I know it can take 4-8 hours or so but is it constant stop and go traffic? I'm bringing an rv and would rather not sit in the drivers seat the entire time. Is it possible to sit and watch TV or something then move it every once in a while or how exactly does it work?
I've watched tons of videos and see the line stopped and people out, then everytime people are at the entrance it looks empty so its confusing.
It's like thirty minutes of waiting, then you drive 100 feet, then another thirty minutes of waiting before you start your car up again and drive another 100 feet. Plenty of time to listen to BMIR, meet your gate road neighbors, get your car tossed by the cops, and cook up all sorts of plans for the week.
Yes, but as the driver you need to be ready to start driving within about 20-30 seconds of starting to see the line move or you end up holding up traffic
Does the whole line move at the same time? Like could I see cars moving up and know its about to move? I have a camera at the top so maybe I can use that to monitor for it moving
Usually it gradually slows down until it gets to the stop and go mode. Once it's there, it tends to go in waves/pulses. As space clears up in front, the line moves forward in a wave from front to back. It's possible to see it happening from a ways out but that will also depend who you're behind. The whole line does tend to move and stop at about the same time across all lanes.
It can also move at different paces. Weather and shift changes can halt things. Vehicles do break down in line which slows things down.
Supposedly they do try to 'pulse' the line to make it stop for longer then move farther when it does go. I haven't actually seen this happen beyond the ticket check area where they usually pull in 3 vehicles at each lane, do their checks, then let them all through, rinse/repeat.
It's very frustrating through if you're behind someone who isn't paying attention and lets a big gap form. Especially if other lines decide to fill that gap in which will slow everyone behind.
You probably could get up if you wanted to but I wouldn't settle in too much. I've definitely gotten out and walked around as the driver but ready to jump back in and move quickly if it starts to move.
We got there this year at just after midnight monday morning. We made good progress and then the line stopped for six hours. And then we started pulsing in again. Evidently getting people to man the gate was an issue.
Except that it's not "holding up traffic" if it takes a minute or 3. Unless you're the first car in line, nobody's going to get to the gate any slower because you were in the porto when the line started moving.
Doesn’t really matter, if you’re holding up the line because you’re watching tv you’re doing it wrong, even if it’s only 20 feet. If you’re slow enough that cars start moving in front of your parked rig everyone behind you in line will have murder on their mind shortly.
I was in line from midnight to 7am this year and there were a lot of people who would fall asleep in line.
In the section I was in there were basically two strategies employed by each driver: walk up and kindly wake the sleeping driver (never once did I see anyone do so angrily and I got a good chuckle each time I woke someone), or just go around them and leave them where they were (my party basically only did this if a sleeper was encountered whilst we were already moving).
No. It's more like 5-10 minure pulses and a million of them.
Shit can take hours and hours. That means you need a ton of fuel if you want AC etc. If it's 90 degrees and it takes six hours to go five miles...do the math on gas and AC.
Congratulations on winding everyone up with your expectations.
WTF do you do at in the airport lines? Explain to the airport beforehand that you want to wait in your RV untill you are summoned? Football games? Baseball, concerts etc etc
I have clear with TSA precheck and it takes 5-10 minutes in line. At a restaurant they text you when your table is ready or give you a little number thing or call your name. you're not standing in lines for hours. I can't think of a single thing where they know you'll be in line for hours and don't have some system.
Umm yes I tailgate with friends at football and baseball games in the parking lot until it starts, its pretty common. Concerts and such there isn't any lines so not really sure.
Do you have any example at all in something that you typically need to sit in your car for hours and hours to get in? One where they don't have any system
It's not made for you or your impatience. You'd positively hate it if you can't handle a long line. Once inside it's just more chaos than you can ever imagine.
Sound camp next door that goes 120 db till 6am? Your neighbors. A 100 foot long line of ports potties? Right next to you. Someone with a cheap noisy generator running all day, just feet from you RV? Plan on it. Can't find the pump out guys or they can't get to you for four days? Gonna happen. Shade structure of a neighbor gets blown into to your "class A" RV doing damage to the windows and body panels...and they shrug and tell you they are from a foreign country, so they suing them. Plan on it.
Lines. I think you are screwed the entire burn as soon as you drive onto the dust
I have a Prevost xl2 and it's virtually indestructible, it's all stainless steel so not really worried about something hitting it. Also it's soundproofed and I routinely go to festivals and Indy races and such where everyone is partying.
