When you’re on a long road trip, we’ve got an unpopular opinion: Don’t stress about where to camp! When we’re RVing across North America, we often don’t plan on where we’re going to stay for the night.
Stay Overnight at Rest Areas
Why? Because some days we can drive hours and hours, and other times we’re only able to do short sprints. Either way, we often look for rest areas along our route. Overnight parking is usually allowed (although it does vary by state), making it easy to chill for the night and keep it moving the next morning. Plus, there are usually restrooms, picnic tables and ample room to stretch your legs.
General Rules for Staying Overnight at a Rest Area
Check the local city/county rules online along your route. When in doubt, look for signage at the rest area for guidance. States that allow sleeping overnight at rest areas:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Overnight parking isn’t the same as camping. At rest areas, you’ll want to resist pulling out all of your camping gear, putting out your slides, or unhitching your trailer. While the rules can be murky here, just remember that when you pull into a parking spot for the night, many other travelers and truck drivers will be doing the same. Sometimes at all hours of the night! No tents or hammocks, either.
Speaking of truckers, try to park away from the freight trucks. Not only are they in and out quite a bit, they also tend to run their engines all night.
Keep it to one night. Your main goal should be to get the sleep you need, and then hit the road.
Trust your gut! If an area seems sketchy, it probably is. Utilize apps like Sekr or iOverlander to check recent reviews. The more reviews, the more legit the place.
Try to time your rest area stop an hour or two before bedtime. It helps to have window shades, eye masks, ear plugs and/or white noise if you have trouble sleeping.
As always, Leave No Trace! That means picking up your trash and keeping your area tidy. You can always find garbage cans (and sometimes even recycling bins!) at rest areas.
In Summary
When you have long drive days ahead and are trying to maintain travel flexibility like we do, you cannot go wrong with sleeping overnight at a rest stop. That’s what these are designed for! So get your rest, and keep it moving.
Have you ever stayed overnight at a rest area? What was your experience like?
On the flip side… if you haven’t, what questions do you have for us about rest area overnight parking?
