Overnight Parking, a List of Places
Here are popular free places where people sleep in their vehicle overnight and are usually left undisturbed.
When traveling across country, you may need to sleep in your vehicle overnight before continuing on with your journey. Here are free places where many boondockers and digital nomads rely on for an overnight stay…
Rest Areas - The most popular choice, rest areas along highways offer very convenient access, offering safety from city streets, pull-through spaces, and easy access from the highway. And because most rest areas have “controlled access”, meaning there is only one entrance into, and only one exit out of, from a highway, it greatly limits the number of criminals looking for an easy target. But each state has its own rules on overnight parking, along with maximum stay limits. For all the state rules read, “Which States Allow Overnight Parking in Rest Areas”.
Walmart - Another highly popular choice, the company had long established a policy of allowing RVers to park overnight on their lots as a courtesy to travelers. The company has since removed the policy but has not banned travelers from still parking overnight. However, most medium to large cities have enacted prohibitions from sleeping in vehicles, or camping within city boundaries, which extends to private property. Meanwhile, small cities and county-administered lands typically don’t have these bans. More details including Walmarts in large shopping centers, Walmarts on corprate-owned lands, and 24-hour Walmarts, can be found at, “Can You Park Overnight at a Walmart?”
Sam’s Club - Also owned by Walmart, this another popular option. Stay away from Sam’s Club located in suburbs because these tend to get more crowded, and Sam’s Club parking lots are often designed differently than Walmarts, making them more difficult for RVs to get in and out of.
Costco - Costco parking lots are popular choices for overnight stay. Membership is not needed to stay there, but their parking lots are designed more for consumers and not for travelers. More details about Costco parking can be found at, “Can You Park at a Costco Overnight?”
Home Depot - These stores have been popular choices for overnight stay because the store itself tends to attract contractors with trucks pulling trailers, hence their parking lots tend to be easier to navigate for RVs. Just be sure to park furthest away from the store, because by 6:00 am, contractors start rolling in. Get more details about Home Depot parking at, “Can You Park Overnight at a Home Depot?”
Cabela’s - This sporting goods store has had a long history of allowing RVs to park overnight at their parking lots. Some stores offer large pull-through sites, and some even offer dump stations. But not all Cabela’s have these. Find out which Cabela’s to park at, “Which Cabela’s Allow Overnight Parking”.
Bass Pro Shops - Now the parent company of Cabela’s, this sporting goods store started adopted the same policy of allowing overnight parking for RVers. But don’t expect to find dump stations or pull-through sites.
Camping World - Historically, this RV dealership and supply store has offered overnight parking, and even camping, for RVers. Some had offered free electrical and water hookups. But slowly, Camping World stores have phased out this policy, though many locations still don’t mind. Some RVers found you can park along the street near Camping World and police will let you slide believing you’re there for RV service. More details about Camping World at, “Can You Sleep Overnight at Camping World?”
Cracker Barrel - This restaurant chain has maintained a policy of allowing people to sleep in their cars and RVs in their parking lot, as long as they park furthest away from the restaurant, and as long as they move out before the restaurant opens up in the morning. However, most Cracker Barrels are part of a shopping center, and thus the shopping center controls the parking policies.
Anytime Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, and Planet Fitness – These three fitness chains do not have a policy of allowing RVers, vanners, or car campers to park overnight in their lots. However, because they are open 24 hours a day, you can often get away with it. If you plan to park overnight, make sure to keep the lights off inside your vehicle, or find some way to completely block out the light. Otherwise, an officer might cite you.
Hospitals - Many hospitals in rural areas have completely open parking lots, and because they operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, those lots have cars in them around the clock. Moreover, many traveling nurses will sleep in their vans and RVs on the lot. Just be sure to park furthest away from the buildings, and don’t block lanes. Learn more about hospital parking at, “Can You Park Overnight at a Hospital?”
Churches - There are many churches that still allow people to park overnight in their parking lots, out of a long-standing tradition of accommodating weary travelers. However, you must call a church ahead of time and get permission. Also, many churches today participate in city-wide “Safe Parking Programs”, which can negate your ability to park there. Read more about church parking at, “Can You Sleep in a Church Parking Lot?”
