While cruising across America, having an overnight spot while transiting between destinations is great. There’s always “Camp Walmart,” but many RVers like a more upscale version. Cracker Barrel Restaurants offer good food at reasonable prices, and many have designated parking spots for RVers. Now “news” is circulating on the internet that RV overnighting at Cracker Barrel is being shut down. Is that the truth?
“Some pretty disturbing news” about Cracker Barrel RV overnight parking
We heard-tell about the change through popular YouTube video hosts Tommy and Medina on their site, 1 Million Mile Road Trip. Just a few days ago, they announced “some pretty disturbing news” about Cracker Barrel. Evidently, the couple made a Cracker Barrel pit stop in New Mexico and, per their custom, asked the restaurant manager if they could overnight on the lot.
The two travelers related, “The manager, she’s very nice. She said ‘I’ll let you do it tonight, however, Cracker Barrel has a new policy coming out with no more overnight parking for RVers.’”
“Currently unable to accommodate overnight parking”
No more overnight parking for RVers? That would be a knock-me-over-with-a-feather moment for a lot of RVers with healthy appetites and a need for sleep. We contacted Cracker Barrel’s media folks to confirm this bit of world-changing news. And, as typical of more and more “media relations” operations, we were only able to leave a voicemail. After several hours of waiting for a call back, we took the issue to the customer service folks.
Customer service could be a misnomer, particularly if you want to have a telephone conversation. Instead, we first ended up in a text conversation with “Biscuit,” the company’s “digital assistant.” We wanted to tell Biscuit our name was Gravy, but resisted the notion. Eventually, we were “connected” with a human—still by text.
After asking about RV parking, the customer representative told us this: “I would like to inform you that many of our stores have designated parking spaces available for RVs and buses. To find out which locations are accessible for RVs, please visit www.crackerbarrel.com/locations. After entering your location or destination, you will see a list of nearby stores. In the store’s information section, it will indicate whether that location has designated RV and bus parking spaces. Please note that our stores are currently unable to accommodate overnight parking.”
Pressing for clarification yields more positive results
Is that it? Cracker Barrel RV overnight parking is over? We pressed on, mentioning we’d eaten at various locations and had been welcomed to stay overnight on the lot. Could we get some clarification?
After a lengthy wait, we were told, “Some Cracker Barrel locations do allow it, while others may not. The decision is at the discretion of the individual restaurant manager. Additionally, some locations have changed their policies, so it is essential to check the specific location’s policy by either calling ahead or checking the sign in the parking lot.”
Sound familiar? Change the name and you have the basic “Camp Walmart” policy. Corporate leaves it up to individual outlet managers to make the call on whether or not RV overnighting is allowed.
The future may depend on us
Like other businesses that allow RV overnight parking, our manners and decorum may shape the future. Don’t stay more than one night. Don’t put out your lawn chairs. You may need to keep your slide-outs in, depending on how your space is laid out. And, of course, don’t leave anything behind when you leave, like trash or, heaven forbid, waste tank contents. Don’t laugh, we’ve seen it!
For now, it seems Cracker Barrel RV overnight parking is still a “go” at many locations. Just call ahead before planning on sleeping off your Chicken ‘n’ Dumplin’s.
RELATED
- 9 things to know about overnight parking at Cracker Barrel
- The story behind America’s beloved Cracker Barrel Old Country Store
- Poll: Have you ever stayed the night in your RV in a Cracker Barrel parking lot?
##RVT1205b
I use Cracker Barrel overnights on almost every RV trip! I felt it was a “gentlemen’s agreement” that we share a common interest. I eat at your store (dinner or usually breakfast) and you let me stay a while longer than usual (overnight). I know some stores are located where city ordinances don’t allow overnight parking, but this is a benefit I’d fight to keep! I’m not cheap, but having a spot where I’m so close to a freeway exit makes long travel days much easier.
If cracker barrel no longer allows overnight parking, 90% of the time I’ll move on.
