One of the most iconic stadiums in college football and definitely on the bucket list for most college football fans, is on the campus of the university of Notre Dame right under “touch down Jesus.”
Notre Dame Stadium, located in South Bend, Indiana, is an icon in the college football world and best of all it has a great tailgating scene.
Most of the parking is located adjacent to the stadium itself with some over flow parking surrounding the campus. The on campus parking is for day use only and structured to accommodate cars, trucks, vans and SUVs.
RV parking is allowed only off campus and on private lots near the stadium and campus. The Notre Dame Credit union is available for game day RV parking only and does not allow for any overnight stays. The cost for a single vehicle is $125. RV’s may arrive the morning of the game and must exit a few hours after the game has ended.
The lot is not extremely big and accommodates approximately 20-30 RVs, so the tailgating atmosphere is fairly calm with RVs parked throughout the lot.
Since it’s just a parking lot on asphalt there are no RV hook ups or picnic tables but there were some porta potties setup.
The lot is located directly across from campus and 1 mile from the stadium which took us about 15-20mins to walk, which is the only method since the streets to the campus are blocked off from vehicles.
Since we traveled from Philadelphia in our RV, we needed an overnight option that would accommodate us for the whole weekend. So we found a private lot through Park’n Party that was located just .5 miles north of the Notre Dame credit union parking and allowed overnight parking from Friday to Sunday.
The cost was $210 per vehicle for the whole weekend and provided a porta potty, trash pick up, clean level parking and access to game day shuttles within walking distance.
We booked everything using the website and were immediately given a confirmation. The day before we arrived the owner of the lot Gil, called us to confirm our arrival time so he could meet us there and so he could introduce himself, get us parked, and answer any questions we had. He also gave us his personal cell number in case we needed anything.
We arrived at 4pm on Friday and were the first to get parked. The lot is mostly grass and a few trees but there are 6 long dirt pads on the west side of the lot that provide some good stability for leveling jacks if needed.
No hookups, water or dump station was available as it is just an empty grass lot but there is a porta potty at the east end of the lot. The closest place we found to dump and fill propane was 7.6 miles from the lot at the KOA in Granger. They charged $40 to dump and market price for propane filling.
The lot is located right next to the Indiana Turnpike so there is highway noise all day and night but not terrible.
The lot is located in a safe area with hardly any foot traffic or street lights so it feels more like dry camping at a campground.
There are no RV size restrictions and some people used camping tents outside their RV for extra sleeping space.
Although we didn’t use Uber/Lyft or a taxi, it is available in the area but we decided to walk the 1.7 miles to the campus for both days to get some exercise.
There is a wide walking path that starts at the corner of the lot and goes right into campus. We saw many people with golf carts riding around campus and to the parking lot as well.
Electric scooters and bikes were used as well. And the lot can accommodate car parking so if you have a tow vehicle you will have to pay extra but it is possible to park it on the lot.
There are some restaurants and sports bars and gas stations along Dixie way which is .8miles to the west of the lot.
On Friday we walked to Legends sports bar next to the stadium which offered live music and a great buffet with bbq, burgers etc. for $50pp which included two drink tickets.
Their setup was nice, with chairs placed around fire pits in the grass and high top tables with bar stools along with standard dinning tables under a covered patio. The food was great and the atmosphere was fun.
On game day our parking lot was pretty lively, with the standard college football tailgating activities going on. Grills were fired up, corn hole being played and music was in the air. The overall atmosphere was relaxing and felt like a nice campground, no people selling t-shirts, hats or anything else. All the people in the lot were great and neighborly.
After eating and having a few drinks we decided to head over to campus to check out the pregame scene.
The parking lot next to the stadium was filled with people and all the standard tailgating activities. It was a great atmosphere and an impressive representation by the Irish fans.
On Sunday we packed up and left the lot around 11am and were one of the last ones to leave. Many RVs left early and if you want to leave early its advisable to park closest to the street otherwise you could get blocked in until later in the morning.
Overall our Park-n-Party experience at Notre Dame was great and the lot owner Gil was awesome!
