Covid19 New Sleeping Area Restrictions

[Wisconsin14]

Hello everyone. Quick introduction: I was a restaurant worker in Wisconsin, lost my job to governor shutting down industry, unemployment has denied my claim, so became homeless quickly and am new to living out of my SUV on limited funds and rapidly burning through the money on I have short term hotel stays.... 

I have been sleeping in interstate rest areas but this is becoming increasingly problematic. Here in the state they are putting up signs on the car side saying "no loitering, police monitoring" and I have even seen one rest area off the interstate that said "truckers only." Don't know how this is even legal or safe to tell everyone driving a car/personal truck/suv that they can't sleep in a interstate rest area...

But I am looking for other safe places to sleep. It seems that all Walmarts here all have "no overnight parking" now. 
Do casinos still allow parking if they are shut down?
I had not heard about Cracker Barrel allowing it. Is this nationwide? There aren't many of those here but a few... Aren't they also shut down now?

This is all new to me in the past few weeks. 
I would travel out west to use BLM land, if someone could point me to a guide of where good locations are and how to go about parking there... My SUV is old, so don't want to make a long trip somewhere and get stranded...

Not sure how the rest of the country is, but they are even blocking off access to "waysides" here now, which are nothing more than a little side road and usually a historical marker. How is that even logical? There are no facilities at waysides, no room for crowds... I am really really hating how this "stay at home" BS impacts people who can't afford homes, especially with all the new unemployment now. Its like they just cast us all aside as worthless, and if you try to find a place to sleep you're suddenly facing jail time...

Any help and advice you could all point me to would be greatly appreciated...

I will check back as soon as I can. I only get internet access about once a week, but thanks everyone...!!

 

[travelaround]

Check the "dispersed camping" rules on the website of any national forest. Most will allow you two weeks at a time, before you have to move.

 

[Qxxx]

W14, welcome to the forum. You are a long way from BLM land, which is mostly in the far western US. However, I did some checking on google, and there are websites listing "public" lands in WI. And some are areas where hunters go.

https://www.google.com/search?&q=wisconsin+public+lands
https://www.google.com/search?&q=wisconsin+public+lands+hunting

There is also National Forest land in northern Wisconsin (only listing 3 dispersed sites, all apparently closed), plus the upper peninsula of Michigan. Good luck.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/cnnf/recreation/camping-cabins/?recid=27717&actid=34
https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/ottawa/recreation/camping-cabins/?recid=12303&actid=34

 

[WanderingRose]

You might try a hospital parking lot for sleeping purposes.

Good luck to you.

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome Wisconsin to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

highdesertranger

 

[Riverman]

Have you tried truck stops?  cracker barrel?  church parking lots (ask first)

Best wishes

 

[crofter]

Park and Ride, conveniently located but stealth parking only. 
Church parking lot, but you have to ask first. 
Neighborhood parking, stealth mode only.
Library parking lot during the day. Sorry no open bathrooms or computers though.
Truck stop, includes bathrooms and showers, and you can check out hacks for your new lifestyle.
Most parks for day use parking.
State lands are a public access area and may not be closed.
https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Lands/PAL/ Public land site in Wisconsin lists access 24 hours a day.
Good luck, stay safe, and most of all Have Fun!!!   ~crofter

 

[tx2sturgis]

Do you have any friends or family nearby that will let you park on their driveway or backyard and wait it out?

If you head out west, New Mexico still has some public lands open for dispersed camping. The state parks are closed but that still leaves plenty of space to 'camp'.


https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/lincoln/alerts-notices/?aid=57080

 

[ByeBye]

Is HOWA an option here?

 

[Wisconsin14]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful replies. I will try to answer the questions brought up all here.

I am moving around Wisconsin so in no specific location...currently in the Baraboo area but Wi is a pretty small state and where I am now gasoline is under a dollar a gallon, so I have been hovering in this area (cheaper to buy gas and keep driving vs. anything else at this point, though the vehicle won't hold up to that for long probably).

The governor here closed the vast majority of state/county public lands to all access including the national forests. Even roadside "waysides" are closed and rest areas are now discouraging all drivers from stopping except truckers. So its almost impossible to just get out of the vehicle and go for a walk in the state now unless you want to do it in a Walmart parking lot, and I have seen police patrolling some lots now too. WM has "no loitering" signs like the rest areas now...

There are some casinos here and cracker barrels, but I wonder if I can park in them with them being shut down like so many other businesses? Hospital emergency room areas seem like worth trying and I will look for those... Truck stops are also something I will look for...

We have a 600 mile long trail here called the Ice Age Trail which is supposed to be open to access. The problem is, all the parking lots for access (which are generally many miles outside of towns) are all blocked off, so you can't park there...

I don't know what HOWA is?

