What changed for boondockers in 2025 and 2026: stay limits, camping bans, and one repeal

The rules for sleeping on public land moved noticeably in 2025 and 2026, mostly in one direction: shorter stays, more designated-site systems, and new state camping statutes. One rule got repealed outright. Here is what we verified, with what each change means in practice.

Federal land

Fishlake National Forest (UT) capped stays at 16 days. Occupancy and Use Order 0408-25-01 prohibits camping in the same location, or within 5 miles of it, for more than 16 consecutive days or more than 16 days in a 30-day period. The order runs until February 5, 2030, unless rescinded, per the forest’s alert page. The 5-mile clause is the part that catches people: moving one drainage over does not reset your clock.

Alabama Hills (CA) now requires a permit. Camping in the BLM’s Alabama Hills National Scenic Area is limited to designated sites, 48 of them, and requires a free permit you can get online or at the Eastern Sierra Visitor Center, per the BLM’s Alabama Hills page. The permit does not reserve a site. This is the pattern to watch: heavily used dispersed areas converting to designated-site systems.

We searched for broader BLM or Forest Service policy changes for 2026 and could not verify any nationwide change on an official page. The 14-day default still stands where no local order says otherwise. Local orders are where the movement is.

State laws that affect car and RV sleepers

Idaho (2025). Idaho Code 67-2341 makes public camping or sleeping unlawful on public property, and its definition explicitly includes a motor vehicle or RV used as a dwelling. Two things keep this narrower than it sounds: it applies only inside cities of 100,000 or more people, and it carves out authorized overnight parking at Idaho rest areas and private businesses. Sleeping in your car on a Boise street is now a legal risk. An ITD rest area is not.

Kentucky (2024). KRS 511.110 created an unlawful camping offense, but subsection (5) is the part travelers should know: sleeping temporarily in a lawfully parked vehicle on a public road, street, or parking lot is fine for under 12 hours. That is a rare thing, a statute that says out loud you may sleep in your car. Effective July 15, 2024.

Mississippi (2025). HB 1203 bans camping on public property that is not designated for it, effective July 1, 2025, with a fine of up to $50. Separately, MDOT’s rest area guidelines treat more than 12 continuous hours as long-term parking and prohibit camping. The 8-hour limit that gets repeated on forums is not what the state publishes.

Missouri (2023, still relevant). The Missouri Supreme Court struck down HB 1606 in its entirety in Byrd v. State, which took the state’s misdemeanor for unauthorized sleeping on state land down with it, on single-subject grounds. There is currently no statewide camping ban in Missouri. City and county ordinances still apply, and they are the more common enforcement tool anyway.

The repeal and the rule that is not law yet

Virginia repealed its rest area chapter. 24VAC30-50, the regulation governing waysides and rest areas since 1987, was repealed effective March 11, 2026, as part of a consolidation of VDOT’s parking regulations, per the Virginia Administrative Code. The practical point: any rest-area rule you see cited to 24VAC30-50 is citing a regulation that no longer exists. VDOT’s current policy and the posted signs are what count.

Michigan’s rules are still proposed. MDOT has proposed rules for its rest areas and roadside parks: a 48-hour maximum stay, overnight parking allowed, no camping. A public hearing was held in October 2025, and as of our check the page still labels them proposed. Do not treat the 48 hours as settled law yet.

Every one of these changes is a reminder that the sign in front of you beats anything published online, including this. For the state-by-state picture, see our overnight parking guide, the stay limits guide, and the state pages for Idaho, Kentucky, and Mississippi.