How to plan shelter at Burning Man

To attend burning man, you need five things: food, water, shelter, transportation, and a ticket. Of these, shelter is likely to be your biggest cost, so let’s tackle that first. If you want to book an RV, plan to do that at the start of the year, as prices will go up and inventory will disappear.

RV or tent?

I won’t sugar coat it: the playa is a harsh place. It’s hot in the daytime (when you may want to sleep, if your preferred exploration time is night), it’s noisy, and frequent dust storms mean that your shelter needs to be windproof and relatively well sealed. That said, you can do just fine (short of a major storm) with a moderately priced tent, the question boils down to how much creature comfort you want, and what price you can afford. I have a friend who brings a carport and sleeps in the back of a rented SUV; I know others who bring trailers, so there’s lots of other options; I’ll cover the main two here.

RV pros and cons:

  • Your own kitchen, with a microwave, sink, and fridge

  • Solid walls block sound better (but not completely)

  • Less dust intrusion

  • Your gear and bike transportation are built-in

  • Built-in air conditioning

  • Lots of space, organized storage

  • You’ll be stuck in the massive gate entrance/exodus line, which takes four to eight (or more) hours to get through

  • RV shower/toilet waste tanks are too small to be off the grid for more than a weekend at a time, which means you can’t actually use them at the burn. You can maybe risk peeing in your RV toilet, but you risk leaks which are a massive pain to deal with.

  • You have to pick it up ahead of the burn, and either suck up massive cleaning fees (over $1000) or spend a full day getting it washed and cleaning it yourself.

  • RVs need to be playa-proofed, with the windows taped over with insulation, and floor covered with plastic to prevent major damage (and then all that removed at the end). The parts aren’t expensive, but it is time consuming.

  • RVs are not fun to drive. They’re slow, enormous, and stressful to operate.

Tent pros and cons:

  • You can take the Burner Express Bus in and bypass the brutal gate line altogether

  • Once you buy a tent, you can reuse it for several years, bringing the cost way down (but you’ll need a place to store it)

  • You can add an AC unit to many tents designed to work with them. Stay tuned to camp updates on whether we’ll support power for AC units this year (it looks like 2026 is probably a yes), please note we aren’t allowing individual tent generators for noise, fume, and safety reasons.

  • Big tents like a ShiftPod are quite comfortable as long as you don’t overcrowd them (ideally keep it to 2), designed for dust sealing and insulation.

  • The camp is planning to offer shade structures over the tent area of the camp, which is the best setup for minimizing heat

  • Your shelter must be 50 MPH windproof and rainproof.

  • In 2026, we’re camping next to a sound camp which operates a dance floor with a large scale sound system. If you’re a light sleeper, you may struggle. Bring high-attenuation earplugs.

  • No kitchen means you’re likely limited to backpacking style meals (which actually aren’t that bad tbh), unless you bring your own cooler and deal with ice runs.

  • Note we are NOT allowing hexayurt tents, or any other structure made from styrofoam, as these cause MASSIVE cleanup problems when the foam starts to flake off, and they function as incredibly efficient rain collectors. You don’t want to be sleeping in inches of standing water!

Cost

A ShiftPod Expedition tent (the standard size) is currently $1,499 new, though you may find them cheaper used. You’ll also need lag bolts to anchor it (about $40) and AC if you want it (~$500). Folx also recommend Kodiak canvas tents (~850) though they’re not as rainproof. You can take your luck with a Coleman blackout tent ($200) but they’re only wind rated up to 35 MPH, which is quite low. Factoring in transportation cost for two people, you’re looking at about $1,300 per person your first year, and then just maintenance thereafter.

A typical medium 25’ RV costs $10,500 to rent from Thursday to Wednesday, as of 2026. I picked these dates to accommodate packing, driving, and cleaning time; it may be possible to do narrower dates if you aren’t involved in setup and/or hustle, and you could pick a smaller RV. Two in a RV is great, three to four is the maximum I’d recommend at the burn—be very careful when evaluating bed sizes, as RVs don’t use standard size beds, and many of them are meant for kids and too short for adults! You’ll also need gas ($400-600), playa prep supplies (~$50), and cleanup detailing afterwards (~$500-$1500). That’s $6,025 per person for two, $4,016 for three.

