When figuring out what locations you can leave your car and where you can park your RV for free, it is important to know of certain places you didn't know that you could actually leave your RV without getting in trouble. When you start your RV journey, one of the biggest dilemmas you can run into is where you can park your RV, whether during the day or at night. Most consistent RVers who usually use their vehicle at least in the summer time will tell you that scheduling a spot in advance can be easier and guarantee that you have a location. However, others can say that the best way to go about the process is to go with the flow and park wherever you find a post. If you are one of the latter types of “planners' ‘ and travelers, use these five places to park your RV when you get to a tight spot.
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Truck Stops
Although the name of this might indicate that this spot is only usable for trucks, a truck stop is a great place to park RVs overnight. Since there are truck stops all over the country and feature a resting spot for trucks, tractor trailers, and oversized rugs, this can also be a great spot to leave your RV and sleep overnight. If you abide by the laws of the rules of truckers in the truck stops, then you will be fine and no one will bother you. This can be a place you can park your RV for free.
Make sure that when you are picking a spot, you only stay for one night and you are gone by early enough in the day so that one bothers you or says that you are staying overnight for too long. In addition, be polite, do not play loud music outside of your RV, and maybe buy something from inside of the truck stop as a thank you to letting you park your RV for free. One of the benefits about choosing this location is that you can meet other people, ask for directions, ask for what to see in the local area and make some interesting connections.
In addition, truck stops bring in all sorts of people – all day and all night. This means that even when you're sleeping in the middle of the night, you will hear other noises, and you could be woken up. As long as you know this and you are aware, then this can be a relaxing night. However, since people will be going in and out of the truck stop at all hours, make sure you keep your locks, doors, and windows secured while you are parking your RV for free.
Casinos
In addition to the truck stops, may casinos allow you to park your RV for free. Some casinos might charge a small fee during peak weekends and specific holidays, so you might want to plan ahead and call the specified RV to see if you can park there during the certain days and if you might need to pay. Make sure that you ensure you park far away from parking spots to make sure you don't’ have a chance of getting towed, and look for the specific spots designated for RVs.
Walmarts
In addition to the casinos and truck stops, Walmart parking lots are prime locations for cars and trucks and RVs to park overnight without any penalty. Some stores even encourage RVers to park at their stores in order to remain safe and to find an answer to where you can park your RV for free. If you don’t see any RV painted parking spots in the parking lot, then you can still park here – speak to the store manager and see where is best for you to leave your RV that is out of the way.
Make sure that you do not park near the parking spots for customers, and you park away from the entrances of the store, for your own privacy and to prevent blocking the doors to the Walmart. Also, if you can, try and buy something from inside of the store to show your appreciation to the management letting you park your RV in their lot for free.
Since Walmart has become stricter over the years about cars staying overnight in the lots and the types of RVs allowed, make sure you check with a staff member to ensure you do not get towed overnight at your type of RV is able to park for free overnight.
Schools
If you are looking for a spot when you ask yourself “where can I park my RV for free” then the school in your area might be the perfect answer. Schools can be a quick and easy way to find a parking spot when you are in a tight position, as long as you have helped the school in some way. If you have attended an event at the school and you know the administration, if you have donated to a cause at the school, or the parking lot is completely empty, you are good to go to park your RV for free.
However, check for any signs around the school or the parking lots to see if there are any no parking overnight signs that prevent you from trespassing or staying overnight. This is one of your last resort overnight spots to find where you can park your RV for free, since the other options will be less likely to be illegal or report you for trespassing.
If you go to the school where you are part of a community, then you have a higher chance of being allowed to park in the lot overnight. Check with the school officials before parking and make sure that you only stay for one night, so you can find where you can park your RV for free.
Private Property
If you are traveling across the country in your RV and have a friend or a family member in the town that you are visiting, or you meet someone along your trip, you can ask them to let you park your RV for free for a night or two. If you meet people,via truck tops, local restaurants, events, or at the local shops, you can make a connection and potentially ask them if you would be allowed to park your RV for free for one or two nights on their property.
