The setting near Quartzsite, Arizona was epic with 412 truck campers and their owners camped in one place. The event? The 6th Annual Truck Camper Adventure Rally, where nearly 700 owners participated in four days of learning and fun in the desert. The participants came from 38 states, seven Canadian provinces, the UK, Mexico, and Argentina.
The rally is open to the owners of not only slide-in truck campers, but also chassis-mounted campers, truck toppers, DIY campers, and truck caps. The rally is held every February in Quartzsite.
An educational event with an emphasis on safety and responsible use of public land, all classes are taught by enthusiastic experts in their respective fields. The rally itinerary consisted of workshops and classes, food, music, a truck camper open house, contests, and a huge Saturday evening raffle supported by over 25 sponsors which included the biggest names in the industry. Goodie bags were given to the first 300 owners who checked in.
Kingstar Campers and the Off-Road Safety Academy were the headline sponsors for the big, four-day event.
The rally is hosted by Truck Camper Adventure, an online magazine for truck camper enthusiasts. The emagazine, which covers all types of truck campers including, slide-ins, chassis-mounts, truck toppers, and camper shells, was founded in 2015. The web magazine’s readership averages 2.5 million per year.
The first truck camper rally was held in February 2020, a month before the COVID pandemic hit.
“We weren’t sure if a boondocking rally would fly, but it has in a major way,” explained Mello Mike, founder and senior editor of Truck Camper Adventure and event coordinator. “Truck camper rallies are typically held at RV parks with full hookups, so we weren’t sure if there would be any interest having an off-grid rally, but as you know truck camper owners are a different breed. Boondocking is in our DNA. The growth of the rally has surprised even us. In 2020, we counted 45 truck campers, this year we had 412 truck campers. Of course, any event like this wouldn’t be possible without the many volunteers who teach classes and help run things.”
Over 25 Sponsors provided a wide variety of raffle prizes and free swag. The cost of admission included one raffle ticket. The sponsors included Battle Born Lithium, LiTime Batteries, Redodo Batteries, which together, provided five lithium batteries for the Saturday evening raffle. Sponsors included nuCamp, Elevation Off-Grid Trucks, Bowen Customs, Tern Overland, StableCamper, Hellwig, Torklift International, Outposts Campers, and Zero Declination. Additional sponsors included Northwood Manufacturing, Host Industries, BundutecUSA, Froli Modular Sleep System, SkyMed, Omnia, For the Health of Our Pets, Compocloset, Zero Breeze, the Pit Stop, and Cool RV Everything that performed onsite vehicle weigh-ins during the event.
Known as the Boondocking Capital of the World, Quartzsite is the perfect place to hold an RV rally with seven designated BLM areas, five of which can be camped on for free up to 14 days. Not only is there a plentiful amount of public land in Quartzsite, but the town is supported by an RV infrastructure that is quite unlike any other place on earth. Like previous Truck Camper Adventure rallies, the event was held at the Roadrunner Wash BLM area 6 miles south of Quartzsite. The rigs were parked in two main groups—one for solar power, the other for those with a generator. The rigs were spread out over an area of 16 acres with plenty of room to camp either as a group or individually. A good number of Cirrus, Four Wheel Camper, and Northern Lite owners opted to camp in groups.
The large outdoor gathering drew truck campers of all makes and models with an excellent mix of hard-side campers and pop-ups including several flatbed models and truck toppers. As expected, industry heavyweight, Lance Campers, led the way with an impressive 79 truck campers present with Northwood Manufacturing taking second with an superb showing of 59 campers (52 Arctic Fox and 7 Wolf Creek). Northern Lite surprised everyone with an impressive third-place showing of 43 campers which included the brand-new 610 model for smaller trucks.
Other makes did well too with a high number of campers at the rally. Adventurer Manufacturing took fourth place with 30 truck campers (15 Adventurer and 15 Eagle Cap), while Host took fifth place with 28 truck campers, with Four Wheel Campers a close sixth place with 27 truck campers. Other makes and brands with strong showings included nuCamp Cirrus with 24 campers, Northstar 17, Bigfoot 9, Hallmark 8, and Kingstar and Alaskan with 6 truck campers apiece. A total of 11 DIY campers were also counted, a record. A few EarthRoamers as well as Tiger Adventure Vehicles were also in attendance.
Three truck camper manufacturers debuted new or improved truck camper models at the rally. Jim Waters at Lance Campers debuted the brand-new Squire 605, a lightweight camper made for half-ton and mid-size trucks, while Rugged Mountain owner Jesse Collinsworth revealed the production model of the new and improved X-14, a large non-slide flatbed camper offering up to 1,350 amp hours of lithium and 1,600 watts of solar. Taylor Ripp at Outpost Campers unveiled the improved Outpost 6.5 model featuring a number of upgrades over last year’s initial release. According to Ripp, the 2025 Outpost 6.5 is lighter, stronger, and more powerful than ever before. Stay tuned for the official announcement here at Truck Camper Adventure in early March.