Re: ‘Camp Walmart’ and the comment ‘Corporate leaves it up to individual outlet managers’. This is misleading information, to be sure. Many times, overnight RV parking is regulated by local ordinance, which many communities restricted. Local homeowners, hotel and motel operators, et al., have demanded these laws be enforced. Saying the store manager has authority to override these codes is inviting people to protest falsely.
Great clarification!
This is so sad to read. We fortunately have not run into this “No Overnights” problem yet. My thoughts are that people have lost their sense of common courtesy and fail to ask politely if we can stay. We always ask the manager. we park properly, don’t put out slides.
We have breakfast the following morning, during breakfast we ask to see the morning manager and thank them for the use of their lot!
All of us need to be aware it is a privilege, not a right!
Cracker Barrels for overnight parking is the LAST place on earth I would try. Their parking lots and spaces are WAY too small to get a 42 foot coach towing a car into and out of safely. I have so many other better choices to choose from.
It certainly depends on your equipment. Perfect for smaller configurations. Don’t force it 🙂
We ate at a close-by, off-the-interstate Cracker Barrel last night, and I commented to hubby as we left about the tight “RV designated” parking area. Years ago, as new RVers, we parked our 38-footer class A (with tow) at a Cracker Barrel for a quick meal, and it was a harrowing experience that we’ve never repeated in our later 41-foot diesel pusher and now our 32-foot class C. I have no problem paying for peace of mind.
I have a truck camper and tow a 24′ enclosed car hauler and for me, all the concerns are misleading. I always try to call ahead to the Wal-Marts and Cracker Barrels as I drive towards my final destination. The local managers have always informed me if the local government prohibited overnight stays and I then know to keep moving. However, there has been times when I needed to stop without a call ahead and have always found a place to stay overnight. Even with places you don’t think of like churches and Lowes as long as you ask FIRST.
Most Crack Barrels cannot accommodate a full size RV, especially if towing. The parking is also very narrow and tight. I stick to other places.
Agreed.
This “Change in Policy” can also be dictated by local zoning laws and changes in those local laws.
Where I live in a large urban area this has certainly been the situation. Complaints from local residents concerning “Homeless People” from local residents wanting the cleanup or removal of their “Homeless Camps” have been the driving force for change in local laws and enforcement.
The local Wal Mart no longer allows overnight stays. It took residential complaining and lawsuits for over 10 years from local residents to get the city to act and remove the Homeless Camp from the city park next door to the local Walmart.
NOW the city is removing camps all across the city!
People who think they can take up half a parking area with their “land yachts” are selfish IMHO. If they can afford those expensive toys then they can afford to go to a designated RV “resort”. Many folks are not that rich and do not have a “land yacht” the size of the Titanic, “maybe” they can afford a small trailer. Go where your money takes you. Now…bring on the negatives.
It’s a sign of the times. People look at rv encampments and can be scared off (customers and restaurant managers). No one likes to potentially lose business and assume the negative aspects of campers in their front yards. The general public has been permissive with people in junkers permanently camped in neighborhoods and now it’s almost out of control. I know this is off topic but it’s a view that some Cracker Barrel people fear.
“The future may depend on us”
Probably not. It’s in the hands of those causing trouble and locals legitimately worried that the problems will spread.
I can tell that Pickerington, OH, Effingham, IL and Topeka, KS still allow overnight parking. Call ahead
We have spent a few 8-hour overnights at Walmart, Home Depot, shopping centers, churches, and city parks, but never at a Cracker Barrel. It’s simple, we don’t like their food. Fortunately, we live in the West, where Flying J truck stops are plentiful. And most Flying Js have designated RV parking spaces out front, not in the truck parking area. None of our RVs have been longer than 40′ (truck + travel or 5th wheel trailer) or required opening our slides to be fully accessible. So, those RV parking spaces work just fine for us. Our favorites are Flying Js with a Denny’s attached, so we can have a Grand Slam breakfast before we hit the road for a long day’s drive!
More and more city ordinances are legislating overnight stays in parking lots so this comes as no surprise.
Maybe I’m wired different but I figure that if we can’t afford a campsite, we shouldn’t be wasting what little money we do have eating/shopping at a Cracker Barrel.
