Overnight RV Parking At Interstate Rest Areas

 

How many roads must a man walk down before he admits he’s lost?

 

Many RV’ers stay at RV parks everywhere they travel.  This includes as they are traveling from one point to another.  We prefer RV parks with all the amenities but sometimes it’s just not the best answer for us.  For others that’s what they want even when they are on the road.  For some, it’s because they don’t have equipment on board for staying overnight without hookups or just don’t want to.  Some units are without generators and without inverters.  Then there is always the issue of safety.

We usually prefer not to bother checking into a park and getting set up for just one overnight stay.  There must be others who feel the same way so where do they stay and where do they go?

In the past our preference has always been a full service park when we’re going to be at a location for a period of time and one is available without breaking the bank.  However, when we are traveling through from one location to another we really don’t want to waste the time finding an RV park, taking the time to check-in, check-out and set up.  We want a place that’s easy to get into and out of off the main highway.  Most RV parks aren't sitting right next to the freeway exit.

We have never spent the night in a rest area along the interstates.  We know others have but we had never done that.  We’ve stayed at Camping Worlds, many Wal-marts, Elks and truck stops but never a rest area.  

 

We had heard a few stories in the past about overnight stops made at rest areas and this is probably why we haven't been too thrilled to stop.  Here's one ...  My brother stopped overnight at a rest area in California a couple years ago.  He was in his motorhome pulling a tot dolly with his vehicle loaded.  During the night he woke to a noise and checked it out.  All he saw was two individuals at the back of his car but didn’t think anything about it.  Down the road at his next stop he discovered one of the cables holding his car had been undone.

I also read a story recently about folks sleeping in their RV at a rest area only to have a knock on the door early in the morning. Actually, I've read a few of these instances and I know if we received a knock in the wee hours of the morning, I'd be scared to death!

Never having stayed in a rest area, I decided to ask a few RV’ing friends their opinion on stopping for an overnight stay.  Some of the remarks were quite interesting so I copied them here. This is what they had to say.

we parked overnight in a rest stop once, worst night of sleep ever, ended up parked between two trucks they ran there engines all night. very noisy and dirty, and w/ no slides out it made for a tight fit. also tried a Travel America truck stop once, parked next to another mh, leaving some space between us and the next truck on the other side. And with in minutes another truck squeezed in between us and the truck. It was so close that we could only open our door about 1/4. I started up the mh and asked Karla to find a park, drove 3 miles,, paid $20, plugged in, ran out the slides, set up the satellite, made a cocktail, talked / the neighbors and realized how much I enjoyed living in a mh and travelling. best $20 spent! will try to stay away from spending the night in a truck stop and rest area again.

… take it from an old truck driver that has overnighted about every where you can think of. The rest areas along the highways were always my last choice. Too many strange folk out there particularly at night. I don't really even like to sleep at a Cracker Barrel or Wal-Mart. The safest place I've found is a nice truck stop. They normally have security if for nothing more than to keep the lot lizards or door knockers off the property. A little trick that will save you some irritation. Hang a Bra off the entry door side mirror. That tells the door knockers there is a lady in the rig. They won't bother you.

Rest area parking is allowed in Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, and Washington. but even in these states look for a sign that allows you only so many hours to park. The rest of the states say you can't park in the rest area except some rest areas in the states listed below. A word of caution. A friend of mine had his Toad nearly stolen. Half the tow bar was unhooked but the other side had a pin lock and evidently the crooks seen or heard something and left. He didn't notice anything wrong the next morning but when he started to pull out he bent the tow bar and made it unusable. Some of these states either patrol the rest areas at night or station a state patrol there all night to stop that kind of activity. I haven't use the rest areas lately but I used to use them all the time while going from one place to another. Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey, (Massachusetts at welcome centers only) Look for a sign, some rest area it's allowed some it isn't.

We've done it several times...some states don't permit it....OK in all TX rest stops

We've stayed at a few rest stops and it worked really great for us. Usually a couple of trucks and a couple of other RVs with us. Some states don't allow you to overnight but I think the majority are okay with it. Most don't want you "camping" there which usually means no jacks down and no slides. But we always put out the bedroom slide anyhow. We're too old to be climbing over the bed and the dogs and each other to get to the bathroom.

 

We stop in at Rest area for short over-night stays. D likes it better than truck stops. we park in back or end so the dogs can go out. Don't park next to a refrigerator truck.

we do it all the time.. best advice is never put out your slides.. some truckers don't care, and they may try to remove them for you. may be noisy but we try to get into a back row or end of row.



That’s the scoop and take it from there.