Step one. Check our guide to get the general idea of whether parking is allowed at the desire Wal-Mart or area. We say general idea because this changes all the time. Rapidly. It may be because of local ordinances, temporary construction or past abuse but we change Wal-Mart listings one way or the other to the number of about 25 stores a month. We list all Wal-marts because people use our guide to shop while traveling even when staying someplace else. Just because it’s not marked, it doesn’t mean it’s safe to park there overnight. There are many variables on each day in each town.
Step two. If you are on the road and planning way ahead of time, you may want to call the Wal-Mart to ask about the policy. We provide the phone numbers in our listings. There is a Wal-Mart Rand McNally atlas that you can buy that lists Wal-Mart stores but all of our editions have not included phone numbers. So that is not very helpful.
Step three. Upon arrival, go into the store and ask a manager or the customer service desk if it’s okay to sleep in your RV for the night. You need to get permission and it is the right thing to do. Don’t assume it’s okay even if our listings say it’s okay. Don’t assume it is okay if your neighbor said he did it last year. Don’t assume it’s okay if there are other RV’s in the lot. They may be shopping, napping or who knows what. They may be waiting for a police officer to knock on their door at 2am. Some stores will take down your information and only allow those to stay there. We’ve heard of some RVs getting evicted at Wal-Marts while others are allowed to stay.
Step four. Park where the store recommended you to park. They may say “far away from the entrance” or “on the north side along that row of trees.” They usually like RVs to stay out of the way of customers, deliveries, lot sweepers and so on. They also probably want it to look like a Wal-Mart and not a RV dealership from the entrance.
Step five. Park like you on the side of the highway ready to move on. You should ALWAYS be able to turn your key and drive away. Never put anything outside that makes it look like you are camping. No awnings, chairs, grills, tables, trash, levelers, jacks, slide-outs deployed, pop-ups popped, trailers unhitched, dumping tanks, and so on.
In many places, this is actually the definition of the law that allows you to park in a parking lot or at a rest area. You are sleeping only and always able to drive away…immediately.
There is also a grey area surrounding this step. What about roof antennas and slide-outs? Is that parking or camping? We tend to rule against slide-outs in parking lots. This means you definitely can’t just drive away. You are also probably taking up more than one parking space. Sometimes you need jacks to run your slide-outs and you definitely shouldn’t use these as they may damage the parking lot surface. Roof antennas usually can be cranked down in about ten seconds and they leave no damage. But they don’t look very good. The best thing is to crank it up after dark and then down before you go to sleep so it’s not so visible as in daylight hours.
Last step is to get up and leave early in the morning, preferably before 7:30 am and with nothing left behind. Many bans on parking come from locals seeing a campground in the parking lot on their morning drive to work. This privilege is intended for one night stays on long highway journeys. Some Wal-Marts allow for one or two nights max. Abuse is from the folks who live there as tourists or visitors.
It is important to be respectful, get permission and follow these guidelines. Although I don’t agree with many of Wal-Marts business practices, I will shop there if I park there. It does help if you can patronize the store. Even better if you thank the manager for the stay with a cart of merchandise. We are losing our privileges rapidly due to abuse and complaints from locals. Many complaints come from nearby RV Parks that are losing business. That is another story.
What is your view and experiences?
I use my slide-out wherever I want. It’s my RV and I can put it out in a parking lot if I want to. Other than that, I agree with most of this.
I need my slides out to get to the bed and bathroom. And I’m supposed to put my jacks down to put the slides out. I don’t have any choice but to look like I’m camping by this post. In all last summer I think my jacks only put small holes in the parking lot a couple of times. That’s a pretty small percentage of the time.
Penny
Then you need another RV or you should be parking at campgrounds and paying for it. Just because you bought the wrong RV doesn’t give you the right to damage other’s property. That is one of the more ridiculous things I have read. No one should buy a RV that requires the slide outs to function properly in order to do something else. Space yes. Functionality no.
By the time my wife gets done shopping at Walmart, the stay isn’t any cheaper than a rv park. It’s usually more!
