Boondocking Around Las Vegas, NV

[Tuquala]

Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, about 85 miles north of Vegas. Free, open sites with trees around for some shade. Very laid back, quiet. Just south of Alamo, NV.

[Enterprise]

OP you might want to call Clark County.
I have lived in Las Vegas and Henderson for the last 23 years and just sold our home and moved into a 40' MH that we will be traveling in.
2 years ago there was law passed that you could not stay in a movable vehicle on private or commercial property unless you were a MOBILE home in a MOBILE park.
All others including MH, RV, 5th Wheels, Tag alongs, trailer homes and tractors (as in for tractor trailers are prohibited from staying in public, private, commercial, parking lots or rest places over night. All camping and RV style units must stay in campgrounds and in state, county, city, BLM, Military land that has designated areas for such vehicles and permits overnight parking. You can park it on your private property if your association allows it but can not sleep in it. In no neighborhood is it permitted to park on public streets.
Now in case anyone is not aware. Clark county is the largest county in the USA...so it covers alot of territory including Boulder City, Las Vegas, N. Las Vegas, Henderson, Laughlin, Red Rock to name some.

Now I have heard of cases where people have asked Walmarts, Churches, Casinos and have said yes but if the law comes by....the store, church or casino will deny or say they didn't realize you meant overnight, they thought you meant to stop and rest for awhile and maybe to eat. Otherwise they would be fined for breaking the law. So the RVer that says he is at Walmart in NLV....just know you are at your own risk. Walmart will tell you yes because they are hoping they are going to get business from you but they will deny if questioned. Good Luck to the OP, maybe go to Pharump, you can park anywhere there, it is Nye County and not far from Vegas.

[RV Vagabond]

Originally Posted by Enterprise

Now I have heard of cases where people have asked Walmarts, Churches, Casinos and have said yes but if the law comes by....the store, church or casino will deny or say they didn't realize you meant overnight, they thought you meant to stop and rest for awhile and maybe to eat. Otherwise they would be fined for breaking the law. So the RVer that says he is at Walmart in NLV....just know you are at your own risk. Walmart will tell you yes because they are hoping they are going to get business from you but they will deny if questioned. Good Luck to the OP, maybe go to Pharump, you can park anywhere there, it is Nye County and not far from Vegas.

Is there a Walmart or casino curfew hour? If you answer your door then you are not sleeping and LV is a 24 hour city.

[Enterprise]

Originally Posted by RV Vagabond

Is there a Walmart or casino curfew hour? If you answer your door then you are not sleeping and LV is a 24 hour city.

That is right, this is a 24 hour city and the police will knock on your door after they have seen you there longer than XYZ hours or someone calls and complain. (No, Walmart does not have curfew as they are 24 hrs too)

Some people will do as they wish and will do whatever they think they can get away with till they can't get away with it any longer. It is a personal action and personal choice. I don't judge anyone for wanting to save money, we do it when we are in other states as much as we can. I am just trying to give you a BIG heads up because they are serious here about it.

This law went into effect because of a few reasons.
1) Homeless were obtaining old RV to live in and parking them from Walmart to Walmart to church etc. There would be 8-10 homeless living in it. Then they started parking their shopping carts full of their so called possessions next to them.

2) People would stand and wait for you to come out in the morning or if they saw you go into walmart would wait for you to come back to beg for money and or food.

3) Because most of the walmarts would make you park out back or far out in the parking lot where most people don't park....people were having doors knocked on at all hours. Even if they didn't answer, it was unnerving and scary and they would call the police. Police felt this would take them away from their proper patrols. They wouldn't have to worry about it, if it they weren't allowed to be there.

4) Some time ago...a husband and wife left their two young daughters in their RV sleeping while in a casino in Mesquite. There was a believed drug issue with the parents. When these 2 young siblings (brother and sister) were looking for the money owed them. They broke into the RV expecting to find the parents but when they were in there...because these stupid siblings (late teenage) were high on drugs they went into a rage and stabbed and beat the two little daughters. The youngest (I believe was 3 or 4, the oldest was I believe 6 or 8) died, the oldest lived but is in a wheelchair the rest of her life.

Finally I know these are not the only reasons but a girl was attacked on her way back to her RV one evening after being in Walmart. Walmarts are 24 hour.

So Clark County decided that it was something in a 24hr COUNTY needed to deal with and put an end to so they put into law that it is considered loitering and in some cases trespassing. There are numerous people I know that have been chased out, fined and one that I read about...moved from a location the police told them to move from.....just to find out they were parked in another an hour later, so they got a fine. 2 hours later they were then in a church parking lot, so they locked them up and took the RV. Now they had to pay more fines and pay for impound fees to get RV back.

I know it sounds stupid to some but it is very different in a 24 hour town when there is shootings, theft, drive-bys, rapes, kidnappings, hit and runs, domestic violence, drugs, hookers etc on literately a 24 hour basis. Especially Vegas, it truly is a city that never sleeps. For most of the 24years I have lived here, I have listened to Henderson and Las Vegas police scanner. (habit being married to a retired cop and being a previous police dispatcher from New Jersey). It never, ever stops here.
I would not be a cop in Clark County for all the tea in china.
And it is getting worse daily. One of the reasons we sold our house and moved into a MH. We will only be here Nov and Dec each year to be with single son that still lives here....for the holidays. If he moves, i surely won't be back here at all.

