WALMART RV Parking

JaxDad wrote:
AFAIK, Walmart still allows overnight parking, however, in more and more areas the municipality they are located in are passing laws to prohibit it.

This past winter the DW & I were visiting family in Naples Florida, we usually get in late, spend the night in the Walmart, then go visit them first thing the next morning. This year we noticed 'no overnight parking' signs. The signs clearly stated this prohibition was based on a City ordinance.

Since we arrived late and were both beat we decided to stay anyways. Even before we'd finished 'dewatering' the dog a Sherriffs Deputy stopped by, before we could say anything but 'hello' he said 'oh, you're from Canada' after spotted the plates on the m/h. He quickly pointed out that overnight parking was prohibited, but then said 'but don't worry about that, it's just to prevent long term campers'.

Apparently the economic downturn created some problems for municipalities and store / plaza owners.

It's funny you mention that. I just retired, and I passed the Walmart right off I-75 at Colonial in Ft. Myers daily about 6am. Literally, the last weeks before I left, there was an RV there, Jacks Down, Awnings out, tables set....etc.
They were gone the last day.
The GM of the store was a regular to my business, and I asked him what that was about. He said they were camping there, and doing their thing. They were going over to the rest area to use facilities. LOL He finally got Lee County Sheriff to give a darn, and asked them to leave. It took him that long.

Lee, Collier, and Charlotte Counties are very against Walmart Parking. In Lee County's case, it is about safety. The area where Walmart is located is an extremely high-crime area. So much so, that many national companies are paying for extra protection for their businesses. I am actually surprised nothing happened to this couple.

Glad I'm out...LOL

donn0128 wrote:
Some do, some dont. It is usally local regulations that prohibits it, not Wanmart.

X2. Where we live in Upland, CA, overnight parking at WM is prohibited by local ordinance. Parking at WM varies widely across the U.S.

Have to love people who don't mind being the guy who ruins it for everyone.

When I say, have to love them, mean hope they get shingles.

Walmart is basically a campground. I work with a guy who stays two nights at each Walmart on his way to the Maryland shore. He puts his slide out and cooks outdoors with a Coleman Roadtrip. His feeling are that if WM doesn't like what he does, they can ban overnight camping.

doxiemom11 wrote:


We have never parked in a parking lot, but go to rv parks and campgrounds even if for just 1 night. I do understand the convenience of just being able to pull off the highway into a parking lot, sleep a few hours and get right back on and continue on your way. That is not how we travel even though many do.

It's a little more than that. Most CGs are nowhere near to the Interstates as are the WalMart stores and truck Stops. Few of us, tired and ready to rest for the night want to drive another 10 miles or more to a CG, in the dark, in a place we're not familiar with. We don't want or need hookeups to sleep. And why pay $25+ to sleep? Also, there are no places in the CGs for weary travelers to run in and buy something decent to eat. On our way to and from Fl we usually spend the 2 nights on the road at WalMarts. What I especially love about the nights there is they're very close to the Int's and they have fresh FOOD! We can always get a hot rotisserie chicken and chilled macaroni and potato salad for dinner. :) No one feels like cooking or eating cold sandwiches for dinner after being on the road a good part of the day. We eat off paper plates using plastic utensils that are discarded in a trash can on the way out in the morning. The WM lots are not as noisy as some people claim. By 10 PM they're pretty quiet. The only noise problems we've ever had was from those who came in with RVs that had generators. The inconsiderate RV owner would park next to those of us sleeping in our TTs and truck campers. They disturbed the peace with noise and their exhaust pollution. Truckers have enough sense and are considerate enough to park bit away from the RVs. I can see why one man got so incensed he slashed the tires on the Class-A that came in around 1 AM and woke everyone up in his TT. :(

Oh, let me add he asked the MH owner to pull-up or shut the gen' off so they could get back to sleep. The MH owner sassed him and slammed the door in his face so-to-speak.

Walmartrving Yahoo Group. One of the primary resources of this group is the "Walmart Parking List", found in the "Files" area. It is a listing of all Walmarts in the US, with address, store type, phone number, and overnight parking status.

skipll wrote:
Today I went to my local Walmart to shop. While walking my dog I saw a sign stateing no overnight RV parking.

So was wondering does Walmart still allow RV's to park overnight in some of thier lots ?

Only where it's allowed by law. Some towns and cities don't allow overnight parking. There's nothing WalMart can do about that.

westernrvparkowner wrote:

WyoTraveler wrote:
Yes. It isn't Walmart but local RV parks that are getting restrictions because they feel they are losing money. There is an app "rvparky" that lists the Walmarts that allow over night parking. Since we do a lot of traveling in the winter when RV parks are closed I just by pass those towns.

So true. Yet another example of big business (the local RV park) stomping on the rights of the little guys (Walmart). As we all know, these giant corporations have all the politicians in their pockets. Maybe the Federal Trade Commission should be notified and these huge mega RV parks can be broken apart under the fair trade practices act. They are obviously acting in a monopolistic and illegal way. They should be busted up.

Sounds like your bent because you cant camp at Wal-Mart for days on end. City's pass laws because people abuse parking at Wal-Mart. They stay several days at a time. I don't believe the BS about RV parks getting city's to make rules against parking at Wal-Mart. There isn't and RV park with-in 15 mile of my local Wal-Mart. People used to stay weeks at a time until they put up a sign For customer parking only no longer than 24 hrs

In most cases WalMart has no problem with RV parking.. The exception is the small "Neighborhood" stores you find in some places.

HOWEVER there is a "Campground Owner's Assoication" which sees RV's parked in WalMart lots and they think "We are losing out on profit here" so they lobby the city, county or state to prohibit overnight parking of RVs (And in some cases Semi Trucks) anywhere save a licensed campground.

And as noted above, occasionally you get an idiot who ruins a store for us.

Many stores now worry about liability since WalMart got sued by one of those idiots who should have known better than to let a drunk into his rig, YES< he opened the door himself. (OH, he lost the suit, but WalMart had to spend money to defend). Other stores heard about that and closed their lots.

But usually it is state, county or city laws/ordinances/rules that prohibit overnight parking.

AllStays has a list that trys to keep up which walmarts allow or do not allow overnight partking at walmart.