The road is an open invitation to explore; stretching onward around the next bend toward something unknown. On the road we are constantly mesmerized by the ribbon of tarmac ahead of us, but practical considerations often weigh down the “magic” of adventure. Our current tour of America in our bus “Onward” has been an interesting balance between the spirit of adventure and the headache of planning. One of our biggest issues with #TheBusOnward is always finding a place for overnight parking that is affordable as well as safe. Since the vanlife/skoolie community has given us so much in the ways of inspiration and guidance, we wanted to give back and create a parking and camping resource for people living in their adventure vehicles!

One of our biggest reasons for building Onward was to provide ourselves a means of travel and accommodation without breaking the bank. We wanted to be able to go wherever we wanted with our favorite tools and toys for cheaper than we could make out in rent payments, but this poses challenges. To make this whole adventure affordable, we’ve spent a great deal of time researching online resources and tools for identifying parking/camping locations for Onward that are free of charge. This is a list of those resources and locations. Use them judiciously, and share with your “home free” neighbors that you’re bound to meet along the way! After all, sharing is caring!

Where to find Overnight Parking for Free Across the USA

Truck Stops and Rest Stops

Easily the noisiest of our suggestions, truck stops and rest stops are often conveniently located and very safe. Whenever and wherever we find ourselves, the well-lit parking lots flanking fueling stations or rest areas off of highways are a great option for pulling over for a nap or full night’s sleep. A major downside to these options is that you’re often surrounded by big rig drivers resting on their long haul delivery routes. Often these fellow parking lot dwellers will leave their engines idling to ensure that their batteries can keep their air conditioners running while they rest. Earplugs are sometimes needed when staying at truck stops, but you’re in luck if the stop is connected to a convenience store, as you can probably pick some up for cheap. Truck stops are kind of a “anytime you need one, it’s there” option. Added bonus: often located away from residential areas, there’s a bit of extra security built in being surrounded by other people that are on the road.

  • Trucker Path App: This free app is the perfect tool for finding truck stops and truck stops with showers. They also feature rest stops and Walmarts so there are over 6,000 locations. You will need to enable your GPS on your phone to use it and then search away for locations near you. The app lets you know if the truck stops have available overnight parking, showers, and other conveniences like restaurants nearby.
  • All Stays: You can use all stays online, via the app, or for $7, you can download the PDF right to your phone/computer. Sort by state and then narrow down the results to find a truck stop or rest area near you.
  • Free Campsites: This is a great map that will not only allow you to search for truck stops and rest areas known to allow free overnight camping, but also BLM lands, USACE, and Forestry Service campsites. We use this website for most of our overnight parking needs.

Pro Tip: Bring a sleeping mask and ears plugs as this is a parking lot and bound to have lights on and noises at night.

Bureau of Land Management

Almost everyone knows about boondocking in parking lots, but truly spectacular scenery for $0 is almost never what you’ll find outside of a Wal-Mart. 90% of the time we’re on the road, we’re bouncing from one public land to another. One of the great things about the western end of America is its abundance of land set aside by the US Department of the Interior. Our favorite haunt is Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands. Often near National Parks, Forests, and Monuments, BLM land is nearly always free for a multitude of uses including camping and RVing. Often without any form of life support (water, restrooms, showers, electricity, dump stations), BLM land is a bare bones option for being out in nature, left to your own devices. Without reservations and often just in time for the last hour of sunlight, we love the surprise we receive in the morning light when we finally see the landscape in which we’ve overnighted. BLM lands are a major part of how we stay on the road affordably.

  • BLM Website: This is the official website of the public lands run by the US government. You can locate all the public lands in America on this site as well as browse through activities offered such as hunting, fishing, hiking, etc and programs that they offer.
  • All Stays: You can use all stays online, via the app, or for $7, you can download the PDF right to your phone/computer. Sort by state and then narrow down the results to find BLM land near you.
  • Free Campsites: This is a great map that will not only allow you to search for BLM land for free overnight camping, but also trucks stops, rest areas, USACE, and Forestry Service campsites. We use this website for most of our overnight parking needs.
  • Campendium: Most of Campendium’s locations are Forestry Service sites and BLM lands, but you can search by state and read actual reviews from other RVers and campers who have stayed there before. They rate the cell phone coverage, access, location, overall cleanliness, as well as upload their own photos from the area. 

Pro Tip: There are no facilities here! Bring a camp shower bag, camper toilet, and PLEASE PACK OUT YOUR WASTE!

Read More: Our New Home on Wheels – Going to Get Onward

U.S.A.C.E.

Similar to BLM, the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) have massive stretches of land that often include RV and camping sites with varying levels of amenities. Many ACE lands can be found near lakes and dams that were built by the Corps and are now maintained as recreation areas. Most ACE lands have bathrooms and many even have showers. Army Corps of Engineer lands are not typically free but we’ve found them to be very affordable (often less that $15) and we’ve been able to receive a 50% discount by using our National Parks Pass every time. Not all, but many even have dump stations and swimming beaches (not related or connected) on top of their other amenities and make for a very comfortable and enjoyable residence.

