Jump to content

Free/Cheap Overnight RV Parking


dougi

Recommended Posts

I ran across this web site today and joined. It cost $18.00 per year, but after you join you can post updates or confirmations to the already listed sites or post new sites and get two additional weeks for each, so it would be easy for someone to never have to pay again and still maintain your membership, year after year. Take a look and see if it makes sense for your style of RVing:

 

http://www.overnightrvparking.com/index.php

 

Membership also entitles you to access to a Yahoo, members only, blog site about free/cheap overnight RV parking around the USA and Canada.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After joining the site, I posted numerous searches for places to park our RV, free overnight. I found many listings and the site is very easy to navigate and use. There are clear directions to each site, GPS coordinates for each site, a date of last reporting on each site, and a description of it's suitability, including such things as noise levels, security concerns, how level the site is, how close the site is to other amenities, etc.. I was very impressed with the site and I feel it will be well worth the cost of joining.

 

For anyone traveling around the country for a few weeks or months each year, it should be very cost effective and convenient. It covers the USA and Canada and has about 5,500 sites listed, with more listings added every day by the members of the site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Doug,

That's an interesting site. At first, I clicked on the demo, and got info on overnight parking spots near Quebec City (never been there...), and it was all Walmarts, parking lots, and a Sears store... oh, disappointment.

Then I found a link to an area I used to know well, parks near Clear Lake in north central Iowa, just south of Minnesota border. I was pleased to see a really good list of nice, small parks (city and county) (not just walmarts, welcome centers and casinos) that most outsiders would never know existed....

If the rest of this site is this good, it's a great one.

Just for grins, I cross-referenced with freecampgrounds.com to see if the Iowa parks were on the list. Many were, but the info was nowhere near as detailed or accurate as it is listed on the site you recommended.

 

Thanks for sharing this. I've never seen it anywhere before. Please let us know about your continuing experience with using it for recommendations.

 

Sherry

 

PS If you and Geneva ever wind up driving thru Iowa (some people think it's punishing, but many parts of the state are truly flat beautiful...), here's a link to state campgrounds. http://www.iowadnr.gov/parks/state_park_list/index.html But, they're probably already all on the website you suggested.

2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sherry, in Texas and several other states we can park overnight in roadside rest areas or picnic areas. This site tells me if the roadside picnic area is suitable for overnight RV parking or not, by letting me know if it is a level site, far enough off the road to not be overly noisy from road traffic, if it has lighting or not, if security appears to be an issue or not, how much room there is for RV's to park, and facilities such as picnic tables, trash barrels, rest rooms, and free internet service.

 

If certain areas have no free overnight RV parking other than Wal-Mart or other retail stores, those stores are listed. However, it gives a lot of additional information as to their suitability for overnight RV parking, just as it does for the roadside parks, making the information much more useful to RVers than just a simple listing of addresses and GPS coordinates. It also tells which Wal-Marts don't allow overnight RV parking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Doug,

Looked again at your website recommendation today. Each time I click on the demo link, another area chosen at random pops up, with good info. Very complete... and often there are many good little city and county parks that (usually) only the locals know about. Good find.

 

Hope you and Geneva have a great time on your trip out west.

Sherry

2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting.. I'll check it out. Have you ever played around with http://www.freecampgrounds.com ? It sounds like a free version of the site you found, and I'm curious if it's better maintained or not. Does it use local detailed level maps to show you the locations? That's one of my biggest complaints about most of the campground location services out there.

 

What I really crave however is something that also integrates into an iPhone app that uses GPS location to show me what is around me currently .. on a map! I want something that rolls up all sorts of camping options - from the free overnight spots, to public campgrounds and private "resorts".

 

*sigh* I'll keep dreaming.

 

- Cherie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...