BTW, Boulder City which is also part of Clark County, had a law against parking on public streets, private property or commercial property for overnight stay WAY before Clark County imposed it.

[timmy2]

Having to deal with all areas of Clark county I can say they only make the rules for unincorporated Clark county. This does include the Strip but not Henderson, Boulder city, North Las Vegas or the City of Las Vegas. Each ton has it own Police force and rules. You can Google a map to see what areas are unincorporated. Pulling permits in all of these towns the rules are so different it is not funny.

[signet63]

I agree out in the boonies off the pavement. This is how I like to camp. I too live in Las Vegas and I have a few spots I like to go. My favorite is Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, Alamo, NV and I will be there this friday 2/17/17. https://www.fws.gov/refuge/pahranagat/ I also like Stewerts Point at Lake Mead, but you need to pay to get into the park. The Camping is free. I have boondocked up at Mt Charleston. Google Blue Tree group camp and find a spot near here. The only problem with this spot is no camp fires. Or I have yet to figure out how to get a permit yet.

Good Luck, Happy trails.

Bill Miller
2000 Ultimate Advantage

[Enterprise]

Originally Posted by timmy2

Having to deal with all areas of Clark county I can say they only make the rules for unincorporated Clark county. This does include the Strip but not Henderson, Boulder city, North Las Vegas or the City of Las Vegas. Each ton has it own Police force and rules. You can Google a map to see what areas are unincorporated. Pulling permits in all of these towns the rules are so different it is not funny.

I am not here to argue or dispute this with anyone, was just trying to be helpful to the OP.
I have lived in Henderson for 23 years in a sticks and bricks.....and currently I live in a Motorhome in Vegas on the border of Henderson. We will start traveling in March and be back here again mid Nov and leave mid Jan.
I don't know or have ever heard of Unincorporated Clark County. There is Unincorporated Las Vegas which runs from Sahara and Las Vegas Blvd down to I believe it is Sandy Valley. All of which is still Clark County.

Everyone does as they see fit. Fines are not something I financially want to deal with so it is easier to obey the rules for me. Just trying to help the OP so there are no surprises. There are always going to be people that have money and are willing to pay the fine not to have to pay to stay in an RV park. My hat is off to them.

Good Luck to all, happy trails!

[two-niner]

I live in unincorporated Clark County (25 years). Maybe Google will help.

[signet63]

Originally Posted by Enterprise

That is right, this is a 24 hour city and the police will knock on your door after they have seen you there longer than XYZ hours or someone calls and complain. (No, Walmart does not have curfew as they are 24 hrs too)

Some people will do as they wish and will do whatever they think they can get away with till they can't get away with it any longer. It is a personal action and personal choice. I don't judge anyone for wanting to save money, we do it when we are in other states as much as we can. I am just trying to give you a BIG heads up because they are serious here about it.

This law went into effect because of a few reasons.
1) Homeless were obtaining old RV to live in and parking them from Walmart to Walmart to church etc. There would be 8-10 homeless living in it. Then they started parking their shopping carts full of their so called possessions next to them.

2) People would stand and wait for you to come out in the morning or if they saw you go into walmart would wait for you to come back to beg for money and or food.

3) Because most of the walmarts would make you park out back or far out in the parking lot where most people don't park....people were having doors knocked on at all hours. Even if they didn't answer, it was unnerving and scary and they would call the police. Police felt this would take them away from their proper patrols. They wouldn't have to worry about it, if it they weren't allowed to be there.

4) Some time ago...a husband and wife left their two young daughters in their RV sleeping while in a casino in Mesquite. There was a believed drug issue with the parents. When these 2 young siblings (brother and sister) were looking for the money owed them. They broke into the RV expecting to find the parents but when they were in there...because these stupid siblings (late teenage) were high on drugs they went into a rage and stabbed and beat the two little daughters. The youngest (I believe was 3 or 4, the oldest was I believe 6 or 8) died, the oldest lived but is in a wheelchair the rest of her life.

Finally I know these are not the only reasons but a girl was attacked on her way back to her RV one evening after being in Walmart. Walmarts are 24 hour.

So Clark County decided that it was something in a 24hr COUNTY needed to deal with and put an end to so they put into law that it is considered loitering and in some cases trespassing. There are numerous people I know that have been chased out, fined and one that I read about...moved from a location the police told them to move from.....just to find out they were parked in another an hour later, so they got a fine. 2 hours later they were then in a church parking lot, so they locked them up and took the RV. Now they had to pay more fines and pay for impound fees to get RV back.