  • Campendium: Most of Campendium’s locations are Forestry Service sites and BLM lands, but you can search by state and read actual reviews from other RVers and campers who have stayed there before. They rate the cell phone coverage, access, location, overall cleanliness, as well as upload their own photos from the area. 
  • USACE Website: The USACE website is a little tricky. First follow the link, click on the area of the states you wish to search in, and then find the shortcuts tab on the right side of the page that says “recreation”. This will then link you to all the “projects” (sites) they have in the area.

Pro Tip: Get a National Parks Pass for discounted campsites. The pass pays for itself if you are planning to visit more than two parks anyway!

Forest Service

Very similar to BLM or ACE land, US Forestry Service land is another great option when looking for free overnight parking for your bus/ van, or RV. Frequently, we find USFS land near national parks, but you’d be surprised how often we look our across a beautiful landscape wishing that we could just park out in it for an extended period of time, just to find out that it’s Forestry Land and that we absolutely can. National Forests seldom have life support, but offer some of the best views and locations that you could hope to find in a free camping location.

  • Forest Camping: The couple that runs this site have been visiting, researching, and providing a wealth of information about National Forest campgrounds since 1994. They have detailed information about each of the campgrounds including activities, facilities, and other detailed descriptions of the campgrounds.
  • All Stays: You can use all stays online, via the app, or for $7, you can download the PDF right to your phone/computer. Sort by state and then narrow down the results to find Forestry Service land near you.
  • Free Campsites: This is a great map that will not only allow you to search for Forestry Service land for free overnight camping, but also trucks stops, rest areas, USACE, and BLM campsites. We use this website for most of our overnight parking needs.
  • Government Site: This is the official website of the Forestry Service lands run by the US government. You can locate all the Forestry Service lands in America on this site as well as browse through activities offered such as hunting, fishing, hiking, etc and programs that they offer.
  • Campendium: Most of Campendium’s locations are Forestry Service sites and BLM lands, but you can search by state and read actual reviews from other RVers and campers who have stayed there before. They rate the cell phone coverage, access, location, overall cleanliness, as well as upload their own photos from the area. 

Pro Tip: You MUST park in designated areas. We tried parking in a lot just outside of the forestry campsites when they were closed unexpectedly. The park rangers did NOT let that fly!

Driveway Surfing

Let’s face it, it is really hard to find decent campsite/overnight parking in most major cities across America. We have been fortunate enough to have friends located across the nation that have opened up their homes, and driveways, to us while we are coming through. It left us wondering, just where DO people stay in these metropolises as many box stores and rest areas don’t allow overnight parking. What we found were sites similar to AirBNB where people offer up their driveways to boondocking rvers and van lifers. It’s like couchsurfing, but in driveways! How clever?!

  • Boondockers Welcome: This is an awesome site simliar to Airbnb, but for people who RV! Loads of people across the states are opening their driveways for RVers to come park in – all for free! Just set your location, dates, and how many nights you wish to stay. THere are obviously some restrictions that people have as far as vehicle size, but more rural locations are offered which have sites large enough to accommodate more than three rigs!
  • Rv With Me: This site lists RV camp sites available across the US! Some may just be box stores offering up their parking lots for free, but loads of others are listed too!
  • Hip Camp: Many of the listed sites on this page are paid parking, but you can find sites for as little as $15 a night and in some really amazing locations!

Pro Tip: Get to know your host a bit when you first get there. They will give you a great review and might even let you use their WiFi!

Airports

This can be a strange one and is very similar to some of the parking lot options we mentioned earlier, but airports often allow RVers overnight parking and many even have options for road warriors like us! Make sure to contact the parking services people at an airport to see if sleeping in your vehicle is permitted before you arrive. We’ve found that some airports allow staying in your vehicle overnight and that a few even have vacant lots nearby that is unofficially reserved for RVs and campers. Airplane noise can be an issue, but earplugs can go a long way for making these free or cheap options much more pleasant. Albuquerque’s airport (pictured above) turned us away form staying in their $2.50 per night “overnight lot” but printed out a map and directed us to a three acre lot they had nearby for sleeping in vehicles. We were directly in the flight path for landing planes, but we used earplugs and fell asleep to the beauty of planes coming in for a landing one after another.

  • You can park your RV at hundreds of local municipal airports across the US. Whether you are trying to find a place to stay for the night or just enjoy watching small planes taking off and landing, you will find plenty of airstrips that offer onsite camping facilities.
  • Free Campsites: This is where we found our first airport that allowed overnight parking/camping!

Pro Tip: Bring a sleeping mask and ears plugs as this is a parking lot and bound to have lights on and noises at night.