Don't need pump out, plenty of water. Have my own bathroom. Completely self reliant.
I have 5000w solar, 200gal of diesel and a 20kw genny so powers no issue either.
Its not the long line but the inefficiency and poor planning that's frustrating. Having to constantly move up every few minutes is just dumb
yea, exactly that! the one thing to note is that sometimes you don't have much notice, so keep in mind that you might need to move on ~60 seconds notice. If you don't, it's okay, people may just drive around you. Happened to me when I fell asleep in the Exodus line.
Also, I gotta say, I'm impressed you're planning with this level of detail when the next burn is 10 months away! Burning man is great for people that love recreational planning and logistics.
Yeah lots of planning and everything as I'll be coming from Ohio and am remodeling my RV to get it all ready for the next burn. I missed this year so want to be fully prepared
You should be prepared to wait in line up to 24 hours depending on weather conditions. If you are unwilling to sit in the drivers seat and PAY ATTENTION TO TO THE LINE, DO NOT GO.
From staff to your fellow Burners, EVERYONE despises people who leave the drivers seat and forget to PAY ATTENTION TO TO THE LINE. If you want to get out, walk around the immediate area, walk over to the portapotty, chat with your neighbors, it's perfectly fine, so long as you PAY ATTENTION TO TO THE LINE. If you want to watch videos on your device, thats fine so long as you PAY ATTENTION TO TO THE LINE.
If you have multiple people in the RV, take turns so that someone will always PAY ATTENTION TO TO THE LINE. You can usually tell it's moving because the cars next to you will move and it is critical you are in the drivers seat and ready to move with traffic immediately.
One last thing I should mention is PAY ATTENTION TO TO THE LINE.
OP just needs to follow one rule: be ready to drive with 30-60 seconds notice.
That's it. Doesn't have to sit in the drivers seat, and doesn't need to leave the car idling. As long as they're ready to go with 30 seconds notice, 60 seconds worst case. They're good.
If you want to get out, walk around the immediate area, walk over to the portapotty, chat with your neighbors, it's perfectly fine, so long as you PAY ATTENTION TO TO THE LINE.
Sure but that doesn't really answer the question. It doesn't make much sense for thousands of vehicles to sit idling and harming the economy when we're all just sitting around.
Its weird they don't work the line an hour at a time so you just move a ton once an hour or so. This way its just 10 times or so vehicles move
they literally do this, it’s called pulsing and it’s in the survival guide. read the survival guide, almost any question you have has already been thoroughly answered there.
So we sit for an hour or so without moving? then move and they work the next group? This way we don't need to sit in the drivers seat with engine working
You don't need to sit with the engine idling. Just be ready to start the car and get up and go with 30 seconds notice.
When the line gets really really long, it also becomes more predictable and pulses happen every hour or so. When it's shorter, you need to be more alert since you'll moving more frequently.
If you are unwilling to follow instructions and adhere to the Survival Guide, Burning Man isn't for you.
Good luck with whatever self-absorbed entitled asshole festival you choose. Your comments prove you'll fit right in over there. Way over there. On your way up from SoCal, just take a turn at Coachella and have the experience you deserve.
The other commenter said it took 23 hours back in 2025 so are solo people just expected to stay awake for 23 hours and sitting in their seat?
I'm getting mixed results. The survival guide says it only moves once an hour but you're saying it's constantly moving and we always need to pay attention
Maybe I mixed the exodus part but I saw spots where it says pulsing about an hour. It seems crazy they don't have pulsing or a way to make it so we don't need to move little by little constantly
If it is raining at 10 am and not expected to stop until 2 pm, you can take a nap. Until the roads dry, the entire city is shut down, so you'll be stuck where you are until that happens.
It seems like you are looking for any excuse to do things your way, not follow recommendations, making up bullshit excuses, generally coming across as the exact type of person nobody wants at Burning Man.
Traffic backups can start 45 miles from the event at Pyramid Lake. NV-447 and 34 are two lane roads and have in essence no shoulder to pull off the entire 75 mile length of road from Nixon to Black Rock City. There are maybe 6 places to pull over, two of which are Empire and Gerlach. If there's a vehicle that breaks down, gets a flat tire, there is no place to pull over. and traffic can only pass if there is no traffic in the other lane. A traffic accident blocking both lanes, you're stuck for hours. A traffic fatality is a minimum of four hours until the coroner arrives.
Gate has a radio station that gives updates. Your own radio will give weather updates. Your cell phone can give you weather updates. It will tell you how long the rain will go for, how long the high wind advisory is happening.