From this point out, I’ll cover the details of RVing.

Vendors

There are several RV rental vendors, the most notable are El Monte and its subsidiaries, and Cruise America. There’s also an aggregator booking site that’s worth checking, MotorhomeRepublic.com. If you book through MotorhomeRepublic, make sure to confirm the booking with the actual vendor. Generally, people like El Monte customer service more than CA. Avoid peer-to-peer sits like Outdoorsy, they can cancel on you for no reason, they won’t have a backup RV ready for you in case something happens to theirs before your rental, and they’re more likely to panic and blame you if something goes wrong during your rental. If you absolutely must rent from a peer site, be sure to tell them upfront that you’re taking it to Burning Man. They’re definitely going to know.

Dates

You can check this year’s event dates here. I recommend planning to pick up the day before you leave so that you have time to pack the next morning and hit the road. (You weren’t going to leave your packed RV unattended on the street in San Francisco, were you?) It’s about seven hours to Black Rock Desert, but then you land at the gate and have to queue through security, which can be anywhere from four to eight or more hours. Bring food and water that you can have accessible while in line, and plan to take shifts sleeping if you get tired. You can use the time in line to work on taping up your windows. The gate closes in case of rain, so if it’s forecast, I suggest spending a night in Reno rather than getting in line.

The event officially begins 12:01 AM Sunday, but we start building camp on Saturday morning, which means driving up Friday. The temple burns the following Sunday night, marking the conclusion of the event. You’ll probably want to sleep, and drive back Monday, with the exodus line taking up another four to eight hours. That means getting back Tuesday, and then you’ll need to deal with cleanup before returning, which then lands Wednesday. This is why even though Burning Man is only a week, it can consume three once you include packing and cleanup.

RV sizes

What size RV do you need? They come confusingly named Class A (bus), Class B (van) and Class C (what you typically think of as an RV, a box built on a van or truck chassis). What makes the most sense for you depends on what’s available on a price-per-bed ratio, and how many you want to fit. Typically, what makes the most sense is class C. Some people do bring vans, but they’re quite small. Keep in mind that the bus size ones are also even harder to drive and take even more fuel. Another size differentiator is slide-outs: parts of the RV that slide open to make more interior space. These are nice, but break often, and can be a pain to clean before returning.

Bed count

Within each class, RVs come in different lengths and different floorplans. Check the floorplan carefully before booking—note that it may not be in the pictures on your rental company’s sales flow page; try googling the exact name of the model you’re renting to find it elsewhere (for example “El Monte 25’ Class C Family Sleeper”). Somewhere on the site, they’ll also list the bed sizes. A typical setup is like this:

Sure, it looks like you can fit six people, until you start looking at the bed dimensions. The rear bed is typically the nicest, in this 25’ class C example, it’s roughly a queen. The next reasonable space is the bed over the cab, which requires a ladder to get to, and has a low ceiling. That’s also roughly queen. The remaining beds have to be converted from tables and sofas into beds, which means you’re losing those work/hangout spaces. The fold out sofa only fits someone up to 5’8”, and the table/benches convert to a bed that’s only 5’5” tall. Yikes! Even if you filled your RV with pocket pups, all those people would still need somewhere to put a week’s worth of clothes and food, which just isn’t practical, and the AC would struggle to keep up with that much body heat. Add on the amount of playa dust that’ll get tracked in from all the comings and goings, and it’s a recipe for hating each other by the end of the burn. This is why I recommend two to three in this size RV.

Mileage

RV rental companies charge by the mile, with discounts available on pre-purchased amounts. From San Francisco, you’ll need about 800, including driving to/from the rental pickup, so be sure to add that at checkout. Also keep in mind that these unaerodynamic boxes, fully loaded, get a dismal eight or so MPG.

