Asked to leave Walmart

The "Olympic sites" I mentioned were like dry camping in a gravel parking lot. Easy in/easy out, and no frills. They allowed generators (within limited hours). The $5/night fee was in the 80's, and I'd gladly pay $15-$25 a night for something similar at a commercial campground for the times we just need a good night's sleep. OTOH since this would take up real estate, it may not be financially viable for a campground to offer it.

Escapees has had boondocking spaces in all of their parks ever since they first started building campgrounds in the 1980s.

Usually there are at least a few spaces near the park entrance, and these serve a dual purpose.  The first obviously is for people who just want to pull off the road and get some sleep before moving on, but they also work as an after hours holding area.  The parks don't have after hours check-in, instead if you arrive after office hours you stay in a boondock space for the first night, then if you want to stay longer you register in the morning.  This saves everyone else from being disturbed by someone coming in late and setting up camp in the wee hours.

Boondockers get to use everything in the park just as if they were in a full hookup site.  For a long time boondocking was free for up to 2 weeks per year, but a few years ago they changed the price to free for the first night, then $5 a night after that to help defray some of the park overhead.

Lou Schneider said:

Escapees has had boondocking spaces in all of their parks ever since they first started building campgrounds in the 1980s.

Usually there are at least a few spaces near the park entrance, and these serve a dual purpose.  The first obviously is for people who just want to pull off the road and get some sleep before moving on, but they also work as an after hours holding area.  The parks don't have after hours check-in, instead if you arrive after office hours you stay in a boondock space for the first night, then if you want to stay longer you register in the morning.  This saves everyone else from being disturbed by someone coming in late and setting up camp in the wee hours.

Boondockers get to use everything in the park just as if they were in a full hookup site.  For a long time boondocking was free for up to 2 weeks per year, but a few years ago they changed the price to free for the first night, then $5 a night after that to help defray some of the park overhead.

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That's still a good deal.  I need to rejoin Escapees.  The first year or two I was a member, but the parks were less than I expected, so I didn't use them.  I went to one park that literally looked like someone put hookups in a wheat field, and about nothing else.  It certainly was cheap enough, but if I'm going to all the trouble of setting up, I want something nicer.  But if it's just to boondock for the night, I'd rather stay there than WM if I don't need to shop. 

One other reason I guess I stay at WM, is while driving my truck I have to take 10 hour breaks, uninterrupted.  Which means I can't move the truck for the entire 10 hours.  So I'll stop at WM, shop, eat near by, then go back to the truck, which has killed about 2 hours, now an 8 hour rest and I'm done.  So with the MH, it's the same type of driving experience, only without all the gauges.  I've thought about adding more gauges, I already have enough, switches on the dash.    So, just out of habit, and with more room for stuff, I stop at WM, only I don't have to stay 10 hours.  So I shop, eat, sleep, and leave.  If there were an escapees park near the road that I could BD at, it would be quieter, darker, and I'd probably get a better rest there.  What would be nice is a visual of the parks near interstates, then I could plan my trips out that way. 

What would be nice is a visual of the parks near interstates, then I could plan my trips out that way.

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Not sure if this is what you are talking about but.... if you go to Google Maps and find your interstate off ramp where you need to pull over, you can zoom in on it and in the maps search bar, enter the term "campground". Any campgrounds in that area will be displayed. Then you can either zoom in and go to "satellite view" or in some cases "street view". With Street view you can follow your route right up to the driveway.

cadee2c said:

Not sure if this is what you are talking about but.... if you go to Google Maps and find your interstate off ramp where you need to pull over, you can zoom in on it and in the maps search bar, enter the term "campground". Any campgrounds in that area will be displayed. Then you can either zoom in and go to "satellite view" or in some cases "street view". With Street view you can follow your route right up to the driveway.

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I was thinking of a major highways map with red dots on the map to indicate the campgrounds.

The POI-Factory has a CSV file with all the Escapees parks.  You could use that with your favorite mapping software to produce your own map.  If you want more than just the Escapee parks, they have several other files with thousands of campgrounds listed.

