Mendocino County, CA Parking Rules: RV & Boat Parking (2026)

Mendocino County Code Section 15.12.091 makes it unlawful to park or leave a vehicle standing on any street or highway in the unincorporated territory for 72 or more consecutive hours. The section exempts only passenger vehicles and pickup trucks that are NOT recreational vehicles when parked in front of the address shown on their registration, so an RV, motorhome, travel trailer, or boat trailer parked on a public road can be removed once it passes the 72-hour threshold. Separately, County Code Section 14.28.050 (Chapter 14.28, adopted by Ord. No. 4353 in 2016) prohibits parking a vehicle or trailer for purposes of camping, sleeping, dwelling in, or otherwise inhabiting it for more than one day on public property other than a licensed campground, RV park, mobile home park, or designated County park. On private property, the same activity requires the owner's consent, and a property owner may not operate an unauthorized RV park. Several specific locations (e.g., the Frog Woman Rock area, the Mendocino Historical Preservation District, Heeser Drive) prohibit vehicle camping entirely. RV parks and campgrounds themselves are regulated separately under Zoning Code Chapter 20.176.