I have some friends in Santa Fe, New Mexico, so maybe heading there is a good idea... No one here I can ask for help. I was living with an ex-girlfriend when I lost my job and she made me move out. Tried staying with family. They locked me in the basement for three days with no food or any contact (I'm not making this up) to "quarantine" me coming into the house, then when they let me out, said if I stepped outside the house for any reason, don't bother coming back. Needless to say, I left. They are wealthy and I have nothing, so always been a unhealthy relationship...

Thanks for everyone's help and advice. I really appreciate it. I am very isolated right now and just trying to avoid getting in trouble parking somewhere the police have deemed off limits, which seems to be pretty much everywhere in the state now.

A couple weeks ago I drove out to the Badlands in South Dakota because they were still open for camping, but couldn't stay long (about $25 a day to camp there so not much cheaper than an airbnb). But all the state parks and public lands are closed now in the other surrounding states, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota. So South Dakota was the only state still allowing some outside activity. It was a 700 mile drive one way. Maybe I should have just stayed out there...

 

[crofter]

Boondockers Welcome was staying open, not sure if there are any spots located in your area.  -crofter

https://www.boondockerswelcome.com/

Looked like there were some listings in your area.
-c

 

[ByeBye]

Sorry, I should have said I was directing my question about HOWA to other board members. I have no direct experience with them.
https://homesonwheelsalliance.org/programs/

 

[B and C]

HOWA (Homes on Wheels Alliance) doesn't have any real estate to camp on.

 

[ByeBye]

Didn't say they did but a parking spot for a couple of days gives some relief only for right now.

HOWA might be able to offer some more objective options, particularly medium range goals.

 

[NctryBen]

I’m in northern Minnesota. You need a place to regroup, I’ll give ya a couple days... maybe help get vehicle maintenance updated. I’m not real plush myself. But maybe get ya set up to get to Santa Fe. That sounds like a good option.

 

[maki2]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful replies. I will try to answer the questions brought up all here.



A couple weeks ago I drove out to the Badlands in South Dakota because they were still open for camping, but couldn't stay long (about $25 a day to camp there so not much cheaper than an airbnb). But all the state parks and public lands are closed now in the other surrounding states, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota. So South Dakota was the only state still allowing some outside activity. It was a 700 mile drive one way. Maybe I should have just stayed out there...

Or better yet just kept heading West towards the Pacific Coast. We have, at least for now, made it past the peak and camping in most of the counties in the state is open or in the process of reopening.

 

[LERCA]

I’m surprised because California has been tightly locked down but plenty of people in cars, vans, RVs sleeping. What I’ve found works are suburban office buildings and medical offices near the hospitals/nursing homes. We have tons of them. They are usually on a large street (there’s one right next to the Walmart) They usually have a maze of buildings and the police rarely check and you’re hidden from the Main Street area. I don’t mean a major urban center but rather small cities or suburbs that have lots of industry and businesses. People are also only wearing masks when inside businesses so things are more relaxed. Pull out your front passenger seat and put a chemical toilet there so you can make it through the night.

 

[jimindenver]

Today I noticed that the rest stop outside of Flagstaff,Az was truckers only.

 

[Giggles]

We have a lot of dispersed camping in AZ, but if you do that, I would recommend staying in the national forests up near Flagstaff. It's too hot and there are too many wildfires in the central and southern part of the state right now. (It was 111 degrees today in Phoenix and it will only get worsrle from here.) 

Plus, another new wildfire got started today in Phoenix, too. We have a lot of wildfires in AZ right now, and a lot of evacuations going on. You might get booted from camping areas due to all the fires.

Sorry to hear you lost your job. Hope you get a new one, soon!

 

[gslanm]

Firstly I'm terribly sorry for your situation and hope you keep on keepin on however you can. I would not spend a dime on hotels if I didn't have to but I don't know the logistics during covid to find cheaper showers or water or anything else (would've just suggested gym showers etc but closed).

Stealth is a giant thing on the east coast where I live. I am not in a van yet but I plan on it in the not too distant future out of necessity, like you.

During my research I kind of hypothesized that hotel lots (park late, leave early) and try to rotate, large shopping malls preferably with some cars overnight by bus stops might draw less scrutiny. A few towns away from me there is this bus stop that people could or do leave their cars overnight and it might look normal. Maybe try to google "bus stations" or "park and ride" kind of things if there are any.

Casinos I don't know I'm sure you could but it's less populated now and probably a camera everywhere, not my thing.

Honestly, you might even want to call a church and ask if they could let you park there a few nights a week even just because your situation is so fragile.

I would try to do my best to isolate normal all night or bus type locations that could pass as overnight, park late, leave early. During regular hours you could always park anywhere and sleep late.

It's terrible how this country treats the poor or dislocated. Absolutely terrible. I parked my car for 2 hours to get some shut eye in an Atlantic City rest stop on the parkway, not 2 hours into some rest I have a cop literally sitting behind me in a car creepily staring at me. I was an actual legit visitor overnight that didn't want to pay for a hotel but they are out there in force in my experience on rest stops at least in NY/NJ. Sad.