Here's a Google map of the Escapees RV Parks.  It took just a few minutes to build it.

Got to get in on this LOL! on my limited budget 5000 mile trip last summer i did "park" in walmart lots overnight only, camped when i reached a destination, but googled and called the stores to verify first, other options are home depot, lowes, and other big box stores. It pays to be considerate.

The Cannons don't Thunder there's Nothing to Plunder!1  ARRRRGG!

I suspect that campground owners are amongst the most vocal anti-Walmart parking posts on many forums.

Many have  been very active campaigners against Walmart allowing parking.

Food for thought.

Tom said:

On the rare occasions I comment on this subject, I get ostracized...

  (WM usually doesn't build in the best parts of town)
I understand the folks who just want a few hours sleep and don't wish to stay at a campground. But there are alternatives to staying at a WM parking lot.

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Okay Tom, let me do a little bit of friendly ostracizing.  In our town and its suburbs, there are nine Walmarts and two Sams clubs plus five or six Walmart Neighorhood stores.  All of these stores are built in what I call 'business areas' meaning there are several other chain stores located in the same area or even use the same parking lot.  There is only one of these Walmarts located in what I would call  'not the best parts of town' meaning not the safest part of town.  So, maybe in the larger cities with high crime rates, your statement may be true but not in the vast majority of Walmart sites.  So now consider yourself whipped with a wet noodle (and thanks for all you do here).

OLDRACER said:

I suspect that campground owners are amongst the most vocal anti-Walmart parking posts on many forums.

Many have  been very active campaigners against Walmart allowing parking.

Food for thought.

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In every state there is a Campground Owner's Assn.. Affinity belongs to many of them (The folks who own Camping World, Good Sams,Woodalls Et-al)  They lobby for anti-overnight at places like wal*mart laws trying to mandate "Only park in licensed campgrounds" so as to maximize their profits.

They cite stories of the RVer who dumps in a sewer drain, and other things which are very very very rare so that they can push their agenda.. Anything something bad happens to an RVer or by an RVer they are right there to make sure legislatures know it so they can push their agenda.

Can not say as I blame them... I mean it is their profit they are trying to protect and as the song says (modern Old Time Religion) Though the love of it roots evil still there's those who seem to feel though that ALMIGHTY GOD'S a DOLLAR and there's not enough for me (This verse is copyright public domain,,By me)

Now as for Wal*mart..  Fully half their employees qualify for FOOD STAMPS.. Which half?  Well the ones who stock shelves,, Mop floors,, Unload trucks and otherwise WORK their behinds off.

Which ones do not qualify?  Well the store manager does not of the above work and likely is paid over 100,000/year.

Wallmart night stopping for my DW is a dead no..it gives her the willies and with what many of these folks are driving, they can afford to go to a park.  She says that same for us..and if you cannot afford to RV, you should be...it reminds us of that don't tip when they travel...and the list goes on..

The comment about the Canadians is a shame but probably well deserved..

We are making a major dash this summer..not leving the major highways..no desire to stop and sight see (this time) would mean over nighting at a couple of truck stops..we look the part and no slides..she is still saying no..

Bill, understand the friendly whipping, but you know the WMs in your town and the areas where they're located. Folks don't usually stay at WMs in their local area, and therefore don't know if any given WM is in a "nice" area or the other type you have in your town:

There is only one of these Walmarts located in what I would call  'not the best parts of town' meaning not the safest part of town.

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This lack of local knowledge is a major reason we don't stay overnight at WMs.

Tom said:

This lack of local knowledge is a major reason we don't stay overnight at WMs.

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Good point.

Wow! So, Walmart's business model is to build mega-stores in areas where the locals don't have enough money to shop there and where those who don't live in the immediate area but do have money wouldn't even consider shopping there!

This model not only turns every member of your family into a billionaire but also gets a call from The First Lady to collaborate with her to build some stores in even less desirable inner city neighborhoods in the future.

Some of the comments on this forum are so... so... comical.

Now might be a good time to end this discussion before it goes further downhill.