Getting ready for my first car trip to the southeast

[ginnyannr]

I'm leaving Kansas for Montgomery, Alabama this fall, probably late October. Is there anyone knowledgeable of free campsites in Arkansas and Alabama? Planning for bugs and maybe rain. Is there anything else I should worry about?


This is a one week trip for now, working hard to make this trip a success so I can do more of them in the future. Thanks in advance for your expert advice and your willingness to help out a newbie!

I don't need to get far off the beaten path -- my Mazda 3 probably won't do much off-road anyway.

Best,
GinnyAnn

 

[rvwandering]

Welcome to the CRVL forums GinnyAnn! Check for free campsites here - https://freecampsites.net/
Fall should be fairly nice but planning for bugs is a good idea. What areas of Arkansas and Alabama are you planning to visit?

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. We look forward to hearing more from you.

 

[lenny flank]

Most of the Walmarts there are OK to overnight. And the Cracker Barrels.

Try to get to Mobile. It has lots of history.

 

[MrNoodly]

Most of the Walmarts there are OK to overnight.

Here's a resource regarding which Walmarts it's NOT okay to overnight in:

https://www.walmartlocator.com/no-park-walmarts/

 

[Rabbit]

Though I can't help with free campsites, this is one of my favorite drives in the entire USA. While I'm providing a motorcycling-related link, it's also a perfectly wonderful ride in car, truck or van. One, in fact, that I sometimes go well out of my way to enjoy.

https://www.arkansas.com/motorcycle-tours/pig-trail-scenic-byway

It's probably not directly on your shortest route, but I doubt that it's much out of your way either. It may be worth the extra miles to you if you're into natural beauty. I also recommend the not-too-far-from-there Boston Mountains, though no specific route through them is in my opinion markedly better than another. If you like the Pig Trail, maybe you can go through the Bostons on the way back?

These are remote, rugged, sparsely-populated areas and you can get lost very easily in them. The hills aren't terribly high compared to the Rockies or even the Appalachians, but the grades can be plenty steep. (Once I had to drive over a mile in second gear in a nearly-new five-speed manual pickup, unable to shift to third due to the steepness of a Boston Mountain backroad grade. I might not've made it at all except that my only payload was a suitcase and I wasn't towing anything.) Know this going in, and prepare accordingly.

 

[Doubleone]

The vast majority of WalMarts will allow parking.  We just call the store in the town we're heading to and ask while we're on the road if they allow overnight parking for RV's, and where is the preferred location for us to park.  I think we've only ever been told no once.  Several of the stores were on no overnight lists, but a quick phone call found they would allow.  We always note the name of the employee we've talked to just in case, but it's never been an issue.  

I've successfully used the Allstays app to find sites from boondocking to campgrounds.   I just stumbled across this site recently and I might use it when we're out on the road next time... Ultimate Campgrounds map search - http://ultimatecampgrounds.com/index.php/products/full-map