Long ago... I drove to Montana to visit my son at a boarding school... On
my way back I was so tired that I decided to stop at a small town to
camp/sleep at night. The town itself is quite ugly, no camping, no motel
and a grocery store that was closed at 8:00pm. On my way out of the town I
noticed a school and a police station in front of it. I went to the police
station and asked if I could camp in their parking lot for one night.
They said... "sure... Do you want something to drink...?"  :-)

On Fri, Feb 17, 2023 at 7:36 PM David McNeely <davmcneely40@gmail.com>
wrote:

> I think the no overnight sleeping in vehicles in NP parking lots is
> universal now.  Years ago I used to drive all day and into the night to get
> to Big Bend NP from Tulsa, OK, park in the Panther Junction parking lot for
> the balance of the night in order to be in the Visitor's Center to pick up
> a back country permit as early as possible to head out.  I was not the only
> one doing that.  For the most part, it was peaceful, no hassles, no
> objections.  Then one year at Christmas break, I noticed that a couple of
> people were sleeping in the Post Office, and that people were washing
> dishes in the drinking fountain. The next time I went, the "No Camping, No
> Overnight Parking" sign had appeared. mcneely
>
> On Thu, Feb 16, 2023 at 3:30 PM Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
>
> > Have you ever got caught when camping in Vanagon where you are not
> > supposed to, and what was the outcome?  In over 45 years of VW van
> camping,
> > only happened to me once.  I was in Zion, Utah.  Simpler times of course,
> > decades ago.  I parked on the far edge of the parking lot at Visitor
> > Center; enjoyed a wonderful guitar performance inside; went back to van.
> > Around 11:30 PM....that unmistakable knock-knock-knock of metal
> flashlight
> > on window.  Red and Blue lights swirling around.  I stumbled outside.
> > Ranger said, "Uhh, you know, you can't camp here."
> > The outcome?  Ranger directed me to a back street in nearby town.  That
> > was that.  And lived to tell the story!  In general, the law folks only
> > want no trouble for anybody.  And since then, proliferation of signs
> > informing of no overnight sleeping in vehicles.
> >
>