Fees

The rental companies all charge extra “event fees” during burning man season, on top of exorbitantly high rates. These will show up in the fine print on the web check out. They also offer a bunch of extras: insurance, convenience kits, etc… Make sure to check with your insurance on whether they cover RV rentals (I have Travellers, and they do). Usually IMO, the insurance offered by rental companies is not a good deal, but do what makes you feel safer. Even though the beds are odd sizes, you can still save a bunch by not opting for the bedding/kitchen kits, and just bringing your own supplies. Some nights it may be cold, so be sure to pack a decent blanket or sleeping bag. Don’t opt for tables and chairs unless you want to do a whole bunch of extra cleanup on return.

Some companies offer to let you prepay for burning man cleanup. In the past, I’ve found cheaper deals with third party detailers + cleaning myself, but the shop we used is gone now, so I’ll have to price it out again this year.

With many rentals, generator runtime is included, with others it’s billed per hour. In 2026 we plan to have our own shared central generator, so I wouldn’t worry about paying for unlimited generator use, although you may want to use it briefly enroute to run the big AC or the microwave to eat while in the gate lines.

If you don’t dump the propane (this counterintuitively runs the fridge when not connected to power, as well as the stove) RV grey water (sink water) and black water (sewage) tanks yourself at a dump station before returning it, you’ll get charged for each. You can find dump stations online, bring gloves.

Water

Depending on the water setup this year (in 2026, we plan to provide it for you), you may need to bring your own office water cooler style jug supply of water. If that’s the case, you’ll need at least 1.5 gal per person per day, or about 15 gal per person (three 5-gal office jugs). Even if we’re providing it, bring at least one office jug that you can refill from the camp water supply, and pick up a pump on amazon that attaches to the top for ease of use.

Don’t assume that the RV water tank is potable, use it only for cleaning, and use it sparingly, or your tiny waste tank will fill up. I recommend never going #2 in your RV, there is a high likelihood the whole RV will get stinky. With two people, you can probably get away with using it for a week’s worth of #1, but personally, I just bring a nursing home style jug and use that, as it prevents the very gross potential problem of dealing with a leak. (I had to do this at EDC and it was not fun.)

Cargo

You’re going to want to bring a bunch of stuff with you, and most people do this using Home Depot crates. We’ll publish a standardized size for the camp, so that if you need to transport some items in our box truck, they’ll all stack easily. Another advantage of these is that you can stick them outside under your RV after you’ve unpacked them to free up room inside. RVs usually have a bunch of cargo space under the cabin. If you have extra space in your RV, offer up space to your campmates. Just make sure you have open seatbelts if you’re carpooling, and an open space to sleep to take shifts driving and in the gate line.

Bikes

Bikes are required equipment for getting around the playa. I recommend getting a hitch mounted bike rack for your RV from a rental shop such as Sports Basement. Make sure that the RV rental company unlocks the hitch for you when you pick it up, many come locked out by default. Beware that Sports Basement has rules about taking racks to Burning Man, so you’ll need to clean them spotlessly after. Make sure the bike rack can accommodate your style of bike (ebike weight, stepihroughs with no top tube to grip onto). We may have room in the camp box truck to accommodate bikes, stay tuned.

Adapting for the playa

If you want your AC to work on playa, you’ll need to black out the windows. People use reflective insulation like this, and I recommend using outdoor-rated painters tape (bring scissors) to resist the wind/rain. If your RV has a bump-out, cover it with plastic tarp, and tape it down to keep dust out. Cover the floor—I used this, which takes some coordination to deploy (bring a utility knife), but worked great, unlike the paper I used my first year that had to be replaced mid-week. When you get to playa, set your HVAC to recirculate, and never open the windows. Bring a doormat, and use it to wipe down your shoes before coming inside. Try not to wear shoes inside, keep your door open as little as possible, and don’t use the screen door.

Cleanup

When you return, you’ll need the exterior washed, and the interior detailed. There’s a cottage industry of vendors set up outside the burn who will do this for you (if you’re transiting during the day), otherwise be prepared to pay extra at the vendors around the Bay Area. I’m proud to say I’ve never been billed any extra cleaning fee on my rentals. Keep in mind that the playa dust doesn’t simply wipe off—some folx use diluted vinegar, some use Calgon. I’ve had success with both.