You're right ... they don't match my experience.

First of all, I wouldn't call it "stealth camping". Free camping or wild camping or bush camping, or just pitching a tent in a likely-looking spot are better descriptions.


No stealth camping in towns ... depends a bit on the town, and what you might consider the town boundaries. Sometimes you can camp in town parks ... depends on the town and what kind of rules and regs they have posted. I spent a night on a grassy verge surrounding a truck stop/roadhouse in Queensland, right on the edge of a town once ... and that was fine.

As for finding a suitable spot ... I suppose it would depend a bit on where in the world you are. Here in Australia, your chances of finding a suitable spot (outside a large city) are pretty close to 100%. However if you were doing Jasper to Banff on the Icefield Parkway, it would be 0% ... there's no free camping allowed anywhere in the National Park.

As for the type of night's sleep ... again, it would depend where in the world you are. Here in Australia, there would be very little difficulty finding a spot, and should be very little reason why you'd have a bad night's sleep or be asked to move on. However if you did attempt to free camp somewhere between Jasper and Banff, you've got a good chance of being asked to move on.


So if the tour is taking place in Australia, I'd put the percentages at:

No stealth camping in towns over 10,000 people (a number picked out of the air to designate a larger town)

90% chance of finding a suitable spot

85% chance of getting a good night's sleep
10% chance of getting a bad night's sleep
5% chance of being asked to move on (which probably wouldn't happen unless you camped under a "No Camping" sign somewhere)


However, as mentioned, the percentages for other parts of the world will vary. So you might check what the rules for free camping are in various countries or parts of countries.