It’s no secret that we love boondocking. We’re big fans of the beauty and peace & quiet that remote camping locations offer. But en route from point A to point B, it can also be handy to find a quick place to stay. So it should come as no surprise that we also love all sorts of free overnight RV parking.
Not only is free overnight parking a great way to save a few bucks, but it can also be more convenient to just find a place to park for the night, without having to check-in, hook up, etc… only to have to undo it all in the morning. We love hearing about unique overnight parking experiences from our fellow RVers, so in today’s post, we’re sharing some tips to help you find free overnight RV parking for your upcoming travel adventures.
What is Free Overnight RV Parking?
Some businesses and locations provide space for free overnight RV parking. We enjoy staying in these spots when traveling between destinations. Popular parking locations include many Walmarts, Cracker Barrels, truck stops, casinos, and Cabela’s (although bad behavior on the part of some thoughtless RVers has put that last one in the news, as some locations bar overnighting).
Businesses that allow overnight parking in their spacious lots offer tremendous conveniences to travelers who need a good night’s rest before resuming a long road trip the following morning.
There are probably more places than you realize that allow you to park your rig overnight… as long as you obey the rules and abide by the free overnight parking etiquette.
Free Overnight RV Parking vs. Camping
When using free parking, RVers don’t set up camp. These parking spots are meant to provide a safe place to get a good night’s rest with the intent that travelers move along the following morning.
There are usually no services provided such as power connections, water, or dump stations, although once in a while you do find a gem or two with such amenities. Most simply offer a safe place to stop and rest at no cost, and often a restaurant or a place to shop.
RVers should be especially mindful to leave free overnight RV parking areas in good or better condition than when they arrived. Many free overnight RV parking locations are being eliminated because overnight visitors leave trash or disrespect the land or lot in various ways. As we mentioned, the recent news that many Cabela’s are no longer allowing overnight parking for RVers is pretty infuriating, since it’s the actions of some fellow RVers that often lead to things like that. ????
We certainly don’t blame businesses for prohibiting overnight parking if some people are abusing the opportunity, thus causing issues or expenses for the establishment. But we hope most travelers respect the hospitality being extended by these businesses and abide by the rules imposed by each business and by the general rules of etiquette we establish as an RVing community.
When considering overnighting at a truck stop, be cognizant that truckers are working, and need their rest to stay safe.
An important note:
When overnighting at truck stops, remember that hard-working truckers come first. They need their parking spaces, showers, food, and other amenities, and they very much need their rest as a matter of safety. Most truck stops have overnight parking areas designated for RVs, so please try to avoid intruding on truckers’ spaces unless they’re designated for RV use as well. Truckers are working, and they’re sharing their truck stops with us. For this reason, we generally try to avoid truck stops altogether unless 1) We’re arriving very late, so that most truckers who need the spaces are more likely to be in for the night already, and 2) There’s ample additional space available for any truckers who arrive after we do.
The Escapees RV Club (are you a member? Join now and we’ll contribute 100% of our affiliate income to their C.A.R.E. Center!) offers a great document outlining all of the rules of etiquette for parking overnight:
Download the RVer’s Good Neighbor Policy from Escapees (PDF)
Is Free Overnight RV Parking Legal?
The legality of overnight parking can vary from state to state and also from city to city. In some cases, businesses can decide whether they’ll allow overnight RV parking or not, but in other cases, this decision is not in their control.
Many cities and municipalities have laws that prohibit overnight RV parking. In many of these cities, individuals have abused the privilege and forced authorities to craft legislation prohibiting the practice. In some cases, RV parks have lobbied their local government to ban overnight parking, which they view as competition.
RVers who seek free overnight RV parking should contact the business in advance and verify the law and the policies of the business. No one wants to wake up to “The Knock” on their RV door in the middle of the night and be forced to find a different spot — or worse, get fined for parking illegally.
Our Favorite Way to Find Free Overnight RV Parking
There are many popular options for finding free overnight RV parking. But there is one that stands out from the rest.
Let’s take a look at our favorite method for finding a safe, free and legal overnight spot to rest when we need an overnight break en route to our destination.
OvernightRVParking.com
Hands down, our go-to resource for finding free overnight parking is OvernightRVParking.com. It was already a great value on its own, but since it’s now a part of Togo RV, joining gets you access to all the resources available in a Togo RV Plus membership: RV GPS navigation, premium trip planning with RoadTrippers plus, and lots of great discounts!