I know it sounds stupid to some but it is very different in a 24 hour town when there is shootings, theft, drive-bys, rapes, kidnappings, hit and runs, domestic violence, drugs, hookers etc on literately a 24 hour basis. Especially Vegas, it truly is a city that never sleeps. For most of the 24years I have lived here, I have listened to Henderson and Las Vegas police scanner. (habit being married to a retired cop and being a previous police dispatcher from New Jersey). It never, ever stops here.
I would not be a cop in Clark County for all the tea in china.
And it is getting worse daily. One of the reasons we sold our house and moved into a MH. We will only be here Nov and Dec each year to be with single son that still lives here....for the holidays. If he moves, i surely won't be back here at all.

BTW, Boulder City which is also part of Clark County, had a law against parking on public streets, private property or commercial property for overnight stay WAY before Clark County imposed it.

I am new to this RV lifestyle. I just picked up a 2000 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage 40 ft DP. This is an upgrade from a tent trailer with no bathroom. Here is what I learned about Las Vegas. I did not know about the rules of parking and got a parking ticket. I knew I would have to figure out a place to park it. No fee just first warning to move it and what the law entails. For me this was explained by an officer who I met from dealing with squatters next door. He described how the law says I can not park an RV in front of my house on my property because my lot is too small. I can however park in my side yard legally, but I can not occupied or have it plugged in. Problem is it will not fit in my side yard or I can not get it to the back yard. The eve of my house sticks out .5 feet too far. It now sits in storage.

The city of Las Vegas has free Parking permits for RV, but there are some rules that do not make sense to me. For example the permit is only good for 48 hours and you can not get another for 72 hours. You are limmited to 6 in a three month period. What this means is I can get a permit bring the RV home load it up and go with no problem, but returning is a problem because I can not get another parking permit if I return under the 72 hours. If I want to go out for a weekend, coming back to unload is illegal and this is what does not make sense to me.

Talking with the officer, The reason I got a ticket is because somebody complained about me parking in front of my house. He saw me park it and was not going to do anything, but somebody complained and forced him to do something. Now that I know a little about the Law, I can spot RV's parked at people's houses illegally, but I am not going to complain because I do not want somebody going through what I went through.

Well this is just me crying about Las Vegas. I just got back from Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge where it rained for most of the weekend. We had a great time. I did park illegally for almost 24 hours unloading the RV, I do not know what I would have done if I had gotten a ticket.

Thanks,

[Enterprise]

Originally Posted by signet63

I am new to this RV lifestyle. I just picked up a 2000 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage 40 ft DP. This is an upgrade from a tent trailer with no bathroom. Here is what I learned about Las Vegas. I did not know about the rules of parking and got a parking ticket. I knew I would have to figure out a place to park it. No fee just first warning to move it and what the law entails. For me this was explained by an officer who I met from dealing with squatters next door. He described how the law says I can not park an RV in front of my house on my property because my lot is too small. I can however park in my side yard legally, but I can not occupied or have it plugged in. Problem is it will not fit in my side yard or I can not get it to the back yard. The eve of my house sticks out .5 feet too far. It now sits in storage.

The city of Las Vegas has free Parking permits for RV, but there are some rules that do not make sense to me. For example the permit is only good for 48 hours and you can not get another for 72 hours. You are limmited to 6 in a three month period. What this means is I can get a permit bring the RV home load it up and go with no problem, but returning is a problem because I can not get another parking permit if I return under the 72 hours. If I want to go out for a weekend, coming back to unload is illegal and this is what does not make sense to me.

Talking with the officer, The reason I got a ticket is because somebody complained about me parking in front of my house. He saw me park it and was not going to do anything, but somebody complained and forced him to do something. Now that I know a little about the Law, I can spot RV's parked at people's houses illegally, but I am not going to complain because I do not want somebody going through what I went through.

Well this is just me crying about Las Vegas. I just got back from Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge where it rained for most of the weekend. We had a great time. I did park illegally for almost 24 hours unloading the RV, I do not know what I would have done if I had gotten a ticket.

Thanks,

Hey Bill and Mary,
As I had stated before, I lived in a S&B 23 years here. We came out one morning and noticed the tires on our Motorhome had bright yellow paint lines on them and so did the street. Took us a bit to figure it out but we came to realize that the police must have marked it to be able to come by again and see if it was moved.
We were told that if we are loading and unloading that all we had to do was call the day before and let them know, the RV is arriving (example) Wednesday, we will unload it Thursday and it will be moved to storage on Thursday (OR) we will be gone and on the road Thursday. Gives some time to get the frig going. I also would tell them it was going to be plugged in and why. They were fine as long as we communicated with them. Then I would write on a piece of paper and put a copy on my drivers side window and the entrance door window stating
On Monday XX/XX date and time I spoke to Officer Michaels and he is aware that this RV is plugged in to our home power for blah blah reason and that the RV will be gone from this location within 24 hours. (Thursday 6pm).
We did this many many times in the 5 years I had my Holiday Rambler 37'
Now we are permanently in a 40' Monaco and sold the house as we are retired and want to travel the USA. We will be back here every winter and either stay at Duck Creek RV Park or Oasis RV Park.
Lots of luck to you, maybe someday we will meet up

Judi and John