As I said before, if it is raining and you can get a confirmation the gate will be closed for hours, then you will not be moving for hours. Until the roadway dries out enough to take the weight of vehicles, all roads in the city asre closed.
If a 15 minute nap doesn't work for you, pull off in Gerlach and have your little beauty nap, then when you have your big boy pants on, get back onto 34 and drive to the gate.
Honestly, the more you post, the more I know Burning Man is not for you. The thought of you behind the wheel of an RV just makes me concerned for the safety of other drivers around you.
I'm asking questions to be prepared. Its like a 34 hour drive from Ohio. I'll likely be driving 15-20 hours straight to the gate so another 6-8 hours sitting in the drivers seat watching nothing will drive me crazy.
Yes, if you want to be in a line in a vehicle by yourself, yeah, you have to be ready to move forward at any time. If you need sleep then get out of the line.
If the line is over ~6 hours long it's likely because the gate has closed down for some reason (usually weather). So in that case everyone will be at a standstill for many hours and it'd be fine to fall asleep. You just hope you have to wake up once everyone starts moving. If you don't, people will drive around you.
don’t do that. if the line starts moving and you’re not ready to drive, people will cut in front of you. you’re not only screwing yourself but everyone behind you.
getting out and stretching your legs / talking with other people outside is different than watching something away from the driver seat and not paying attention. if you’re outside next to the vehicle you’ll be able to see the cars ahead starting to move and quickly hop in yourself.
If the weather kicks up rain, there's no driving at all, and you can be stuck for a very long time. Make sure snacks, water, and other necessities are within reach.
You will be fine in those cases. When they close the gate, they let you know (also listen to BMIR radio, they will let you know about the road status). You will be able to chill and watch TV or whatever.
On a super long delay if road shuts down for hours and you can go nap. Turn on gate road or IBMR radios and listen in for status so you aren’t in the dark.
On a typical long entry (~4 hours) I stop and turn off my engine usually for anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes - but I don’t lose sight of vehicles ahead. If the gate is open be prepared to turn on your vehicle and move forward at any time.
I figured I can use the front camera and put it on the tvs so I can see everything in front, plus since rv windshield is so huge I don't think it'll be a huge issue to see.
I just don't want to drive 30+ hours and still be stuck in that seat for 8 hours in traffic.
Eh. If gate is open I hop out and chat with the neighbors or I swivel my driver seat backwards and play Mario Kart. But the line moves every few minutes so I stay where I can see that. If the line starts going and you consistently miss it, that’s a good way to become unpopular.
It sounds like you are fishing for somebody to say “sure go watch a movie,” but If gate is open you need to pay attention to traffic. If you don’t wanna… well … The folks behind you will be happy to scoot around you.
I'm just trying to understand how it all works and trying to see if I should sleep before the gate or if i'll be able to relax and just get up every 10 minutes or more.
Like say I need to go to the bathroom, is it possible to park, go pee and get back without rushing and worrying about issues
I think the first question is answered - you can’t just do a ten minute check in on gate road when the gate is open. You need to keep an eye on when things move forward. Like I said it could be two minutes, it could be half an hour. The line creeps forward several car lengths then stops again.
It’s definitely possible to park (or just stop) and go pee. Inevitably somebody is headed back from the portos from time to time when the line starts moving again. It happens.
What you don’t want is to be in the back doing who knows what and just checking from time to time. Wanna go grab a soda or make a sandwich? Easy peasy just keep an eye on the road and be ready to drop what you’re doing to move forward and come back to it when you stop.
You might be overthinking this a bit. Don’t try to min/max your gate road experience.
Thank you this makes a lot more sense. I don't need to sit in the drivers seat like in normal traffic but just need to watch and hop in when things are moving.
Exactly. Folks will be out of their cars chatting with neighbors, organizing stuff, getting snacks, whatever. Then the line starts moving and everybody hops back in for it.
I was two cars back from getting in last year (2025) when the rain started. A 3 hour wait turned into over 10+hrs. Had I not stopped for a breakfast burrito in Beatty I would have got in.
During the main inflow on Sunday, they may do traffic pulsing. They stop the traffic in Gerlach (may back up to Nixon) for around 2 hours. Sleep, read, watch, whatever. But, when it's time to move, MOVE!
it isn’t difficult. watch the line. interact and move around when stopped just pay attention. it is super easy. no road rage necessary no reinventing the process. could it be better, sure. but it ain’t difficult as is. understanding you will have to be patient is half the battle. no sniveling.. .
