For those RVers who find themselves on the road later than they had planned, it’s usually a good idea to pull over at some point and rest before continuing on to your destination. If you are already underway, we recommend finding a Walmart with the Allstays Camp & RV app. A night’s stay at a campground isn’t needed, as you won’t be there long enough to set up camp or enjoy the amenities. All you are looking for is a place off the road where you can lay your head on a comfy pillow and grab a night’s rest. There are still several places that allow for limited parking and don’t require payment for a campsite, such as highway rest areas. But what do you do if you’re not traveling along the country’s main highways and byways?
See if you can find a local Walmart, as many allow RVers a free overnight stay in their parking lots. But please call first! Because of some local planning and zoning laws, some Walmart stores find their hands are tied when it comes to letting motorhomes and travel trailers stop for the night. You should know that the Walmart Corporation has always had a policy welcoming RVers, as their founder, Sam Walton, was rumored to be an avid camper, and he thought it just made good business sense that his stores were the first thing that trailer owners saw when they woke up in the morning – a place where they could stock up on supplies!
Unfortunately, local campgrounds began complaining that they were losing business to Walmart’s overnight parking policy, and in some towns, legislation has been passed that forbids vehicles to park overnight within city limits. So it’s wise to call ahead to specific stores and ask if you are allowed to park in a Walmart parking lot.
Allstays Camp & RV and Allstays Pro for Finding Walmart Overnight Parking
Where can you find that information, and find it quickly? The perfect app to use is called Allstays Camp & RV (only available to iOS users), or try their full-blown browser-based program, Allstays Pro. You will find listings by city and state for Walmarts that do (and don’t) allow overnight parking. Those listings also include contact information and street addresses, so all of your information is located in one place.
Allstays also offers other useful information like generic “Overnight Parking” areas, specific campground info, city, state, and national park campgrounds, public lands where dispersed camping is allowed, and even locations of dump stations.
If you are worried about a particular route you will be driving and the possibility of low clearance bridges, Allstays has you covered on that, as well. Will you need to refill your propane tank on the way to your location? Find a propane supplier on Allstays. Are you looking for a truck stop to gas up or have a small repair done? Yup! It’s on Allstays, along with dozens of other camping-centered service locations.
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Love to know about the overnight parking situations
What do you think of RVParky app? I use it for planning. It shows Walmarts and my favorite, Crackel Barrel restaurants. We stopped spending overnights at Walmart for the reasons that we don’t feel secured with kind of people around in the parking.
Hi guys, thanks for the information on finding Walmart overnight locations.
Have you ever stayed at a Cabela’s. They aren’t as available as Walmart’s, but we like them better. They have a dump station and water available which is handy.
Just a suggestion.
Allstays isn’t much use to us since phones are androids. Why this problem hasn’t been solved is amazing. We use Days End directory, but still difficult with phone and requires a subscription.