Bike Trailer Parking: How to Park, Lock or Fold a Bike Trailer

​July 22, 2021

​Learn to secure your trailer properly when you have to walk away. This article shows the best ways to park, lock, or fold a bike trailer for safety and security.

Planning on hitting the trails with your bike trailer? Then you’ll want to get the hang of bike trailer parking! It's important to know how to park, lock, and fold up your bike trailer to make sure it's safe while you walk away.

In this article, we'll show you how to park a bike trailer when it isn't in use, whether you're at home or out and about.

1. Parking Your Bike Trailer at Home

Many bike trailer users are suburban dwellers with easy access garages that can make trailer storage pretty effortless. Simply ride in or out of the garage! Still, here are some tips to help you keep your bike trailer safe and secure at home.

Tips for Private Garage Parking:

1. Fold the trailer up and hang it on the wall if you need the floor space. Our child trailers hang perfectly on two hooks spaced 16” apart. Hanging the trailer on a wall also stops squirrels from hiding nuts or napping inside.
2. Backing up a bicycle with the trailer attached can be difficult in tight spaces. A simple trick is to lift the rear wheel of the bicycle when reversing. This allows you to steer the trailer by lifting the bicycle seat with one hand and steering the bicycle with the handlebars with the other hand.
3. The space required to park a bicycle and trailer combination is 40” wide by 120” long, The space required to park a bicycle and a folded trailer on the wall is 24” x 72”.

Tips for Veranda Parking:

1. Lock your trailer if it is parked on the front porch. Trailer theft is unfortunately common and obscuring the view of the trailer from the sidewalk will help. Trailer should be locked to the porch.
2. Refrain from parking the trailer where squirrels can move in. Squirrel issues are very common with outdoor parking and your trailer can be destroyed in a matter of weeks.

Tips for Parking Garage:

1. The “secure bicycle parking area” in a parking structure can be difficult to access with the bicycle connected to the trailer. It is next to impossible to get a bicycle with a trailer through a door.
2. If the building provides “Ride-in Parking” for bicycles then you are in luck. If you can’t leave the trailer attached to the bicycle then convert the trailer to a cart and take it to your apartment.

2. Parking Your Bike Trailer in Public

Converting your trailer to a hand cart or stroller at your destination can be helpful as you will only need to park your bicycle.

The first thing you need to do is find a place, ideally close to your destination, where you can park your bike. If there’s no bike-specific parking available (like a bike rack), then take steps to make sure your bike does not leave a mark or scratch on any other property.

Any area where locking your bike would be a good idea, you should also lock your bike trailer. There are a few different ways that you can lock up your bike trailer, but the easiest way is to use a cable lock or chain. Either lock the bike trailer to your bike and then lock the bike itself, or lock both the bike and trailer separately.

Tips for Mass Transit Use:

1. Leave your bicycle at the origin station, take your converted trailer on Mass Transit, and maybe have a second bicycle at the destination end of your transit leg to continue to pull your trailer.
2. If your bus has a bike rack on the front then load just your bike onto the rack and take your cart into the bus. Some transit authorities have a maximum cart allowed to board. (eg 21”).

Tips for Malls and Supermarkets

1. You can take your converted trailer into the retail space or you can leave it locked outside. Small stores typically want the cart left outside.
2. Lock the trailer to the bike with the towbar through the rear wheel. This configuration makes it very difficult to steal either the trailer or the bicycle.

Tips for Schools

If you are dropping kids off at school, it is sometimes easier just to park the trailer there and continue with just your bicycle.

Learn More About Bike Trailers for Kids, Cargo, and More!

Questions about parking your bike trailer? Get in touch! We are committed to supporting active transportation both at home and abroad, so we’re happy to help.

Whether you're making a trip to work, the grocery store or around the neighborhood with the kids, there’s a bike trailer to suit your lifestyle! Browse our selection to learn more about our bike trailers for kids, cargo, and more.