Walmart — Rockford Supercenter

For whatever reason you might find yourself up here in northern Illinois, should you be rolling by and in need of a quick, easy and trouble-free place to park for the night, then this Walmart here in Rockford is conveniently located just off where I90 and I39 meet up. This non-exclusive big box retailer ‘who has it all’ offers up a simply massive parking lot that might just be perfect for your RV or 5th Wheel. Once you leave the busy culmination of highways, within 5 minutes you’ll find yourself planted here at the Walmart, which gets bonus points for also offering up a fairly massive and seriously cheap fuel depot as well. But the huge upside here is that this spot places you pretty much smack dab in the middle of everything from a retail standpoint.  Proximity to amenities aside, this lot is fairly level, incredibly massive - about 2 football fields stitched together - and seemingly in very good condition with decent lighting.

Insider’s tips? Here’s a few: (1) Hungry? No problemo, as there’s a handful of places to get your food on: Red Robin Burgers & Brew, Ali Baba, Jason’s Deli Panera, Applebee’s, Machine Shed, Golden Corral (yes, apparently that’s still a thing in these parts), Chick-fil-A, Five Guys and Beef-A-Roo (don’t ask, it’s a local thing). If you want something actually memorable, I would suggest Stone Eagle Tavern as well as Smokey Bones, both of which serves up some simply d-lish wings; (2) If you are looking to grab a slice of nature nearby, head just northwest to Rock Cut SP where you can launch canoe or kayak from here into Pierce Lake. There’s also a ton of trails to hike here in this prairie preserve slice of pristine nature; and (3) Should you want to load up on groceries, supplies and whatever else you might need for your sojourn and don’t think they’ll have it at Walmart, then you’ll be in luck here, as less than a mile from here you’ll be able to access CostCo, Sam’s Club, Gordon Food and Home Depot as well as Best Buy, in case you wanted to have the newest Bose speakers installed in your RV.

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: 4 

Safety & Security: 4 

Quality: 4 

Peace & Quiet: 3 

Amenities: 3 

Overall, I scored this location a 4. 

Happy Overnighting!