Some of the stuff well we actually need like food or whatever but there winds up being some extra things on the bill.
cheaper to stay on blm land if you are out west.
I enjoy the wal-mart parking. I drive an 18 wheeler and if i get off the road late and the truck stops are full, i look for a wal-mart. And yes i call ahead for permission or ask when i get there. They direct me where to park. I’m usually gone before 8:00 am.
We boondock at Walmarts frequently when we’re traveling.
When making our purchases, we ALWAYS mention that we boondocked in their parking lot and we ALWAYS thank them.
We have no slide-outs, no hydraulic levelers, etc. Our side stairs are manually deployed / stowed and this can only be done from outside. We will often deploy the “porch” when we arrive, but usually stow them before we turn in for the night, so we can turn the key and drive away if we need. We will often be there until 10 or 11 in the morning… not sleeping late, but shopping. We pretty much always buy something from a Walmart that has been gracious enough to let us stay for the night, and the total usually winds up be 100 dollars or more. Definitely more expensive than a campground, but eminently more convenient
We are full timing across the country so we very rarely need a parking lot. When we do we try to stay at a fuel stop, when the trucks start up in the mornings time for breakfast and than on the road.
Walmart is our 2nd choice. We look at where in the lot we will impact the lease, park, go in to the store and get permission to stay the night.
I do open 1 small slide in bedroom if possible, that way wife doesn’t have to climb over me.
From my experience using the Wal-Mart list on this site, it’s very handy. However, you will save yourself a LOT of time and frustration if you follow the advice to CALL AHEAD to see if they allow overnight RV parking. On a recent trip through Oklahoma City, we found that all three Wal-Marts in Edmond, OK do *NOT* allow RV parking of any kind and each Edmond store has posted signs stating such. We would have saved a lot of time if we had called ahead!! In other words, just because the map indicator is blue doesn’t mean that that overnight parking is okay!
Thank you very much for reinforcing that tip. Calling ahead is important as the info changes all the time. Almost every day someone tells me, you have this one as “no parking” and we parked fine. Or it’s not marked as no parking and we were told no. I can only go by the tips sent in…so if it’s not marked as “no parking”, no one has given a report yet. In this case, I’ve heard back and forth about at least one store in Edmonds. One person said it is signed but if you ask nicely, you may get a yes. But it’s better to assume a no.
We stayed in several Walmarts on our travels to the mid-west. We always ask the on duty manager permission. Yes, we always seem to spend money in the store before we leave. I’ve noticed alot of RV’ers seem to think the Walmarts are their private campground and make a mess of the parking lot. They spoil it for the rest of us.
I always laugh when I see a $250,000.00 motor home parked at a Walmart. If you can afford a RV like that
stay in a campground. I drive a nice RV and would never stay at Walmart. Never
I think the same. Rentals and some other older RVs fit in well. But the super expensive ones do stand out. Mostly because everything is so fancy that it all takes power. Most of the big rigs are always having to plug in just to go to sleep so you wouldn’t think they could survive in a parking lot. Or maybe they don’t have any money left to stay anywhere!
I have a request from those of us who RV on a budget and who do it for the educational benefits that traveling provides our children. PLEASE PLEASE only stay at Walmart if you can follow the rules. Walmart parking lots are one of the things that make RVing possible for us. Without them, we are back to the tent. THANKS!!
I have stayed in many Walmarts,across the USA.I have never been refused or asked to leave.When I leave,early in the AM,you would never know that I had been there.I really appreciate this Walmart policy and always try to buy something and say thanks for this privilege. Please don’t abuse this amenity. Thank you for this forum…Ray
I like the article and it is dead on with the comments on slideout and putting your jacks down. We were very close to having an ordinance in our town at the Walmart and it was because of damage and taking up so much space in the Walmart lot. If you need your jacks and slideouts, then go to a regular RV Campground. Good article and in all honesty it is just out lining the common curtious behavior we should all have.
Thanks for the info,