Walmart — Rock Falls Store

Located south of the mighty Rock River and on the outskirts of the namesake town, if you’re not carefully looking for this smaller version of the big box blue retailer, you would drive right pass it and miss it completely, which wouldn’t be the biggest mistake you ever made in your life. But if you are on the search for a little slice of pavement to call home for the night than you could do worse than this little retail outpost. To begin with, you’ll have to appreciate that this may very well be the smallest Walmart ever created– it certainly is the smallest ones I’ve ever come across in all of my travels, and well, I travel a bit. And with a smaller store, you’re gonna have a smaller parking lot right? OK, just so that expectations are managed, there you have it.

 Given its location, this prairie parking spot will also provide excellent access to the nearby open pastures between here and the neighboring town of Dixon, wherein I would recommend that you anchor up on the far western or southern peripheries of the parking lot, where you will be furthest away from the retailer’s front door and thus have less parking traffic to compete with, but it’s the southern side that will also give you some added peace& quiet with a bit less traffic to contend with.

While scoring criteria may vary from one person to the next, here are the 5 most important criteria that informed my rating of this overnight location: convenience (EZ on- and off-access), safety & security, quality (of facilities), peace & quiet and amenities (either on-site or nearby). Here’s how I ranked this particular overnight spot: 

Convenience: 2 

Safety & Security: 3 

Quality: 1 

Peace & Quiet: 3 

Amenities: 2 

Overall, I scored this location a 2. 

Happy Overnighting!