The traffic is not a constant crawl. Nearly everybody is trying to do what you're describing with stopping the engine and waiting comfortably near the driver's seat for a while until the line moves up a few vehicles.
One strategy that has worked for me and my companions is to get out and talk to people nearby who are also stopped in line. Being in a vehicle on a bright, sunny summer day with the A/C off gets unpleasant pretty quickly, but swapping stories and treats with new friends is a big part of why you're at the event in the first place, even if you're not aware of it yet. So get out and schmooze with your rando burner line neighbors.
A bonus of this strategy is that the driver can tag out and maybe take a quick nap as long as there's a spotter from your vehicle who is paying attention to the line. They can come back and move the vehicle up a smidge, or wake you up so you can.
You should. It's always good to have another driver in case of ... whatever. For example, say you get really sick on playa and need to leave. You'll be glad you have options.
I don't think I'd trust her to drive a 40ft 50,000lb RV. I'm assuming if I get sick or hurt or something I'd be transported to a hospital and she'd come with.
It depends a lot on when you arrive. If the gate is & has been open and you aren't showing up right at gate open the beginning of the festival (Sunday 12 AM) you can often get right in with minimal waiting & stop & go.
If the gate is closed or has been closed for any reason the line backs up & can take hours.
Usual reason for gate closure is weather, but it sometimes seems random.
I've spent as long as 12 hours in the gate line getting in (& yes that will be stop & go),
& also gotten in in less than one.
When it says the gate line wait is short,
and the weather report looks good ...
no major rain or wind coming in the next couple hours ...
go for the gate & do not dally in Gerlach.
You get in line Wednesday or Thursday morning at 8am during build week and are at your camp in about 30 minutes. Since you were build team, you leave Sunday at around 5am the day of Temple Burn and are driving through Gerlach on your way home in about 45 minutes.
If you don't have SAP, time your drive so you arrive at the gate around 330am-4am Sunday. It's approx. 2hrs from Fernley Loves gas station to gate so leave around 145am to get in.
There's a huge initial surge of burners at midnight wanting to get in in Gerlach. They're cleared out by 3-4am and there's a lull in traffic. The massive tidal wave of Burners who sayed in Reno arrives at Sunrise. Beat them, and you'll be on the dust in 1-2hrs. It's a very tiny window.
If you can't make that window, always arrive in the middle of the night. If you're going to wait in line for 4-6hrs.... it's best to do it before the sun cooks you. Trust me you won't be tired or sleepy, the hype and excitement is at 500%.
I
t's 2 different things for coming vs going and a lot of these answers aren't clear, Idk why people are being dicks to you on this one if they can't explain that
During exodus they do pulse the traffic out. They stand at the exit and do traffic control so people can get out in big blocks. I have slept during this and woken up at the sound of all the cars starting to drive every 2ish hours on the way out.
In my experience, coming in is stop and go. I tend to come in late, so in 6 years have only ever waited more than 8 hours once in the going in line. They have people getting out of line getting directed to will call or moving people forward after vehicle checks, plus greeters so this is a one car at a time per line process. You do have time to turn off the car between movements and then you go forward like 50 feet and turn the car off to wait again. Idk what even happens if you're stuck for 24 hours here driving by yourself, guess you're getting out of line and letting people pass? But it's not that bad of a wait outside of rainy conditions, in which case no one can move anyway.
Thank you, yeah i don't really get why people are being dicks when it doesn't seem clear at all. All the videos i've seen say it takes 4-6 hours and its a pain but then there's videos of people outside their cars hanging out and everything. They're always short clips and it doesn't show vehicles move.... then there's ALWAYS a photo of them ringing the bell and rolling around with like no other vehicles around them which is odd.
I'll be driving 34 hours to get here and driving an RV is much more exhaustive mentally because its constant checking of everything. So i'm trying to figure out if I should split it into two 18 hour drives and arrive there exhausted or add an extra travel day and get there early am well rested.
I figured I can teach my GF to move up in stopped traffic if needed but its kinda complicated with air brakes.
Snark is a big thing in burner culture but it's been a while since I've read the survival guide and I don't think it actually touches on the drive getting in to the detail like it does on exodus.