Upgrade your RVing experience with ToGo RV Plus. One annual subscription gets you access to Roadtrippers (a comprehensive trip planner), OvernightRVParking.com (for finding free overnight RV...Show More
Upgrade your RVing experience with ToGo RV Plus. One annual subscription gets you access to Roadtrippers (a comprehensive trip planner), OvernightRVParking.com (for finding free overnight RV parking spots), the ToGo RV-Safe GPS (for RV-specific turn-by-turn navigation), and access to savings on RV Tires (save up to 45% on major brands).
Save $10 on your subscription when you sign up using coupon code RVGEEKS.
Show LessWe love this resource because it currently has more than 15,500 RV parking and “no parking” locations across the United States and Canada (sometimes, knowing that you CAN’T park overnight somewhere is just as helpful as knowing where you can). We’ve loved this resource so much that we’ve been loyal subscribers since we discovered it many years ago.
With a database now up over 15,500 free and/or NO overnight RV parking locations throughout the US & Canada, OvernightRVParking.com is a useful resource that pays for itself very quickly!
We appreciate the fact that this is not just crowd-sourced data but that the website administrator calls businesses and property owners to verify free parking locations and collect information. The administrator also offers incentives for information by extending membership subscriptions in exchange for updated/new information.
This helps to secure the most accurate, up-to-date, and reliable information regarding free overnight RV parking. It also means that the website and its information base continually grow as more users submit information.
We find it especially helpful that each listing provides specific details about the parking spot. This helps to remove the guesswork in finding a safe and pleasant overnight camping spot.
OvernightRVParking.com is a tremendous resource for travelers. The website offers a user-friendly interface that makes finding information about your next overnight parking spot a breeze.
If you use this resource for just a single night during your travels, the money you’ll save on a campsite can easily pay for an entire annual subscription. It’s pretty hard to argue with that!
Benefits of Overnight RV Parking
There are many benefits to free overnight RV parking. If you’re still on the fence about whether or not it’s for you, consider these perks.
No Need to Unhook or Set Up Camp
One of the most significant benefits of overnight RV parking is not having to unhook or set up camp.
The layout of our RV allows us to be able to live perfectly comfortably without extending any of our four slides during a parking lot overnight. We can access the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom without extending the slides, so we keep everything pretty well packed up for travel, enjoy our rest, and hit the road early the following morning.
Quick, Free, and Safe Place to Sleep
There can be some inherent dangers in searching for dispersed camping spots in the dark or pulling over to the side of the road at night because your driver is perilously exhausted. Parking in a business lot allows you to avoid these sorts of uncomfortable situations.
It’s not difficult to find these locations as they’re often in populated areas not far off of your route. Camping in places with a generous amount of traffic and the presence of fellow RVers can provide a sense of safety and security for the night.
Convenient When on a Long Journey
Perhaps the best feature of free overnight RV parking spots is the convenience. It’s a real comfort to be able to find places to stop for the night that are often right off the interstate/highway during your travels. That makes them easy to access and easy to depart.
Many free overnight RV parking locations offer helpful amenities like fuel, a restaurant, groceries, and ICE CREAM!
It’s frosting on the cake when a free overnight location has a fuel stop, a restaurant, or a place to pick up a few grocery items. These are big perks for travelers in the middle of a long road trip.
Finding free overnight RV parking is simple, and the experience is a real help. In return, we trust that our fellow RVers will respect the opportunity being offered to us, leave each location as clean (or cleaner) than they found it, and whenever possible, patronize the business as a thanks for their hospitality.
If you’ve enjoyed unique places to stay overnight for free in the midst of your travels, feel free to comment and share them with us and all of our readers in the comments down below.
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I recently watched a video where you were discussing the number of items regarding operating the RV one of them ended with yourself and John commenting on fueling at a gas island instead of The truck islands. Could you help me by telling me what video ended with you discussing fueling at the gas island I simply can’t remember enough about it to find it again. Thank you for all the wonderful things you do for us.
Hi Patrick! Thanks so much for your kind words. I think this is the video you’re looking for: https://youtu.be/Z60BW-JL-ss
If you happen to stumble across a safe convenient location that will allow you to stay for free overnight and it’s not listed in their database, can this information be provided to Overnight RV Parking for inclusion on their site?
