift gate — One camp’s recurring box‑truck solution and cost (johnclarkemills.com)
- Camp Box-Truck Rental — real numbers — Current Bay Area pricing snapshot and insurance line items (reddit.com)
- Camping in a Box Truck — Design Recommendations — Entry vestibule/bulkhead ideas, temp walls, and dust control for rentals (reddit.com)
- Camper Report — How to “Burning Man-proof” an RV — Tape + furnace filters on intakes, floor protection, and materials that survive alkali (camperreport.com)
- Corporate Courting — U-Haul olive branch + field tip — U‑Haul’s BM stance and a dusty‑starter field fix for dead box trucks (journal.burningman.org)
- RV Guidelines (official) — BM’s RV reality check: safety, environmental hazards, and best practices (burningman.org)
- Technomadia — 16 Tips for Taking an RV to Burning Man — Dust sealing, wind‑door orientation, and cleanup best practices (technomadia.com)
- Trippingly — RV Tips, Protection & Cleanup — Door “air‑lock” hack, shoe bucket, and filter swaps post‑playa (trippingly.net)
- Bringing a Box Truck — damage avoidance thread — What to tape, what to skip, and realistic expectations on dust ingress (reddit.com)
- DJing at BM — “we rented a box truck for the sound system” — Logistics snippet on moving big gear by box truck to BRC (journal.burningman.org)
- Sleeping Setup in a Box Trailer — shade & cooling brainstorm — Aluminet drape, intake/exhaust strategies, and heat realities of metal boxes (reddit.com)
- Renting a 10’–26’ Truck (alternatives, cleaning) — Enterprise vs U‑Haul, undercarriage wash, cab dust control in BRC context (reddit.com)
- Sleeping in an Enclosed Cargo Trailer (U-Haul conversion) — Door‑wall, side‑door usage, and adding a window A/C in a U‑Haul box (reddit.com)
- Truck Rental Guidelines for Burners (HTruck) — A rental company’s BM policy and why trucks need heavy post‑playa reconditioning (htrucks.com)
- U-Haul “Burning Man” Decal Kit — How to cover logos without trashing the truck; BM landing page (uhaul.com)
- U-Haul AMA for Burners (pricing/cleaning/claims) — Insider Q&A on box‑truck rentals specific to BM week (reddit.com)
- Burning Man RV Cleaning — detailer’s view — Why some washes refuse post‑mud rigs and how to stage a pre‑wash (carwashpro.com)
- Cleaning the RV After Burning Man (Our Take on Freedom) — Time, materials, and process from an indie burner RV owner (ourtakeonfreedom.wordpress.com)
- Reno RV Cleaning — where to wash (thread) — Blue Beacon Fernley, Petro Sparks, and self‑wash practices post‑BRC (reddit.com)
- RV Prep & Post‑Burn Cleaning Tips (community) — How long it actually takes and what never fully leaves (reddit.com)
Build week sequencing & roles#
- Camp Resource Guide (official) — Organizer tools, symposium videos, and best practices that shape build‑week sequencing. (burningman.org)
- Here They Come (2019) — Arrival choreography for large theme camps & art projects; HEaT + Placement coordination. (journal.burningman.org)
- Doing It Right: Theme Camp Management (Camp Soft Landing) — Pre‑event arrival to serve builders; 24/7 ops post‑gate; long duration staffing. (journal.burningman.org)
- DISTRIKT — Camp With Us — Pre-burn work weekends, strike commitments, and expectations typical of placed sound camps. (distrikt.org)
- Homeslice Camp — “Camping with Us” — Pre-burn work days + on-playa setup plan; shows commitments common to placed camps. (camphomeslice.org)
- How (Not) to Build a Theme Camp (2025) — Lessons on sequencing scope, leadership, and avoiding burnout. (journal.burningman.org)
- Change Is in the Air (2019) — DPW guidance to protect survey lines; part of early‑week safety briefings. (journal.burningman.org)
- Community Services during build (2007) — Early‑week ramp‑up of city services; how camps should sequence against them. (journal.burningman.org)
- Coyote Nose: The Garbage Myth (2019) — Resto wisdom that should inform your build/strike staffing plan. (journal.burningman.org)
- Reddit: “How many leads and what are their roles?” — Crowd‑sourced role stacks (camp lead, build, power, LNT, kitchen, frontage, strike). (reddit.com)
- Reddit: “What do you do at Burning Man?” (builder POV) — Typical build‑week routines from veterans; good for calibrating crew expectations. (reddit.com)
- Reddit: Camp management templates — Tools & org practices from camp leads (spreadsheets, shift rosters) used for build week. (reddit.com)
- Reddit: Handling strike (deposits/shift requirements) — How camps structure strike roles & accountability at the end of the sequence. (reddit.com)
- Reddit: Starting a camp — process bullets — From forming comms to “who goes early with heavy tools” and how to stage. (reddit.com)
- Rootpile — Volunteer & Build/Strike roles — Blueprints for recruiting and slotting crews through setup week. (rootpile.com)
- Rootpile — Volunteer roles — Member expectations framed against Burning Man rules; placed‑camp citizenship. (rootpile.com)
- Criteria for Camp Placement & Good Standing — Expectations that affect build week (interactivity readiness, LNT plan, SAP misuse warnings). (burningman.org)
- Cultural Direction Setting & Decommodification (camp obligations) — Role design prioritizing public contribution over private convenience. (burningman.org)
- Cultural Direction Setting: Vision for Residential BRC — Policy backdrop for frontage/interactivity and staffing readiness by gate. (journal.burningman.org)
- Cultural Direction Setting: Where Do We Go from Here? — Placement’s expectations that trickle into build‑week readiness. (journal.burningman.org)
- Department of Public Works (DPW) — The city’s builders; season structure from pre‑event build through Playa Restoration. (burningman.org)
- Disorient Camp — setup timeline & roles — “Setup begins Thursday prior to the event”; who needs to be first on site. (wiki.disorient.info)
- Disorient: Duke’s 2023 Roles — Concrete lead list (transport, power, LNT, frontage, etc.). (wiki.disorient.info)
- Disorient: NYC Container & Build Logistics — Container cutoffs and beginning‑of‑build‑week gear arrivals. (wiki.disorient.info)
- Elephant Camp During the Burn — Day‑by‑day operations & shift roles your build leads hand off to ops leads. (iloveelephantscamp.org)
- Kostume Kult — Burning Man 2023 hub — Includes “Camp Placement” + ops checklists; shows what a public-facing camp ops page looks like. (kostumekult.com)
- Kostume Kult — Burning Man 2024 hub — Join/ops/wiki links used to prep for placement & execution year to year. (kostumekult.com)
- Theme Camp Symposium (index + videos) — Sessions on staffing models, shift coverage, and acculturation that shape build roles. (burningman.org)
- Theme Camp Symposium 2022: “Sustainability—Strategies for Renewable Power” (YouTube) — BRC camp solar strategies and first steps to go renewable. (youtube.com)
- Theme Camp Symposium 2024: “Sustaining & Surviving with Solar” (YouTube) — Camp PV/hybrid power, sizing, and ops tuned for BRC. (youtube.com)
- Ticket site: Box Office opens for SAPs — Dates that matter for build crews needing Will Call + SAP timing. (tickets.burningman.org)