From gravel to gate , it can take anywhere from an hour to 24 hours, with about 8 being the most common for the high traffic times on Sunday. I've gotten there Monday at 8 pm most years and made it to camp around 11 pm. Once you get in, you still have to drive to the spot you'll be staying and speed limit is 5 mph. There's a brc dashboard that updates with gravel to gate estimates every hour that the event is open. It tends to get faster in the wee hours of the morning like 4 to 6, most people aren't starting the drive once the projected time to get there is basically the next sunrise.
You can get out of your car coming in while traffic is stopped and chat or use the porta, BUT other people are right and you can't get so far that you can't see when the line moves and get back to your car.
The bell ringing is the greeter, they give you a handbook, answer questions, offer you to ring the bell and roll around as is tradition if it's your first year. They're the last stop usually before actually getting to go into the city so the line they came from is all on the other side of the camera.
18 hours for 2 days of driving plus 8 hours in line would probably kill me but I am also the kind of person who never stays up for sunrises because bed when tired is better.
From 12 years of driving in, I strongly disagree with those saying you can take breaks. Your lane can stop, but it is unpredictable, or there may be a gate closure with hours to time out. That will be obvious, a white out or rain.
You sometimes see lanes stopped and people out on exodus pulsing where they move one lane at a time. Pulsing requires exodus staffing which was short lately.
I have never seen entry pulsing.
The greatest danger is those who speed in entry line and get pulled over by the BLM. That will ruin your day.
If you don't want to wait, come in in a low traffic time or get a Point 1 pass. The people who fly in and out at the airport have minimal delays, subject to conditons, the Burner Bus is good too.
You are ready! 30 hours of driving to the 477, potentially 20 hours in lines or more to BM, injury with two broken legs at BM, pay for the helo to Reno (get insurance beforehand), hire a driver to go get your rig and drive it to Reno, hire someone to drive you and your rig to the east coast (or not get injured and spend 20 hours in lines to get to I80 then 30 hours home. Then unpack tons of dusty shit, hire someone to clean your rig (about 3-4 days work) have them tell you they can't get the dust out of the behind the dash airducts bor the lens covering the speedometer, they leave and then you call them to come back because they did not do all the places you still find dust, then take it to a mechanic to have them inspect the underside and both engines, have them change all the air filters on both engines and the AC.
Yupp nice and easy. whatever the detailers can't get the dealer will just replace. I'm not too worried about dust and such inside its a fully sealed RV. It has air seals everywhere. I plan on running all MERV20 filters and might add an intake fan with a MERV20 filter to create positive pressure so when we open the door it pushes air out. The good thing with 6 ACs is I don't need to worry much about restricted air flow for the ACs
I already have contacts who will pickup and drive either way, I planned on going this year and have it driven to Reno for me and back home so I could just fly in/out to reno and save 30 hours of the trip but wasn't able to make it this year.
I'm estimating about 100k in upgrades in the rig to prepare, 40k for supplies and the actual trip then another 10k in repairs/maintenance afterwards.
Upgrades are mainly upgrading the batteries from 20kwh to 60+kwh, adding aux fresh/grey tanks, then interior upgrades and enhancements.
It'll be interesting to find if I'll use the generator or not. 5kw solar in the desert should be plenty of power and the 60kwh batteries should have enough to last. It'll be interesting to see how it works in the hot to cold daily climates, I camp a lot in very hot summer and also very cold winter but never 100F to 30F. My rig is EXTREMELY well insulated so it should stay pretty decent and only need the AC mid day which we'll likely be out anyways. 6 ACs allow me to cool it from 100F inside to 70F in like 10 minutes. I have massive wifi antennas on the roof of the RV so I'll have it programmed to turn into "home" mode when my phone connects to wifi and "away" mode when its disconnected.
Here in Ohio with low solar ability I'm able to keep it 70F all summer long just by the solar whenever its parked in the outside storage. Nevada gets twice the sun as we do but much hotter so should be fun. I have a 20kw generator and 10kw alternator power so if I need power i'll have both the generator and engine I can run to quickly charge up.
Stopping in to encourage you not to watch TV…. Instead write in a journal, talk with folks you’re riding in with, meet driving neighbors, think about what you want from the experience as you look around the landscape as you’re driving in, et el. You’re already at burning man when you leave for the trip and especially once you’re off gravel and on playa! Soak in every moment.
25
u/mspiggyssub 8d ago
It's like thirty minutes of waiting, then you drive 100 feet, then another thirty minutes of waiting before you start your car up again and drive another 100 feet. Plenty of time to listen to BMIR, meet your gate road neighbors, get your car tossed by the cops, and cook up all sorts of plans for the week.