Great question, Mike! Absolutely! They even add additional time to your subscription for adding new locations (although the app doesn’t support adding a new location yet, but you can simply do it on the website).
Looks like now was a good time to re-post this grand ol’ gem of a video. Wow, I did not know it included your FIRST big give away.
We have used Overnight RV Parking several times over the year to check out what’s available for convenience and safety on a route when we are keen to be somewhere down the road. That usually mean on the way north and trying to save $$.
But I have to admit that it’s MUCH more fun to take our time using Boondockers or HH.
We like BW & HH, too. They’re all great additions to the RVing community.
Hi guys, Jim in Gilroy ( you remember?) called Cabela’s corporate and they have NOT banned overnight parking – it is entirely up to local ordinance and/or manager discretion. Kay
Hi Jim! Thanks so much for following up. As we mentioned, only some Cabela’s have barred overnighting, so definitely not a corporate or system-wide edict. But the ones that have closed their doors to it are a good reminder that we must all be good RVing citizens. It only takes a few bad apples to ruin things for everyone! Hope you and Kay are having a good start to the summer! By the way, can we mention who you are here?!
I think that is ok. Just didn’t want to still your thunder. Jim is working for TogoRv and helping maintain the database.
Hi Kay! Well, we’ll just go ahead and mention that Jim is the administrator of OvernightRVParking.com. Just goes to show how incredibly responsive you two are, and why OVRVP has been such a fantastic resource all these years we’ve been using it. Thanks for stopping by with yet more useful information. Please let Jim know we said hello!
Do these suggestions only apply to class A, and C+, what about all of us with trailers, would we not be safe? We cant reach our bathroom or bed without extending our slide, does that mean we cant stay?
Great questions! The vast majority of places we find on OvernightRVParking are suitable for any RV. Big, small, drivable, towable… doesn’t matter. There are many details on each listing, including how safe people felt there (was it well lit, were there other people/RVs/businesses around, etc). The general rule for many of the most common places (Wal-Marts and other parking areas) is to not CAMP, but rather to PARK. That generally means not putting out grills or chairs or other camping gear, and not putting down jacks, which could damage the pavement, or extending slides…. when possible. We have four slides, and while we can use all of our onboard resources without extending any of them, that does require climbing over the bed from the wrong side for one of us. What we do when it’s suitable (as in not parked in a narrow spot in a rest area between tractor-trailers), is try to park with our passenger side protected (along a curb for example), and extend our smallest, shallowest slide, (the bedroom slide on the curb side) which is at the foot of the bed, and allows me to slip past the foot of the bed instead of climbing over. Extending a slide isn’t absolutely forbidden. We just try to minimize anything that looks likes we’re moved in more than necessary. Hope this helps!
Here we are, 5 years later… do you still feel OvernightRVParking is still the single best free RV parking service on the web? We are searching for overnight RV parking options and will be subscribing to Harvest Hosts and Boondocks Welcome but wanted your updated opinion of OvernightRVParking.
Kyle & Karin
Hi Kyle & Karin! One clarification about all three of these options for anyone not familiar… overnight stays using all three of them are free, but all three do have an annual membership cost. That said, we do belong to all of them. For us “overnight parking” is primarily a quick stopover while we’re en route to some other destination, rather than a destination in itself. That means we look for places to stay while we’re in transit, often along more major routes, and sometimes kind of late on the day we want to stay, based on being almost ready to stop for the night. So the overall winner for us, which we use constantly, is OvernightRVParking.com. No reservations or arrangements required, usually large parking lots with no disconnecting of the toad required, nobody to speak with (other than checking in at the customer service desk at Wal-Mart for example), and it doesn’t matter what time of the day or night we show up. Boondockers Welcome has an advantage in that hosts often allow more than one night, but for a rig our size, there are far more limited hosts who can accommodate us. We’ve used BW several times at destinations where other options weren’t available, and it was a lifesaver, and also met some lovely people. Harvest Hosts is great for people interested in wineries or farms, but they often straddle the line between “convenient overnight stop” and “destination” without exactly fitting into either category (often not on our way anywhere, limited to one night unless specifically invited to stay longer, but often lovely locations). The biggest issue for us with Harvest Hosts is the expectation to buy something. While we regularly patronize Wal-Marts when we stay, it’s because we want or need things, not because we feel we’re “supposed to” buy something. For our way of traveling (which isn’t right for everyone), when we want to stay somewhere just for the night because we simply need a place to sleep, we use OvernightRVParking as our primary tool about 95% of the time, BW about 5% of the time, and don’t use HH for that purpose at all. HH is more of a “we’re going through an area and visiting that winery sounds interesting, so might as well take advantage of being able to stay overnight, too.” It’s not a tool for us to map out a night’s stay as we’re nearing the end of a long travel day. For that, Overnight RVParking is our go-to resource every time.