A large number of classes were taught during the big, outdoor event, which included Bob Wohlers of the Off-Road Safety Academy who taught a 2.5-hour clinic on off-road recovery. Additional topics included Boondocking, Truck Camper Preparadness, Starlink, EOG trucks, Photography, Payload Ratings, Alaska Preps, Drone Operation, Solar Power, Lithium Batteries, Truck Camper Cooking, and traveling with pets. All of the classes were taught by experts in their respective fields. This rally, of course, couldn’t have been possible without their generous support.
Entertainment was provided by the Border Hookups, a talented husband and wife duet who performed acoustic music on Friday night.
Judges recognized the best truck camper rig at the rally. The criteria used to choose the top rig included not only good looks but also functionality both off-road and off-grid. Any truck camper modifications and restomods made by the owner are a bonus. The top honor went to Terry McNeilly’s Northern Lite/EOG/Bowen Rig, with 2nd Place going to Randy Garmon’s Bison Overland Flatbed Rig, and 3rd place going to Michael and Twylla Comeaux’s Lance Camper Restomod. Honorable mentions went to Lance and Flo Wende’s Host Mammoth Rig, Steve Dunn’s Bear Adventure Vehicle Rig, and Brandon and Mallory Denney’s 1966 Del Rey Camper/1968 Chevy Rig. Look for detailed stories on these builds soon here at Truck Camper Adventure.
“We attended the 2022 TCA Rally and had so much fun we couldn’t wait for 2023,” said Terry McNeilly, winner of the 2025 Top Rig Award. “Life happened and we didn’t make it again until this year. It has only gotten bigger and better, the vendors, the classes, the music, and most of all, the people. We love wandering, checking out the rigs and meeting everyone. We enjoy the unique individual builds, meeting their builders and discovering the myriads of clever ideas. We’ve spent many hours on our own build and it was thrilling to win Top Rig at this year’s rally. We are humbled that we won since there were so many incredible builds. We can’t wait for the next one!”
Third place winner Michael Comeaux echoed McNeilly’s sentiments.
“We had an absolute blast. We had an incredible time connecting with fellow truck camper enthusiasts, checking out some truly amazing rigs, and sharing stories from the road. The energy, camaraderie, and passion for adventure made the whole experience unforgettable. The level of creativity and craftsmanship on display was inspiring, and we’re still in awe of the incredible setups we got to see,” he said.
The itinerary included an Omnia Stovetop Oven desert cookoff as well as a chili cookoff. Julie Bonnardel took 1st Place for the Omnia cookoff with 2nd Place going to Karen Riggs and 3rd Place going to Bev Brown. The competition was even keener for the chili cookoff which featured 20 entries. Marie Montbrand took 1st Place in the chili cookoff with 2nd Place going to Craig Doman and 3rd Place to Patrick Carroll. Prizes and swag were awarded to those who placed in each event.
Unlike last year’s rally which enjoyed near perfect weather, this year’s rally was marked by lots of wind and a little rain which knocked the dust down a bit. In spite of the wind and rain, however, the temperatures were nearly perfect with lows in the 40s at night and highs in the 60s and low 70s during the day. The attendees were also blessed with several spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
The raffle prizes included five 100 amp hour lithium batteries courtesy of Battle Born (Dragon Fly Energy), LiTime, and Redodo. The headline sponsor, Kingstar, even pitched in a Vitrofrigo 3.2 CU DC Refrigerator. In addition, high value gift certificates were provided by our friends StableCamper, Elevation Off-Grid Trucks, BundutecUSA, Outpost Campers, Hellwig Products, Torklift International, Froli, Midland Radios, For the Health of Our Pets, Klean Freak Body Wipes, and the Pit Stop. The raffle prizes included Victron Battery Monitors, Omnia Stovetop Ovens, Wolfbox Dash Cams, Radios, Recovery Boards, Gas Cards, surge protectors, and a custom blanket.
Some attendees would like to see even more truck campers at future events, but Mello Mike, the lead organizer, doesn’t see that happening.
“This rally isn’t really about numbers and pushing merchandise, it’s more about strengthening ties in the truck camper community. We love the truck camper and the mobility and independence that it provides. The purpose of the rally is about sharing ideas, meeting up with old friends, making new ones, and having a good time. We don’t want to get too big—400 truck campers is as big as we want to get, anything bigger would be difficult to manage. Large events like the Overland Expos lose the camaraderie, closeness and familiarity among the attendees simply because they are so big. We don’t want to do that with our rally.” he said.
Those who attended are encouraged to send their favorite videos and photographs to TCA for use in social media posts and future announcements. Send your favorites to Mello Mike at mellomike62@gmail.com.
Coule you tell me if there was any Fleetwood Angler there besides mine?
In the topics of the classes you failed to mention the Alaska presentation.