Rest Stop Overnight Camping -- Legal?

[polarlyse]

We had good luck at Camping World in Roanoke, Va on our trip southbound in January. The lady at the register said " we have a thousand campers, what's one more" and when I asked a guy outside where I should park he pointed to a space and said there's even a 50a electric post to plug in. Don't get any better than that.

[tjdonahoe]

We have stayed overnite in rest areas in all of our travels ,and never had a problem...

[MoBambi]

As far overnighting in Florida Rest Stops regulations must have change since early this April on the way back from snow birding in Key West I stayed s the rest spot just north of the I75/turnpike split and a rest stop just east of Pensacola As far as I know all I 10 Rest Stops as well as I 75 south to the split are ok btw some even have RV only areas

[AWCHIEF]

Google is a wealth of up to date information.

No Overnight Parking at Walmart | Walmart Locator

[ckottum]

We do a lot of cross-country trips. Walmart (away from the grocery area) is the best overnight, plenty of lights, security cameras, sometimes security patrol, usually fairly quiet. The convenience of a store at hand is good.

Truck stops who allow campers near the restaurant and store such as Flying J are decent. Breakfast and a fuel stop helps.

Like someone said, church parking lots, small town parks, large stores off the beaten path and away from tourist areas can be accommodating and quiet, few safety concerns.

I think interstate rest areas are the worst. Little security, plenty of low-lifes, trailer area often full of noisy trucks coming and going all night, a few truckers don't want camper rigs using their rest area and will park so you have plenty of engine noise next to you trailer, most don't care they just want some sleep like us.

Many choices if you look ahead. If traveling to a destination with little to see along the way, it's nice to pull off for a night's rest somewhere easier/cheaper than the interstate RV park.

cheryl

[wvstreamer]

Nice rest areas in WV and they have dump stations. At Tamarack I-77 Beckley WV crafts during the day and quiet parking at night.
Dave

[JCWDCW]

I would be limiting my o'nites to Wal-Mart ore Cracker Barrel lots, although except for noise the truck stops are usually safe. Unfortunately the options get less and less as new problems arise in these areas

[tvketchum]

Arkansas allows overnight RV parking to sleep. Have done this twice now, with no problems.


Tom
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[n2916s]

As per:

http://www.dot.state.fl.us/statemain...tareainfo.shtm

No overnight camping in Florida Rest Areas. Parking of up to three hours permitted. Of course, being unlawful and being enforced are two different things...

I wouldn't do it, especially along I10 but your results may vary.

Mike

[rodsterinfl]

It is a timed event in Florida. No overnight allowed.

[Skater]

Originally Posted by Boxite

I was being a bit cavalier with my commentary... was merely trying to point out that drawing attention to illegal activity alone can help stop the activity and that a good method might be to hit the "panic" button of your key-fob.

When I read your first post, I was surprised that people in a rest area would react differently when they hear a car alarm. Any time I hear a car alarm go off anywhere else, all I see is indifference, because they are almost always false alarms and everyone just tunes them out.

[andreasduess]

Originally Posted by ckottum

small town parks

Exactly. So many times we've found a safe, quiet spot in the middle of a small town where we were made feel welcome by anybody passing by.

[RT66]

In Arizona the interstate rest areas that I have stopped at all have signs posted that allow overnight parking but do not allow camping. I assume you are camping if you unhitch, drop the stabilizers and fire up the grill. I have never spent the night at one but have noticed the signs stating such when we have stopped for a quick break so really can't comment on the quality of the noise level at night.

As for truck stops, I have some experience there. 30 years or so ago I worked for a large nationwide truck stop operator. Part of my job was to upgrade the point of sale systems at the fuel desk. We would shut down the system around midnight to perform the upgrade, which would typically take several hours. Starting around 3am, without fail, there was always a steady stream of the before mentioned lot lizzards coming in from the lot to freshen up after a full night on the job. We also got a lot of complaints from truckers about being harassed in middle of the night by individuals seeking short term employment. I guess an Airstream owner would not be in the target market for this form of free enterprise but who knows. Also at truck stops there is an ever present taste and smell of diesel exhaust in the air. A truck stop would be the last place I would look to spend the night.

[AWCHIEF]

I tried to get a nap in a truck stop one time and gave up after an hour. The fumes and noise did me in. Moved down the road few miles to a state rest area and got a few hours of sleep before moving on. I think I only got woken up a couple of times by trucks coming and going right next to me.

[Tincampers]

Diesel fumes are the least of your worries! Just wait until a hog, cattle or chicken hauler parks his trailer next to your bedroom window!

[Skater]

We always plan to stay in a campground, for safety reasons mostly, but also due to the truck noise issue as some mentioned. But, if we were dead tired or hit really bad weather or something... we might do it.

Years ago, my parents and I were taking a trip to Florida over Christmas in their Airstream. We had planned to stay at a certain campground, but we were in freezing rain, so we were nervous about the roads. We had stopped at a Sheetz (gas station chain) for gas, and dad asked for permission to stay there for the night. They agreed, and we pulled to the side of the lot and crawled in bed. Unfortunately, a truck pulled in next to us a while later, with his engine running, so we had that for the rest of the night. I snapped this picture on my way to the truck in the morning.



He pretty much positioned his engine so as to be most annoying to us...

[tjdonahoe]

I'll bet he slept like a baby with his engine running!!!