Read More: On the Road: First Glance of Onward

Box Stores

Though this may not be the ideal place to stay overnight, these large parking lots are still a very good option for when you may not have any others. There’s no nature, people coming and going all day and night, and no where to hang out outside of your vehicle. What they are is a reliably free parking option that can be found nationwide. Parking away from the entrance, near the back of the parking lot, is preferred by most overnighters, as the traffic and spectators are almost certain to be at a minimum. As an added bonus, for those of us attempting to live the RV Life on a budget, box stores often have some of the cheapest prices on resupply runs and repair materials. Whenever we think about staying in the parking lots of “big box stores” we try to ignore the aesthetics and focus on the two primary reasons we’d stay at a place like this: reliable convenience and the mantra “FREEEEEE.” A special shout-out to the Wally World parking lot in St. George, UT. That mountain view was gorgeous at sunset. As always with parking and camping for free, make sure you ask someone in the store if its allowed, as some places have taken a stance against allowing people to camp in their parking lot. California is an especially difficult place to park overnight and many Wal-Marts have stopped letting people like us set up shop

Cabela’s, Walmart, Cracker Barrel, K-mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Camping World ASK PERMISSION

  • All Stays: You can use all stays online, via the app, or for $7, you can download the PDF right to your phone/computer. Sort by state and then narrow down the results to find Walmarts that allow overnight parking near you.
  • Free Campsites: This is a great map that will not only allow you to search for overnight parking at Walmarts and other box stores, but also trucks stops, rest areas, USACE, and BLM campsites. We use this website for most of our overnight parking needs.
  • Walmart Locator: About a quarter of Walmarts nationwide do not allow overnight parking for one reason or another. We always recommend asking just in case, but here’s a handy dandy locator tool of all the Walmarts who DO NOT allow overnight car camping.

Pro Tip: Bring a sleeping mask and ears plugs as this is a parking lot and bound to have lights on and noises at night. Don’t hang out outside your vehicle!

Casinos

Often less “busy” than the big box stores, Casinos across America offer a similar experience for van and bus dwellers but with some noteworthy differences. We recommend calling the casino that you’re interested in using for their parking lot. All of the casinos we’ve called have been very up-front with their policies and have been very polite. Some casinos require some use of the casino’s gambling services to justify allowing buses and vans to stay overnight with occupants, but many staff were happy to say that people sleep in their vehicles overnight for weeks on end and that no one checks to see that they’ve gambled. As an added benefit, casinos are often far more concerned with security and almost always have active security measures (patrolling staff) in addition to cameras. Everything considered, casinos are pretty great options for camping in the middle of cities. This also happens to be the only options we’ve found where you can make money parking overnight, you just need the cards or dice to go your way!

  • Casino Camper: This user sponsored website is free and provides the most current information available on overnight RV parking at casinos. Users submit their photos, new and updated casino listings, as well as their reviews of their visit.
  • All Stays: You can use all stays online, via the app, or for $7, you can download the PDF right to your phone/computer. Sort by state and then narrow down the results to find casinos that allow overnight parking near you.

Pro Tip: Bring a sleeping mask and ears plugs as this is a parking lot and bound to have lights on and noises at night.

Read More: Our Bus Conversion: Common Questions

Roadside

This is probably the least regulated of our suggestions and should be done with exceeding care. We would only select this option when we’re in an area that doesn’t have any other options for camping and overnight parking, but we’ve had decent luck so far. Many people build cargo vans into adventure wheels solely for this advantage, but we stick out like a sore thumb when we park on residential streets or in a pull-out along a highway. These parking spots can be a huge gray area without a clear answer for whether or not parking overnight is allowed. In all of our times sleeping in our bus along the roadside, we’ve set up after dark, went to bed early, and woke up in the morning and left as early as possible. Theres often a threat of fines or parking violations in choosing this option, so we try not to do it unless absolutely necessary. On one occasion, we parked along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California with a stunning view of the coast  near Zuma beach. Conflicting reports online had us pretty nervous about whether or not we’d wake up with a knock on our bus door or have an expensive for for staying overnight. The view was incredible, but the risk made it hardly worth it. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any free parking spots in the area, so a last minute decision was made.

  • Campendium: Most of Campendium’s locations are Forestry Service sites and BLM lands, but you can search by state and read actual reviews from other RVers and campers who have stayed there before. They rate the cell phone coverage, access, location, overall cleanliness, as well as upload their own photos from the area. 
  • Rest Stops: This site tells you the state laws of parking at rest stops across the nation.

Pro Tip: If trying to get away with parking in cities, try finding areas in neighborhoods that have empty lots and parking in front of them instead of someone’s home. Don’t stay too long, as in several days. Try parking just outside of city limits on pull outs, likely you will be fine and left alone throughout the evening. Arrive late at night and don’t hang out with all your lights on!

Did we miss any on our list? Have you ever parked for free overnight in America? Where did you go? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Read More The Bus Onward Posts:

Our New Home on Wheels
On the Road: A First Glance of Onward
Our Bus Conversion: Common Questions
Want more? Be sure to follow us on Instagram for more of the bus Onward!