Who doesn’t love the idea of a Canadian RV holiday? You can drive at your own pace, avoid unsanitary public restrooms, and sleep wherever you want.
Well, actually, you can’t legally park your RV anywhere. For instance, it’s against the law to park RVs overnight at Canadian rest stops. To avoid trouble with the law, you’ll need to research which areas along your route allow legal RV parking.
Fortunately, we’re going to help you with this today. Below, you’ll find a complete guide that explains the basics of where to park an RV during your trip. Read on to learn all about it.
1. Where Not to Park an RV
The most important thing on this list is knowing where not to park. As mentioned, you need to research the RV parking laws of any cities you’ll be traveling to or through during your trip.
Many of the larger cities, like Montreal and Ottawa, don’t allow RV parking at all. Other cities allow temporary RV parking in some areas. But to park for the entire night, you’ll need to stop at a designated camping area.
2. Crown Land
Crown land is publicly available land that is managed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. These sites typically feature free camping for all, including RV camping.
However, you must still research a site’s regulations and watch for posted signs before parking overnight. Even crown land sites sometimes prohibit this.
3. Campsites
Besides crown land, there are many other free campsites where you can spend the night. Other campsites allow you to stay for a fee. The important thing is, every camping site in Canada allows overnight RV parking unless it’s otherwise specified.
4. Rest Stops
Most Canadian rest stops allow you to park your RV for a maximum of 4 hours. Again, they do not allow overnight stays.
These rest stops are usually monitored, too. So don’t expect that you’ll get away with it if you try to spend the night.
Also, remember that some cities won’t allow you to park your RV at all. If your trip runs through these cities, make plans to stay in a neighboring city.
5. Shopping Centres
The same rules that we just specified for rest stops apply to shopping centres as well. That is, temporary RV parking might be allowed at these locations, but not in certain cities.
And, actually, there’s less of a chance that you’ll be able to park at a shopping centre than at a rest stop. One reason why is that there simply isn’t enough space in some parking lots to park an RV. Another reason is that the merchants/property owner may enforce their own parking limitations as they see fit.
Know Where to Park an RV
The next time you take an RV holiday, don’t forget what you learned here today. Follow the tips above to plan where to park an RV during your trip.
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