Looks like a good site.
We are new at this and can’t wait to travel within our own country knowing that there are places to stop overnight free of charge on our way to each destination. This is an excellent resource, thank-you for putting the effort into this and sharing. It would be a bonus to win the contest. Fingers crossed.
Welcome to the wonderful world of RVing Tina! And best of luck tomorrow night. Less than 24 hours to go!
Just picked up our motor home Friday. Looking forward to many new adventures as newbies!!
Congratulations Ray! We’re so excited for you! We still remember the very first time we stepped into our very first RV. It’s a magical time. :)
Thanks so much for this tip! We are new to Rving, our 2nd year. We have a son in Oregon and we live in Atlanta. So there is a LOT to see between here and there. My husband will retire after, 40 yrs the Army, next year. This will help with out travels.
Glad to be of help. Hope you’re enjoying RVing as much as we do. :)
Awesome! Took me a few tries but so glad I kept at it. Excited at a change to win a subscription and follow you more. Thanks for all you do.
Great site!
This sounds like a dream come true contest. I’m a single parent who believes travel should be a part of every child’s life, finding something like this will help us see more of the world around us. Thank You for the chance to win a subscription!!! P.S. We subscribe to your YouTube channel and have learned so much. :)
Thanks so much for your comment and for subscribing. Glad we’ve been able to help. Best of luck in the contest!
We have been members of OvernightRVParking.com since it began years ago, and frequently recommend it to others. I love all the details and the date of latest update given for each listing. It was that site that mentioned this contest and led me to your blog, which I have now signed up for. This looks like a great one to follow! Thanks for running this contest.
Obviously we love it too. It’s the very first trip planning tool we use when we’re on the road. Jim put together a great website.
Love your videos you have help use get off to a great start as full time RVers. Keep up the great work and be safe God bless
I just love your videos and great help in repairs of RV’s. I always look forward to your new ones and the advise you give I have used many many times. Keep up the help we need it
Thank you so much Vito! We have lots more videos planned, so stay tuned! And if you haven’t already entered our contest, please do, and best of luck!
Super cool contest!
Thanks! Good luck!
This would be a nice win for some newbies! Very cool! Thanks for posting content on your travels and such.
You guys are the best! Thanx for all the great videos!
PICK ME ! PICK ME !! I’m already a subscriber to your Videos and LOVE them !
I’m also just starting my very long trek to Ontario and can use every resource available.
I have many websites I use to find free over-night spots but just recently heard about this one. So your timing is great.
Hey to Rita & Pat for me when you see them next.
Hi Denise!! Sorry to be the bearer of potentially bad news, but we have no control over who wins! That’s all handled randomly by Rafflecopter! If if were up to us, we’d pick you for sure! :)
Great info! I look forward to being able to utilize this website when I get back on the road this summer!!
Great contest guys!!! I entered and hope to win! Thanks so much for the opportunity!
You folks do a terrific job. There are many choices for RV info but i reley on and trust your videos. They are well presented with concise yet through information. Your experience shows.
Thanks and keep us posted.
Al & Laura
Hi Al & Laura! Thanks so much for your kind words. So good to hear. You just got our day off to a great start! :)
I just recently found your website and am enjoying the many videos and info here! I’ve learned more here in just a short time than I’ve learned from any other website so far. I have a new RV info source.. Thanks!
I’m so happy to hear that we’ve been helpful. We appreciated all the tips we got from more experienced RVers when we hit the road nearly 11 years ago, and are happy to pass on everything we can to help out others. Hope you entered the contest today, and good luck!
I have enjoyed your video’s, i have been subscribed to them for quite a while. I have learned a lot from them and saved some money and time. Thanks for sharing!
Ralph & Debbie L.
So good to hear! Thanks for visiting our new blog. Hope you entered, and best of luck!