I am planning a trip. Is there a site that will tell me witch Walmarts will allow over night stays. Also what are the laws in each state about stopping over night stopping along the roads. Thank You.

I take my lead from the truckers and other RVers.See where they go.

I have never really had an issue in 360k miles staying in rest stops or truck stops while on the road. Some say no overnight parking but if it is a bigger one then it usually does not. Many say no camping but we are not camping we are resting. Sure some will say get a campground and sometimes I do but if I have to make time I will pull in about 8-9 pm and leave out about 4-5 am. But I am cross country in a bit over four days.

You might enjoy this website. FreeCampgrounds.com They also might have some of the advice you are seeking.Most Wal Marts that allow you to park overnight kinda do it on a "Don't ask, and don't tell" basis. Feeling that if you take the manager out of his office to ask "Can I park here" a dozen times a day when they will always say yes, it consumes more of his time, that is otherwise used to plan work schedules, or purchase orders, or many other hours of store related workload. If they do not allow parking due to local city ordinance, or something, they will post it in the parking lot. Rest areas are another subject altogether. In 1975 while traveling across country in a station wagon, my parents thought that setting up a pup tent for the teenage kids would be a great idea in rest areas, on the grass. Works great, even though signs posted "No overnight camping" back then. They also timed the sprinklers to come on at 2 am and again around 4 am, to discourage such camping! Some states allowed camping in rest areas, but it became a problem with those wanting to live free wherever they could find a place to hang out and beg for money, so "No overnight camping" signs became normal in many areas where there had become a problem.My thought is that if you do not abuse the parking, it should not cause a law enforcement officer to stop by to knock on your door and ask "Are you planning on moving on in the next hour or so?" They have better things to do. But will take the time when it looks like someone has lived there, or is planning on living there for a while. Personally I would rather be in a National Forest, or BLM land, or someplace far away from anyone else. Wal Marts seem to have noisy trucks delivering to the store all night long, as well as bread trucks at 4 am. The refrigeration equipment can also be noisy, and yes runs 24/7. Good luck, and have fun camping!Fred.

A book called "next exit" has a lot of that information,:)

Walmart and other over night stays. | Good Sam Community

Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2014
If you travel with electronic navigation, go over to Discovery Owners Filesand download lists of things. Put the lists into your navigator.

When we are in travel mode, we rarely pay for a campground, but we are two drivers and often are underway twelve hours a day. When you think about paying for a place to sleep in your own coach, it just does not any sense to me.

When I was still sailing my own boat, I ran into places that wanted to charge me to anchor over night. I did stay there and told everybody else to avoid them too.

Matt
darsben
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2014
IAMICHABOD wrote:
Try the App. RV Parky it not only shows RV parks near you but Walmarts where you can stay over night or not and also Truck stops such as T/A and others and rest areas.

Very handy.

Nice App you made. How long did it take you
Sandia_Man
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2014
X2 on RvParky app or online, gives info on a variety of camping options.
Jayco-noslide
Explorer
Jul 30, 2014
On the rare occassions we use Walmart, if there are already several RV's set up, I don't ask. If none, I ask and was turned down once during the Xmas season.
dewey02
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2014
X3 on Allstays. A great app for all sorts of rv. Sites, including walmarts.
Groover
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2014
I have spent a few nights at Cracker Barrell but that is when I am traveling hard so I generally don't get there until after closing. I park in one of the RV spots then get breakfast as soon as they open and hit the road again. That way I am not blocking other customers except when I am a customer. They are generally farther off the road and quieter than Wal-Mart but I would not want to put a unit much over 40' in one of their "RV" spots.
IAMICHABOD
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2014
Try the App. RV Parky it not only shows RV parks near you but Walmarts where you can stay over night or not and also Truck stops such as T/A and others and rest areas.

Very handy.
helperzack
Explorer
Jul 30, 2014
We always ask. We have only stayed at a few Walmarts but the only no was in McDonough, GA, even though there were other RV's and truckers there we went down the road to a Cracker Barrel.

For Cracker Barrel, you can pick up one of their fold up directories and have the address and phone numbers for their locations. Then when you pull in you can just phone and ask. Most have overnight staff if you are like us and pull in early in the AM.

A campground for me would cost less as we always go in at Cracker Barrel for breakfast and Mom and kids shop.

I think that the road atlas that they sell at Walmart and Sam's have a directory of their locations that allow. Check it out before you purchase it.
JTHarley
Explorer
Jul 30, 2014
If you buy a "walmart" atlas it will list all the "superstores". We always go into the store, stock up on some items and check with the people at the customer service desk to make sure it is ok. Some cities now have ordinances about overnight camping even at walmart. This way you avoid the knock on the door at 2:00 a.m. asking you to leave.

I've never had any problems staying over at rest areas……I just park next to all the big trucks and take a snooze
xctraveler
Explorer
Jul 30, 2014
Here is a very good website, NOT FREE, that provides WalMart information and is fairly current:
http://www.overnightrvparking.com/index.php
If you belong to Escapees there is a website with a small additional fee:
http://www.daysenddirectory.com/
with guidance to thousands of places that are free or under $20 if no free is available.
Our general resources include the above and Corp of Engineers, Passport America and the Escapees Travel Guide. Sometimes we will just pull into a place that looks like it might be friendly and walk in ask the attendant/owner if it is okay if we park overnight. The usual answer is yes or a warning that there is a local ordinance prohibiting it.