When we bought our RV, nothing in our fantasy was the desire to sleep in parking lots yet strangely, some folks treat that as almost a birthright that “the man” is trying to steal from them. I don’t get it but then, I don’t understand many things.
This isn’t about “camping” This is simple bartering…one of the oldest forms of commerce…and more of it would be a good and productive thing! It is a win-win for both parties when each participate. Let Freedom Ring! 😃🇺🇸
“New Mexico” is the key here. This is exactly the same issue IN-N-OUT is having. Closing locations based simply on the fact that crime and bad behavior has made it impossible to remain open safely. We live in a world where bad is given a pass and good suffers. And now that we…the good…have the opportunity to rid ourselves of the bad…there are those who simply won’t get on board and have chosen to continue the insanity and evil.
Please help me understand.
😂
Twenty years ago I was told that the Florida Campground Association had the State pass an ordinance prohibiting parking overnignt in an RV anywhere except a campground. Seems that the campgrounds felt they were losing too much business to shopping malls, Walmart, Cracker Barrel, etc.
Sounds about right to me…shouldn’t it be a simple agreement between the business or property owner and the RV owner? Bartering works…greed hates that.
Hi All, Please hep me understand. I have a 2013 diesel pusher and bought it for freedom. Usually I stay a week or less at campgrounds. Sometimes I need a place to stay overnight going to the campground. Cracker Barrel does not seem to be better than just parking on the street in a neutral location, such as along a street in an industrial area, or no man’s land. Why don’t people just park on the street? The homeless seem to do it all the time. The vehicle code allows for 72 hours unless marked otherwise. Yes, you are not supposed to sleep in the vehicle, but who will know. Please let me know what I am missing.
The knock on the door
“Found it on the Internet” should be a warning on the veracity of a statement. I bet the policy of allowing overnight parking has always been up to local management.
Good point!
We’ve overnighted at Cracker Barrels a few times on the way to from a destination. Our rig is not particularly large but when towing a car we’re too long to fit safely in their RV spaces. So we will park behind the restaurant or in an area that has no traffic. Have to be careful not to block food delivery trucks or garbage trucks.
We would usually arrive after the dinner rush and be gone before the big breakfast rush so as not to impede parking or traffic.
I have always appreciated CB’s generosity in allowing us a spot to park and always return the favor by buying dinner or breakfast. Sometimes both.
Last year I had to spend a few hours at a Cracker Barrel resting in The Van. I saw a top dollar fancy RV open the drain valves and dump right onto the center parking lot. With these types of azoles we should expect CB to ban RV’s, period.
I would hate to see it banned, but I could sure see why. Just last week, we overnighted in our campervan. Saw 5th wheels and Class A’s with jacks down, slides out and small groups out in their lawn chairs! Jerks! They’re going to ruin this generous opportunity for everyone.
We’re too big to stay at any of the CBs we’ve visited. But, most of the ones we’ve seen do not allow RV ON parking, so I don’t know that this is really bombshell news.
I tend to agree with this saying stay in designated areas for RV’s rather than Cracker Barrel or WallyWorld. The former is not my style or taste of food and the latter often seems to draw an undesirable group of people for overnight (long term) stays. Besides which, like others with our class A and towing- we’d never get out of a CB parking lot. Unfortunately, careless and thoughtless people who seem to only care about themselves have spoiled a lot of the opportunities RV’ers used to have. Seems society today is breeding a different type of person.
Thank you for alerting me to the potential for refusal, Russ and Tina! We typically do call ahead and ask if our day of travel looks to fall short of a campground or RV park. In 7 years and 70,000 miles of travel (we may soon shed our “newbies” label), we have spent three nights at Cracker Barrel locations; one each in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee (no, not Lebanon). Have a great day and safe travels!
Many campers are a PITA. I understand their position.
I stay at CB all the time for a quick over night. I have dinner, sleep and then breakfast before I head out. Every manager is fine with it. One manager did say that some people stay, cook on their own grill and have slides out taking up space. These are the people that will cause CB to stop their policy.
Buying an RV that needs slides out for the potty and kitchen is dumb.