R-pod Owners Forum Homepage

This site is free to use.
Donations benefit a non-profit Girls Softball organization

Forum Home Forum Home > General Camping > Camp Grounds > Free or Cheap Camping Sites
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed: Walmarts where you CAN'T camp...
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Calendar   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedWalmarts where you CAN'T camp...

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  123>
Author
Message
ka9nyn View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie
Avatar

Joined: 13 Jul 2011
Location: Chamberlain, SD
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 8
Direct Link To This Post Topic: Walmarts where you CAN'T camp...
    Posted: 08 Nov 2011 at 11:36pm
Found this list of Walmarts that don't allow overnight RV stays.
 
Quite a few, but it is their right to allow or not.
 
 
Just for future reference.
Dave & Rose
RP177 "ECM-Pod"
'08 Dodge RAM quad cab 5.7L 4WD "Rhino (re: F-4 Phantom)"
Chamberlain, SD (Formerly: Rockford, IL)
2010 RP 177
Back to Top
sfish View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member


Joined: 18 Sep 2011
Location: Bloomington Mn.
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 134
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2011 at 1:20am
Thanks for sharing that. Not my first choice for a weekend get away but I guess it might do in a pinch if there were no other choices
sjf
Back to Top
Keith-N-Dar View Drop Down
podders Helping podders - pHp
podders Helping podders - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 03 Apr 2011
Location: Mayville, WI
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1447
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2011 at 5:43am
I would be pretty hard up for a camp site to camp at Walmart.  FWIW I rarely shop there either.
Back to Top
techntrek View Drop Down
Admin Group - pHp
Admin Group - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 29 Jul 2009
Location: MD
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 9059
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Nov 2011 at 9:15am
Wal-Mart is for the "its 11 pm, I'm tired, and need to get back on the road at 7 am" kind of stay.
Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
Back to Top
Sistahs View Drop Down
Groupie
Groupie
Avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Location: N. Fla
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 61
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2011 at 3:26pm
Walmart is also for the "OMG I am not staying at that campground!" kind of night and there is no where else to go. Happened to me twice on my 8 weeks on the road/just got home. Despite glowing recommendations in guide books, campgrounds are often not what is advertised or what Good Sam etc. says they will be. Thank goodness for Walmart I had a safe place to be for the night.
F150/R-pod171
Back to Top
Keith-N-Dar View Drop Down
podders Helping podders - pHp
podders Helping podders - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 03 Apr 2011
Location: Mayville, WI
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1447
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2011 at 9:13pm
We must be lucky, but haven't found a camp ground that we would prefer a Walmart to.  A couple really memorable ones started out slow but grew on us.  Like the little flat treeless one on the Bay of Fundy in northern Maine that didn't look so good until the owner brought us hot lobster dinners for $8.00.  Then we found the path down to the beach.
Back to Top
profmagickb View Drop Down
podders Helping podders - pHp
podders Helping podders - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 15 Oct 2010
Location: New Iberia, LA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 37
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jan 2012 at 5:14am
I've had some of the funnest nights in walmart parking lot. It's usually easy to find, easy to setup, and free. If you tryin to make mileage for 3days straight, I don't know of a better option.
I can't even begin to describe it.... you would just have to see for yourself....
Back to Top
profmagickb View Drop Down
podders Helping podders - pHp
podders Helping podders - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 15 Oct 2010
Location: New Iberia, LA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 37
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jan 2012 at 8:16pm
Also, don't take the list to seriously. I think it depends on the security guard there. I have stayed at the walmart in Gulf Shores, AL and it is very impressive, lots of trees in the parking lot. The walmart in lafayette on pinhook always has someone parked there as well. It is very close to my house.
I can't even begin to describe it.... you would just have to see for yourself....
Back to Top
Weekend Warrior View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie
Avatar

Joined: 05 Nov 2016
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 35
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Nov 2016 at 10:39pm
I once tried staying at a Walmart in Orlando, Florida but the signs posted in their parking lot said there was some kind of city ordinance prohibiting over night stays. The guard said that many neighborhood associations complained to their city representatives and a city ordinance was passed. 
Personally, I think it was the RV camp grounds in the Orlando area as well as both Disney and Sea World who complained due to lost parking revenues in their lots. 
Walmart has always been super friendly and pro RV accommodating. I'm sure Walmart had to bend to the big boys whining. 
Back to Top
Tars Tarkas View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 14 Jan 2013
Location: Near Nashville
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1446
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 Nov 2016 at 9:13am
I always call and talk to a manager before getting off the road to stop at a WalMart.  I think very few stores actually don't allow overnight parking on their own decision. As noted, it is their property and up to them whether to allow it though.  But there are a number of cities that have ordinances forbidding it.

And I strongly agree that (for me) WalMarts make a great place to stop when I'm just going down the road and need a place to do nothing but sleep.  They are generally much closer to the road than most campgrounds, they involve no admission procedures or payment, the paved parking lots are always level (so I don't unhook), I don't think I ever had to back in, and shopping is very convenient.  In the morning, we just get up and go.

It's obviously not like having a great spot by a beautiful lake in the mountains, but if I'm on the way to a beautiful lake in the mountains and it's going to take me 2 or 3 days to get there, I like to drive late and stop just to sleep along the way.  I don't care to spend an hour getting to a campground somewhere near Oklahoma City and paying $30 at 10pm just to get up at 7am and drive another hour to get back on the road.

Truck stops work great too.  They are generally louder and brighter, but I sleep through all that anyway.

TT
2010 176
FJ Cruiser
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  123>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.64
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz