French Prairie Rest Area, located along the I-5, just south of Portland, OR, is one of the better rest areas you’ll ever find for free overnight RV Parking. The reason why is because it has an large overflow lot, both on the southbound and northbound sides, that give you plenty of distance from the freeway noise.
The tall pine trees create a forest-like respite from the freeway traffic, while there are plenty of vending machines, and restrooms for you to use.
Sash and I often overnight here when we travel up the I-5 towards Portland. Dozens of other RVers file into the rest area after 6:00pm. You better claim a spot here, because truckers tend to fill this place up by 9:00pm.
The State of Oregon places a 12 hour limit on all rest areas however we’ve never encountered a problem staying there longer. A few times, we’ve stayed at French Prairie Rest Area from 12 to 16 hours, and not heard a peep from any law enforcement officer. We often see the same full timing RVers when we pull into there, suggesting these people make a habit of staying there frequently.
French Prairie Rest Area seems pretty safe. We’ve not experienced any trouble there. I’m guessing you could probably stay there over 24 hours, but it would probably be wise to move to the other side of the freeway, just in case.
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