In addition, if you have connections or friends who are located along your journey path, then you could reach out to them and ask if you can park on their private property. You can even look at local sites like Facebook or Craigslist to see if people will be willing to let you park on their property, either for free or sometimes for a small charge or barter.
Other websites that allow you to connect with RV-minded people and who can help RVers include RVwith Me and Outdoorsy, helping you find private RV parking in no time at all. You can also go online and look at Airbnb sites, where RV parking or “camping” sites will oftentimes cost a lot less money than renting out a private room or a private apartment. Although the Airbnb sites will ont answer you the question of where I can park my RV for free, it will only be a small charge.
Make sure that if you are looking into parking on private property that you are aware of the city wide regulations of parking on private property. If you think that you can just pull off to the side of the road or find an empty spot in the neighborhood, then you need to make sure this is legal and no one will bother you during the night. More cities are banning RVs being parked on the streets of a neighborhood, so make sure that your RV is not blocking a driveway or hurting any city rules.
When parking an RV in a strange place, make sure you check with the manager or owner who is in charge of the area or who owns the private property you want to leave your RV parked on overnight for free. This ensures that you will not be towed during the night or wake up to an angry private landowner when you're trying to find where you can park your RV for free.
If you talk to a local city official or a private land owner, then make sure you follow the specific instructions they leave you on what spot is okay to park on, what rules are in place, and the neighborhood regulations. In addition, do it leave any trash or anything behind in your parking spot when you leave in the morning, being gracious to the location that housed you and the private owners who let you park your RV for free.
Churches
Just like schools in the area you are visiting, churches often times will have large parking lots that are available for visitors or members of the church. While schools will be busy during the week, especially during the morning hours until the after sports are done, churches tend to be relatively quiet during the week, leaving spaces for you to park your RV for free. However, the church parking lots will get filled up on Sunday and the weekends, so if you are planning to stay overnight on a Saturday, then you should know to be out early Sunday morning before the church workers get to the parking lot.
If you also happen to be traveling in your Rv and you are looking for a church service that is on your route, then you might have a higher likelihood of parking and asking permission to stay for the night to park your RV for free. However, you can also ask for permission even when you are not attending a service, by just being friendly and letting them know how long you are planning to stay for.
Car Repair Shops
If you need something fixed in your RV as you also need to find out where I can park my RV for free, then why not make a night stop out of getting your RV repaired at a local repair shop or auto body mechanic on your route? Many shops will be happy to have you as a customer in the early morning hours of the shop or in the late afternoon right before the shop closes in return for letting you park your RV for free overnight.
In some cases when you're looking for where you can park your RV for free, and when the mechanic will have to wait for a spare part, you might be able to park your rig in the palace until they find the part that is required for the specific fix for your vehicle.
RV Repair Costs
When you are looking for where to park your RV for free overnight and you have searched online for “where can I park my RV for free” on various search engines, you might be pleased to know that you can leave your car at most repair shops when you also need some work done on your vehicle. Unfortunately, repairs are consistent, constant, and can be very expensive, so it is key to know the potential costs of keeping an RV intact.
The average labor costs of the RV repair is around a minimum labor cost of $129 per hour, but this price can increase to nearly $200 per hour if you have an expensive or customized rig that can enhance the price of yoru repairs. Smaller and local mechanics or dealers will charge half the base price, so if you shop around when you are on the road and find a cheaper place, you can find out where you can park your RV for free.
In addition to the labor costs of your RV, there are some sample replacement costs that are key to know when determining if you are going to park your RV For free overnight at a repair shop. The refrigerator can cost upwards of $1,000, with larger ones increasing to nearly $2,000. Air conditioners run at around $600 on average, while new tires can range between $250 and $900 depending on the size of the tires and the brad.
Lastly, the entry stairs will cost around $300 and the quality inverter for your RV will be over $2,000, meaning that you can park your RV for free at a shop, but the repair can be costly.