5 places to sleep at Burning Man if you don’t have your own camp

By Christina Nellemann On August 5, 2010 · 12 Comments

Center Camp: Never mind that man’s bare butt next to the ball of pooh. See those people relaxing in tranquil shade? That’s what you’re after. Photo: Jesse Wagstaff

One purpose of Burning Man is radical self-reliance, being prepared for anything and being able to create your own self sufficient home in the middle of the inhospitable desert of Black Rock City. But many show up with no place to camp or sleep. (Believe me, you do end up sleeping at some point.)

Burners crash everywhere, so don’t worry about being bothered or deliberately woken up. In 2007, I spent quite a bit of time at the Black Rock City Library and there were people sleeping all over the floor. Other Burners just stepped right over them.

You can also sleep on or around random art on the Playa, but I recommend getting your sleep in the City. You will be closer to the camps that serve food and drink, and you will be more protected from the sun, cold and dust. If you do end up sleeping in random places, bring a small pillow, a blanket or warm coat, and earplugs. According to the Burning Man website, you are not really allowed to show up at the gate without all your own supplies, including your bed.

If you find yourself without a camp for any reason (say after a mescaline trip, maybe missing some of your clothes) here are the five best places where you can catch some much needed shuteye:

Center Camp

Pros: Plenty of comfy couches and shade

Cons: A lot of people use Center Camp as their bedroom

As the heart of Black Rock City, Center Camp is the central meeting place for all Burners. Musicians, speakers, acrobats and dancers infiltrate the stages of Center Camp and keep up the lively atmosphere 24 hours a day.

The lines for the coffee and tea are long, the lighting is bright and the vibe is dynamic. You will have to be a deep sleeper to crash here.

Skinny Kitty Teahouse

Pros: Smells like black tea and chai

Cons: Popular place to begin or end a parade

Inside Skinny Kitty Teahouse: j_cavera

The massive, clam-shaped dome of the Skinny Kitty camp is a great place to hide from the dust storms. The Teahouse usually has a plethora of couches (some screened from view) in the back of their beautiful shelter.

You can wake up from your nap with a nice cup of their hot or iced tea. The Teahouse sometimes features singers and low-key musicians who perform on the large stage, so you could be woken up by a melodic guitar or by a woman who sings just like Ella Fitzgerald.

Hammock Hangout

Pros: Easy to string up your own hammock

Cons: Popular and fills up fast

Hammock Hangout complete with drink service
(also used as Feature Photo): SanFranAnnie

It’s amazing how well you can sleep in a hammock when you are dead tired. Catch some shade under Hammock Hangout’s giant parachute tent. Hammocks are available for naps or you can bring your own, but know that the camp is also a karaoke bar at night.

Ashram Galactica

Pros: Opulent atmosphere

Cons: You have to win their “win a room” lottery.

This camp is the epitome of class and elegance in Black Rock City. Each night leading up to the Burn, the organizers of the Ashram Galactica Hotel put on a posh dinner and cocktail party with a British Raj theme.

At the party, guests are entered into a lottery to win a room for their use for 24 hours. The “rooms” are swanky, canvas tents with soft beds, room service and electric fans. This is the place to live it up in Black Rock City.

Heebeegeebee Healers

Pros: Pillows provided

Cons: You may be in the way of a yoga or meditation group.

Inside the HeeBeeGeeBee Healers’ dorm: Zaskoda

Looking to get some sleep and a back massage? Heebeegeebee Healers has one of the biggest tents in Black Rock City. One of the best naps I ever had at Burning Man was under the multi-colored sheets of this camp.

You can sign up for a back massage from their professional healers, join in on a yoga session, or just curl up in a corner of their carpet and pass out.

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About The Author

Christina Nellemann

Christina is a world traveler from the Reno/Lake Tahoe area who has been to 20 countries and 14 U.S. states. She is the NileGuide Local Expert for the Reno/Tahoe area and calls Black Rock City her second home.

http://www.kaleidoscopicwandering.com JoAnna

Another good place to crash: Someone else’s tent. My tent was absolutely destroyed from the weather by the end of the week, but some of my neighbors had a big canvas tent that kept out a good portion of the dust and wind (though it was hotter than heck). One of the great things about Burning Man is that everyone is welcome just about everywhere else, so if you need a place to crash, just ask.
k

yes, it’s pretty easy to join someone in their tent. just tell them that you will only snuggle, you won’t try to make moves on them. be sincere, if you tell them that, you’ve got to mean it. at burning man you shouldn’t be trying to be sneaky about sleeping with people.

just be honest about wanting to share each others snuggles and love.
Holly Newstead

Having slept at Skinny Kitty I wholeheartedly agree, it is a fine place to nap!
chance

Skinny Kitty Tea House was a good place to crash but since we have read this posting we are stocking up on sharpie markers and zip ties. Our plan now is to bait the lazy, no planning Vagabonds hippies in to our couch stocked saddle tent, then zip tie them up and draw all over them as the scream for help. We might even make you lick a dead cat or give you to crazy David. Be warned, we are ready.
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ian

LOL!
Miss W

Oh, please don’t even attempt to sleep in the Center Camp Cafe. You will be woken up and asked to move, certainly and fairly quickly, after we make sure that you are not having a health crisis and do not need emergency medical care . Hundreds of volunteers work in all kinds of amazing ways to make Center Camp Cafe a place to meet people and participate. Sleeping is not participating. However, there are sooo many places to sleep that you do not ever need to reduce yourself to vagrancy in Black Rock City.
Jonesy

Oh yes, the artists will love you sleeping on their “Random” art. I’m sure they planned for hippies sleeping all over their project instead of bothering to have their own camp. And artists never ever play practical jokes on people sleeping on their random art. So rest away! You’ll totally be safe. Honest. Oh, and don’t bring any water either.
http://www.zazzle.com/gypsypitcrew HoneyBee

True, but a bit sad.
For an event that is so dedicated to self-reliance, telling people they don’t have to be responsible for themselves is an offensive bit of hypocrisy. Center Camp is not a place to pass out any more than it is appropriate to treat people, art, or property with disrespect, both on or off the Playa. Center Camp is for gathering and performance. Private camps are exactly that: private.
If you are so lame as to not be able to take care of yourself, please, don’t come. The rest of us don’t want to babysit your sorry ass.
Ruby

While I do appreciate fellow Burners giving out good advice, this kind of advice is irritating to those of us who do practice self reliance and try our darndest to not be a burden on others. I don’t enjoy going to the cafe anymore because of the amateur drug users or hitchhiking Rainbow kids who are “sleeping it off”.

My suggestion, if you find yourself far from your playa residence and need to sleep, ASK someone at the camp before plopping your crusty butt down in their space. And please don’t sleep in the cafe, on or near art unless it’s part of the art piece.

There’s a big difference between interacting with someone’s experience and getting in the way of one.
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Bhaskar

Great article Christina! All i can say to the naysayers is that if you haven’t slept outside your designated camp at Burning Man – you’re seriously missing out. It’s amusing to hear fellow burners express themselves in the territorial language of the default world and not be aware of it. I miss those good old days when i had to step over piles of passed out bodies at Center Camp, slumbering in the heat of the mid-day sun – oh the wondrous collective dreams those siesta burners enjoyed, like the dogs blissfully asleep on the streets of India, oblivious to all the maddening chaos around them. Now that’s what i call deep sleep and it’s that kind of deep sleep that truly heals the wounded souls of the civilized default world.

5 places to sleep at Burning Man if you don’t have your own camp

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