Empty Dirt Lots - Many cities have large empty lots, often located near the edges of town, and often along highways. These are privately owned lands, usually owned by a developer waiting for financing, or waiting for the economy to turn around. They are often used by truckers. You can usually find them by switching to Satellite View on Google Maps, and then dropping into Street View to assess the conditions.
Gas Stations and Truck Stops - Many gas stations located along highways in undeveloped areas have large dirt lots set aside for trucks and RVs. These lots are free to park in, and prior permission is not needed. Commercial truck stops and travel centers like Pilot, Flying J, Love’s, T/A, etc., will often have RV parking spaces, and some of them will offer RV parks for a small nightly fee.
BLM and USFS Lands - The Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service have lands located very close to city limits. These lands are always open for camping and overnight parking. However, if the land is located inside city limits (in which there are many examples of), the city’s parking and camping ordinances will take precedence. You can view a map of BLM and USFS lands on our Boondocking Map.
Boat Ramps - Most lakes and rivers with public access have a boat ramp, and there will be a parking lot with spaces long enough to accommodate pickup trucks and boat trailers. Most of these ramps stay open 24 hours for night fishing or early morning fishing. Some will post signs against overnight camping, but many more will not. People with RVs, vans, and SUVs have successfully slept overnight in these lots.
Public Marinas - Most cities along the coast will operate a public marina where travelers in boats can dock for a limited time. Smaller cities with these marinas will have ungated parking lots that remain open 24 hours a day, often for friends and relatives of these travelers. Public marinas also offer showers, restrooms, and laundry facilities for a fee.
Industrial Parks - Cities often set aside sections of their jurisdiction for industrial parks and business parks. Parking enforcement will usually allow trucks to park along the street, assuming these trucks are servicing these buildings, and will often ignore other vehicles parked there as well, including RVs. However, make sure to block out windows, because sleeping in vehicles is usually illegal within city limits.
Train Stations - There are still many train stations with ungated parking lots. Because trains typically run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, passengers will park their cars around the clock. Unlike airports, many train stations don’t charge parking fees. Just make sure to block out your windows, because sleeping in vehicles at train stations is not normally allowed.
Boondocking Sites of the Week
[Click here to see our full boondocking map]
Fort Sherman Dam Recreation Area, Mount Pleasant, TX, (GPS 33.0908, -95.01369), Located on a peninsula along Lake Bob Sandlin, about 30 minutes southwest of Mount Pleasant, this free campground is operated by the local water district. Offering a 7-day max stay, clean and modern facilities, you can take your pick of just about anywhere along the shore. Read, “Fort Sherman Dam Recreation Area”.
Buzzard Roost Recreation Area, Magnet, IN, (GPS: 38.1203, -86.4656), Located within Hoosier National Forest, this is a developed campground offered for free. Comes with level back-in sites, fire rings, picnic tables, and vault toilet, these campsites offer walking access to the Ohio River. Watch the video on YouTube.
Holloman Lake, White Sands, NM, (GPS: 32.8103, -106.1220), Located inside Holloman Air Force Base, access to this boondocking area is open to the public along US-70, about 15 minutes southwest of Alamogordo, NM. You get very close access to White Sands National Park, and great lakeside camping for free. Watch the video on YouTube.
Use a Ring Camera to Protect Yourself
Many boondockers have purchased a Ring Camera (or equivalent product) as a means to record video of intruders wandering into their camp. These cameras are battery powered, and can mount to a tree, picnic table, or the side of your vehicle.
The camera uses infra-red light to detect movement and then automatically starts recording. The video is then saved on the camera itself. You can connect your phone or laptop to the camera wirelessly through a Wi-Fi connection and watch the videos.
You can also watch video in real time as an event is being recorded. Imagine if you’re in your vehicle at night, and you hear a strange noise outside. You can immediately connect to the camera and see who’s poking around your campsite.
In order to connect through Wi-Fi, you need some kind of router. You can either use a hotspot device sold by any cellphone store like Verizon, AT&T, or T-mobile. Or you can use a home router. You don’t need Internet access to use a router. A router can still connect your phone, laptop, and camera, all together, and allow each device to communicate with each other.
However, Internet access comes in handy when you’re far away from your campsite. In this way, the camera can ping your cellphone when it detects movement, and at that point you can watch your camera’s recording through the Internet.